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John Hillerman was born on December 20, 1932 in Denison, Texas. Fans invariably type
John Hillerman, the sophisticated keeper of the estate, as British. With his clipped
mustache and cool demeanor, he looks and talks like the master of an English country
estate. Only those who have read his publicity know that he was born in the railroad
town in Texas named Denison, the son of the
owner of a gasoline service station.
Hillerman wanted to be an actor even when he was a student at St. Xavier's Academy.
After graduation, he attended the University of Texas at Austin for three years and
then did a four-year stint in the Air Force. During his years in uniform he worked
with various theatrical groups, and on his discharge, he went to New York to study a
the American Theatre Wing. In 1957, he began his career in professional theater as the
resident juvenile at Chatauqua Playhouse in Middleton, Ohio. (See photo at right of
a very young John Hillerman onstage.)
John then went on to appear onstage
in productions at The Cincinnati Playhouse in
the Park (Middletown, for those of you who don't know, is the "middle town" between
Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio), where he honed his art and brought his aristocratic
English accent to Hollywood marketability.
While the majority
of his fans know him for the many roles he played in television's
Magnum P.I. in the 1980's (most notably, Higgins — see photo at left), fans of
Ellery Queen know that character started life as Simon Brimmer.
The character of Simon allowed Ellery to have direct competition in his related field,
and Simon's arrogance and self-assurance made Ellery's
lack there-of all the more
appealing to both the other characters and to the viewing audience.
Simon was a Radio personality (he saw himself as a great celebrity) sleuth who portrayed
himself in ongoing serial mysteries. But he could not resist the idea of getting involved
in real-life murder cases in an effort to boost ratings, boost his own ego, and the
coup de gras — to beat out Ellery to finding the true murderer. As it happened, however,
while Simon often ferreted out some valuable clues — that oft times were of tremendous
help to Ellery — he always chose the wrong suspect as the guilty party.
For a more in-depth look at the character of the suave Simon Brimmer, see
our retrospective titled "Call Simon Brimmer" by Barbara
Peterson. We think John Hillerman's performance as Simon Brimmer was simply delicious.
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