Celebrity Biographies
Pat Hingle
Prolific American actor Pat Hingle was Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton’s and Joel Schumacher’s Batman films. He had been dedicated to acting for a whopping five decades, and has been secondary in mythical films. The actor left us on January 3 and it can be said that he died ‘with his boots on’, since he had just filmed Undoing Time , at the age of 84. Hingle died of myelodysplasia, a blood disease that he had suffered from for decades, according to Julia Wright, his wife.
Martin Patterson Hingle (real name of the actor) was born on July 19, 1924, in Denver (Colorado). He was the son of a builder whom he never got to know, since his mother divorced him and she had to raise the child on her own, working as a teacher. The boy made his debut as an actor, playing a carrot, in a school function: “At that time I didn’t even imagine that this could be a way to earn a living,” the actor declared on several occasions. In fact, at first he studied advertising at the University of Texas. After fighting in World War II, Hingle decided to return to university, and ended up in the drama department, as a way to meet girls.
After moving to New York, he began landing roles in television series and films. He made his film debut with a very brief appearance as an extra in Elia Kazan ‘s legendary The Law of Silence . He played his first major role in The Strange One , in which he and Ben Gazzara were cadets at a military school. Throughout his career, Hingle combined his appearances in top films, such as Splendor in the Grass , Nevada Smith , or MASH (1970) with roles in the most popular television series, such as Bonanza , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , The Invaders andThe fugitive . After playing Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton ‘s Batman ,he was the only actor along with Michael Gough (Alfred the Butler) to reprise himself in Batman Returns , Batman Forever and Batman & Robin .
After shooting Rise of the Machines , in 1986, under the orders of Stephen King , who was making his directorial debut, Hingle was diagnosed with the disease that over the years has ended his life. To mitigate his health problems, and following the doctors’ recommendation, he moved to live in the coastal city of Carolina Beach, where he has remained until his death.