| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | April 4, 2023 |
The first of the Gilligan’s Island castaway cast members to shuffle off this mortal isle was Jim Backus, who died in July 1989 at age 76. His flat grave marker in Los Angeles’s Westwood Village neighborhood remembers the television and movie actor as a “darling husband.” His spouse, actress Henny Backus, is correspondingly recalled as a “cherished wife.” Sculpted metal leaves, vines, and flowers surround their nameplates on three sides. The couple co-authored multiple books: What Are You Doing After the Orgy?; …Only When I Laugh; Backus Strikes Back; and Forgive Us Our Digressions: An Autobiography.
On Gilligan’s Island, which ran on CBS from 1964 to 1967, Backus played millionaire Thurston Howell III. Backus reprised the role in three made-for-tv movies between 1978 and 1981. One of the Clevelander’s other career-defining roles was the comedically near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, whom he voiced from 1949 to 1960. On the small screen, he acted opposite Joan Davis on the 1950s sitcom I Married Joan and as Dagwood Bumstead’s irascible boss Mr. Dithers on the 1968 series Blondie (Henny Backus portrayed his character’s wife, Cora Dithers). Backus also briefly was at the helm of his own eponymous program, and he made guest appearances on popular shows of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch. His filmography includes 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause as leading man James Dean’s father, as well as inebriated airplane owner Tyler Fitzgerald in director Stanley Kramer’s star-studded comedy from 1963, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Mentored by the great Ed Wynn, Backus’s roles were often humorous, but he wanted to be remembered for his serious performances as well. “I’m a dramatic actor too, and I’ve done over eighty non-comic movies,” he emphasized in an interview. That extended to theater as well, such as when Backus appeared with Henry Fonda in a production of Old Town in 1969. “In one scene, I cry over my dead wife,” he commented. “How can that be funny?”
The Backuses are interred in the central lawn of Westwood Village Memorial Park, in close proximity to entertainment notables such as Lew Ayres, Sebastian Cabot, and Richard Dawson. Of course, with the memorial park totaling only 2.5 acres, none of its late inhabitants lie too far from one another.
Fast Facts
Born: February 25, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio
Spouses: Betty Kean (m. 1939-1942); Henny Backus (m. 1943-1989)
Died: July 3, 1989 in Los Angeles, California
Cause of Death: Complications from Pneumonia
Age: 76
Interment: Westwood Village Memorial Park, Westwood Village, Los Angeles, California
"Thank God he [my father] lived to see me have some degree of recognition. Because he was against it [me working as an actor] all the way. He was very [unintelligible] about it. But I never will forget one time I was sitting at a place, a saloon, and my father was having a drink with me, and a beautiful girl walked over and said, 'May I have your autograph?' He said, 'You mean that happens to you?' He suddenly saw my role and my career as an entirely different thing."
- Jim Backus
in a 1987 interview on the television show Connie Martin Talks Books, recorded at L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
FoundationINTERVIEWS. “Russell Johnson discusses the cast of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ – EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG.” YouTube video, 4:01. February 8, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWvXlCHhMBo.
IMDb. “Jim Backus (1913-1989).” Accessed November 14, 2023. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000822/.
Martinson, Connie. “Jim and Henny Backus interview, 1987.” Connie Martinson Talks Books. 1987. From Claremont Colleges Digital Library. https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cmt/id/400.
MeTV Staff. “Jim Backus was more than just Thurston Howell III.” MeTV. November 7, 2023. https://www.metv.com/stories/jim-backus-was-more-than-just-thurston-howell-iii.
