James Hampton (actor)

For other people with the same name, see James Hampton (disambiguation).

James Wade Hampton (July 9, 1936 – April 7, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his TV roles such as Private Hannibal Shirley Dobbs on F Troop (1965–1967), Leroy B. Simpson on The Doris Day Show (1968–1969), Love, American Style (1969–1974), and his movie roles such as "Caretaker" in The Longest Yard (1974), a role which garnered him a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, as Howard Clemmons in Hawmps! (1976), Harold Howard in Teen Wolf (1985), and its sequel, Teen Wolf Too (1987), and as Jerry Woolridge in Sling Blade (1996).

James Hampton
Hampton in 1968
Born	James Wade Hampton (1936-07-09)July 9, 1936 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	April 7, 2021(2021-04-07) (aged 84) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Other names	Jimmy Hampton Jim Hampton
Occupations	Actor director screenwriter
Years active	1963–2015
Spouse	Mary Deese (m. 2002)
Children	3

Early life

Hampton was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the son of Edna (Gately), who worked at a millinery, and Ivan Hampton, who ran a dry cleaning business. He was raised in Dallas, Texas, and majored in theatre arts at the University of North Texas in Denton. While attending UNT, he was a member of the Gamma Lambda chapter of Kappa Alpha Order. After a series of failed jobs including bodyguard, bartender, and photojournalist, he was inducted into the United States Army. He was stationed in Germany and performed with the USO, for which he won awards.

Career

Following his service, he performed in summer stock in Texas and then moved to New York City, where he was given his first film role, in the Academy Award-nominated short subject The Cliffdwellers.

His next role was as the lead character in a May 1963 Gunsmoke episode entitled "Jeb", featuring his friend and series regular Burt Reynolds. Hampton returned to Gunsmoke later that year in "Pa Hack’s Brood" (S9E13), again as a character named Jeb, although Marshal Dillon makes no reference in this episode to the previous appearance. Hampton returned to Gunsmoke one more time as the title character (and hilarious cousin to Festus) in the 1965 episode ' "Eliab’s Aim". In 1964, he was cast as publisher William Randolph Hearst in the episode "The Paper Dynasty" of the television series Death Valley Days.

Hampton is known for his roles in CBS's The Doris Day Show (as Leroy, the handyman); ABC's F Troop (as Hannibal Dobbs, the incompetent bugler); Robert Aldrich's The Longest Yard (1974); Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975); Teen Wolf (1985); the Teen Wolf television series (1986 to 1989); Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988); and Sling Blade (1996). Hampton guest-starred as Jim Rockford's childhood friend Aaron Ironwood in a 1975 episode of NBC's The Rockford Files. He received a HALO Award for Hawmps!, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Most Promising Newcomer" for the part of "Caretaker" in The Longest Yard. In 1980, he starred alongside Gary Collins in the low-budget movie Hangar 18. In 2012, Hampton appeared in an advertisement on MeTV touting some of the shows in which he had guest-starred, including Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and The Rockford Files.

Personal life

Hampton married actress Mary Deese in 2002. He was the father of three children: James, Andrea and Frank.

Death

He died of complications from Parkinson's disease on April 7, 2021, at his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 84.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Fade In	George
1970	Soldier Blue	Private Menzies
1972	Justin Morgan Had a Horse	Aaron
1973	The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing	Jimmy	Uncredited
1974	The Longest Yard	Caretaker
1975	W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings	Junior
	Mackintosh and T.J.	Cotton
	Hustle	Bus Driver
1976	Hawmps!	Howard Clemmons
1978	The Cat from Outer Space	Captain Anderson
1979	The China Syndrome	Bill Gibson
1980	Hangar 18	Lew Price	Alternative title: Invasion Force
1981	Condorman	Harry Oslo
1985	Teen Wolf	Harold Howard
1987	Teen Wolf Too	Uncle Harold Howard
1988	Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach	Mayor of Miami
1990	Pump Up the Volume	Arthur Watts
1991	The Giant of Thunder Mountain	Jesse
1996	Sling Blade	Jerry Woolridge
2000	Danny and Max	Sheriff
	Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel	Pediatrician
2008	Fire from Below	Griffith
2011	Jacob	Mayor Jack Flynn
	The Last Ride	Judge Matheny
2014	Flutter	Leon
	Big Stone Gap	Reverend Manning
2015	Divine Access	Mr. Bernstein
2016	The Association	Gene Seward	Direct-to-video

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963–1965	Gunsmoke	Jeb Willis / Eliab Haggen	3 episodes, credited as Jim Hampton
1964	Death Valley Days	William Randolph Hearst	1 episode
1965	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Branch Eversole	1 episode, credited as Jim Hampton
	Rawhide	Charlie Peck, The Blackmailer	Episode: "Mrs. Harmon"
1965–1967	F Troop	Private Hannibal Shirley Dobbs	65 episodes
1967	Cimarron Strip	Sam	1 episode
1968–1969	The Doris Day Show	Leroy B. Simpson	14 episodes
1970	Bracken's World	J.F. Nash	1 episode
1972	The Wonderful World of Disney	Aaron	2 episodes
	The F.B.I.	Charles 'Red' Brian Clayborne	1 episode
1973	Hawkins	Earl Coleman	Episode: "A Life for a Life"
1974	The Manhunter	Lon Tyrell	1 episode
1975	Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan	Harry Dudley	Television movie
	Mannix	Billy Lee	1 episode
	The Rockford Files	Aaron Ironwood	1 episode
1977	The Red Hand Gang	Tosca (Kidnapper)	5 episodes
	The Amazing Howard Hughes	Wilbur Peterson	Television movie
	The Tonight Show	Himself	May 4, 1977 episode
1978	Mary	Skit Characters	3 episodes
1979	Centennial	Defense Attorney Prescott	Miniseries
1980	B.A.D. Cats	Link	Unknown episodes
	The Dukes of Hazzard	Sheriff Buster Moon	Episode: "Return of the Ridge Raiders"
1981	Stand By Your Man	Billy Sherrill	Television movie
1981–1982	Maggie	Len Weston	8 episodes
1982	World War III	Richard Hickman	Miniseries
1983	The Greatest American Hero	Sheriff	1 episode
	Boone	Mr. Slater	Episode: "The Graduation"
	Tales of the Gold Monkey	Alan Shoemate	Episode: "Cooked Goose"
1984	The Burning Bed	Police Witness	Television movie
	Matt Houston	Mr. Stevens	2 episodes
1984–1985	Who's the Boss?	Herb / Officer	2 episodes
1984–1986	Murder, She Wrote	Veterinarian / Jerry Blevins	2 episodes
1985	Otherworld	Fred Roach	1 episode
	Simon & Simon	Odell Mitchell	1 episode
1986–1989	Punky Brewster	Alvin / Jimmy John	2 episodes
1986–1987	Teen Wolf	Harold Howard (Voice)	21 episodes
1987	Houston Knights	Scully	3 episodes
1988	Superboy	Coach	Episode: The Fixer
1989	Mama's Family	Keith Wheeler	Episode: "The Mama of Invention"
	Days of Our Lives	Saul Taylor	49 episodes
1989–1990	Full House	Mr. Malatesta	3 episodes
1990	Perfect Strangers	Mac McIntyre	Episode: "Nightmare Vacation"
	Newhart	Father Ken	1 episode
	Get a Life	Fletcher	1 episode
1991	The Hogan Family	Raymond	1 episode
1992–1993	Evening Shade	-	Director, 7 episodes
1993	Hearts Afire	-	Director, 1 episode
1994	Melrose Place	Harry Alan	Episode: "It's a Bad World After All"
1995	Hope and Gloria	Bob	1 episode
1997	Fired Up	Ben Franklin	1 episode
1997–1998	Grace Under Fire	-	Director, 4 episodes
	Smart Guy	-	Director, 3 episodes
	Sister, Sister	-	Director, 5 episodes
1998–1999	Linc's	-	Director, 3 episodes
2000	Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane	-	Director, 3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1975	Golden Globe Awards	Most Promising Newcomer – Male	The Longest Yard	Nominated
1996	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture	Sling Blade	Nominated

External links

• James Hampton at IMDb
• James Hampton at the TCM Movie Database