John Hamilton - Biography

Burly, stentorian-voiced John Hamilton, worked on Broadway and in touring theatrical companies for many years prior to his 1930 film debut. He was in the original Broadway company of "Seventh Heaven" and would appear in the film remake (L'heure suprême (1937)) in 1937. For Warner Bros, he starred with Donald Meek in a series of short mysteries based on S.S. Van Dine stories. He was often typecast as prison wardens, judges and police chiefs, but played various types of characters in an almost limitless number of films from the 1930s to the 1950s. He became famous when he was cast as Daily Planet newspaper editor Perry White in the 1950s TV classic, Superman (1952). He is survived by a son. Hamilton is often confused with John F. Hamilton, a British actor who made a few films in the US during the same period, and with several other actors of the same name.