Biography for
James Gammon (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 April 1940, Newman, Illinois, USA

Date of Death

16 July 2010, Costa Mesa, California, USA (cancer of adrenal glands and liver)

Birth Name

James Richard Gammon

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Rugged-looking James Gammon first broke into the entertainment industry not as an actor but as a TV cameraman. From there, his weatherbeaten features, somewhat menacing attitude and a tough-as-nails voice--the kind that used to be described in detective novels as "whiskey-soaked"--reminiscent of '40s noir icon Charles McGraw got him work in front of the cameras in TV westerns (though he sounds as if he's from Texas or Oklahoma, he was actually born and raised in Illinois) and he made his film debut in 1967. Not the kind of guy you'd see in a tuxedo in a Noel Coward drawing-room comedy--unless he was one of a gang holding them up--Gammon could play lighter parts also, as evidenced by his work as the coach in the baseball comedy Major League (1989) and in his regular role as Don Johnson's rambunctious father in Johnson's "Nash Bridges" (1996) series.

IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Spouse

Nancy Jane Kapusta	(7 October 1972 - 16 July 2010) (his death) 2 children
Barbara Giacchero	(29 January 1967 - 1970) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Plays gruff, grizzled men

Trivia

Has performed at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Illinois

Was very close friends with Timothy Scott. In 1995, the year Scott died, Gammon appeared in "Streets of Laredo" (1995), the sequel to "Lonesome Dove" (1989), in which Scott had appeared.

Played Don Johnson's father in two television productions: The Long Hot Summer (1985) (TV) and "Nash Bridges" (1996), although he was actually less than ten years older than Johnson.