John R. Hamilton (January 16, 1887 - October 15, 1958)

This is the man who made phrases like "Great Caesar's Ghost" and "Don't Call me Chief!" part of popular culture. Hamilton began his career on Broadway in the 1920's and moved to films by 1930. Between 1930 and his death and 1958 he appeared in an impressive 312 films. Now I know most of them were bit parts and maybe one minute appearances but that is still pretty damn good. He played President Ulysses S. Grant in the 1947 film "The Fabulous Texan" and again in the 1954 film "Sitting Bull." He also is notable for playing the district attorney in 1941's "The Maltese Falcon" By the time television roled around Hamilton made guest appearances on several shows including "The Cisco Kid", "The Gene Autry Show", "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Blondie", "Gunsmoke", and "The Roy Rogers Show." In 1951 the 64-year-old character actor was given the job of Perry White, editor of the Metropolis Daily Planet and boss to Clark Kent (Superman). By accepting the job of Perry White he joined George Reeves (Superman/Clark Kent), Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane), Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen) and Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson) as these comic book characters. I have heard from more than one source that Hamilton was seated behind a desk in most of his scenes so he could have easy access to his script. However, there are several episodes in which Perry White is seen taking the lead outside of the office. Those episodes include "The Secret of Superman", "The Evil Three", "Drums of Death", "Jet Ace", "Perry White's Scoop", "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor", "Through the Time Barrier", "Great Caesar's Ghost", "Peril by Sea", "Money to Burn", "Superman's Wife" and "The Perils of Superman." All may I add are some of the show's best. I don't think there has been an actor to this day who had embraced the role of Perry White better. Julian Noa who portrayed him on the 1940's radio show was good, but he lacked the certain projection in his voice to make the gray haired editor sound intimidating. Pierre Watkin portrayed Perry White in the 1948 and 1950 movie serials and even though he was a wonderful actor he was a lousy Perry White. I've never seen Jackie Cooper's portrayal in the four motion pictures between 1978 and 1987 so I can not comment. "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" which ran from 1993 until 1997 had Lane Smith as Perry White and once again...he missed the mark. Making that Perry White such a huge Elvis Presley fan was also a huge mistake. Instead of laughing with him, I mostly laughed at him. In the 2000's we've had Michael McKean in a 2003 episode of "Smallville" and Frank Langella in the 2006 motion picture "Superman Returns." Both portrayals were true to the character but no one will ever play it the way John Hamilton did. There will never be another actor like this man or any of those from his generation for that matter. "Great Caesar's Ghost!"