James MacArthur

Biography: American actor James MacArthur was the adopted son of stage legend Helen Hayes and playwright Charles MacArthur. Despite his mother's insistence that James have a normal childhood, it was difficult not to be intoxicated by the theatre when growing up around the greatest acting and literary talent in the '40s. At age 8, young MacArthur appeared in a stock-company production of The Corn is Green. Fresh out of Harvard, MacArthur became a movie juvenile, specializing in tortured-teen roles in such films as The Young Stranger (1957) and Disney's Light in the Forest (1958). Outgrowing his somewhat charming awkwardness, MacArthur was less satisfying as a standard leading man, and by 1967 he was wasting away in pictures like The Love Ins. That same year, the pilot film for a new Jack Lord cop series, Hawaii Five-O, was screened for a test audience. The group liked the film but not the young man (Tim O'Kelly) who played Lord's assistant, deeming him too young for the part. HawaiiAmerican actor James MacArthur was the adopted son of stage legend Helen Hayes and playwright Charles MacArthur. Despite his mother's insistence that James have a normal childhood, it was difficult not to be intoxicated by the theatre when growing up around the greatest acting and literary talent in the '40s. At age 8, young MacArthur appeared in a stock-company production of The Corn is Green. Fresh out of Harvard, MacArthur became a movie juvenile, specializing in tortured-teen roles in such films as The Young Stranger (1957) and Disney's Light in the Forest (1958). Outgrowing his somewhat charming awkwardness, MacArthur was less satisfying as a standard leading man, and by 1967 he was wasting away in pictures like The Love Ins. That same year, the pilot film for a new Jack Lord cop series, Hawaii Five-O, was screened for a test audience. The group liked the film but not the young man (Tim O'Kelly) who played Lord's assistant, deeming him too young for the part. Hawaii producer Leonard Freeman then called upon 30-year-old MacArthur, with whom Freeman had worked on the Clint Eastwood vehicle Hang 'Em High. From 1968 through 1979, MacArthur played Hawaii Five-0's detective Danny Williams, always handy whenever Jack Lord felt the need to snap "Book 'em, Danno." Though the series enriched MacArthur and made him a vital member of the Honolulu society and business world, the actor finally packed it in after 11 seasons, when it seemed as though he'd be Danno forever (the show continued for one more season). Too wealthy to care about a career at this point, James MacArthur still took an occasional role into the '80s; his most prominent post-Hawaii assignment was the 1980 TV movie Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story, in which he played a rare non-sympathetic character. MacArthur died in October 2010 of natural causes at age 72. Expand

James MacArthur's Scores

  • TV
Average career score: 71
Highest Metascore: 71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1
Lowest Metascore: 71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
1 tv review
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1 Sep 30, 1984 Allan Gebhart 8.5
tbd The Love Boat: Season 8 Sep 22, 1984 Marc Silverton tbd
tbd The Love Boat: Season 5 Oct 3, 1981 Paul Krakauer tbd
tbd The Love Boat: Season 3 Sep 15, 1979 Chet Hanson / Scott Burgess tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 11 Sep 28, 1978 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 10 Sep 15, 1977 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 9 Sep 30, 1976 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 8 Sep 12, 1975 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 7 Sep 10, 1974 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 6 Sep 11, 1973 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 5 Sep 12, 1972 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 4 Sep 14, 1971 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 3 Sep 16, 1970 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 2 Sep 24, 1969 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Hawaii Five-O (1968): Season 1 Sep 20, 1968 Danny "Danno" Williams tbd
tbd Bonanza: Season 9 Sep 17, 1967 Fredericks tbd
tbd Gunsmoke: Season 11 Sep 18, 1965 David tbd
tbd The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Season 2 Sep 27, 1963 Snowden tbd
tbd The Untouchables: Season 2 Oct 13, 1960 Johnny tbd