LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Jim Backus
built 643 days ago
For a while, the official Jim Backus filling station seems to have been a restaurant called The Smoke House that's still in business over in Burbank, right across from Warner Brothers. Someone should write an article about the role this place has played in the history of comic books and animation. U.P.A. was right next door and many other animation studios were close enough that it became a major lunch spot and watering hole for cartoonists. In fact, the editors from Western Publishing (Dell Comics, Gold Key) would frequently lunch there because some of the artists drawing their comics were working days at the studios and editorial business could be transacted there — scripts or checks handed out, artwork turned in, etc. — over a meal.
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From All Movie Guide: Ohio-born actor Jim Backus's stage career began in summer stock, where, according to his then-roommate Keenan Wynn, he was as well known for his prowess with the ladies as he was for his on-stage versatility. Backus continued acting in New York, vaudeville, and especially radio in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a regular on radio's The Alan Young Show, portraying Eastern Seaboard snob Hubert Updike III, the prototype for his "Thurston Howell III" characterization on the 1960s TV sitcom Gilligan's Island. In 1949, Backus provided the voice of the nearsighted Mr. Magoo for the first time in the UPA cartoon Ragtime Bear; the actor later claimed that he based this character on his own businessman father. Also in 1949, Backus made his first film appearance in Easy Living, which starred his childhood friend Victor Mature. Backus' most famous screen role was as James Dean's weak-willed, vacillating father in Rebel without a Cause.
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Jim Backus immortalized the crusty, visually challenged Quincy Magoo in movies and on TV. The millionaire's small-screen career began in 1960 with the syndicated `Mr. Magoo.' `Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol,' an NBC special, followed in '62 and evolved into a regular prime-time stint titled `The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.' It cast the bumbling eccentric as various historical figures and won a Peabody. Later, `What's New, Mister Magoo' aired on CBS on Saturday mornings.
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Though tame by modern standards, the love story between Jim and Judy (Natalie Wood) generates sparks due to the immense talents of both young stars. Wood was a teenager at the time and had just begun to overcome her success as a child actor. Although the character represented a drastic change of pace for her, Wood sells the "bad girl" image and creates a believable '50s teen. Her issues stem from difficulties with her father, who just can't seem to accept her development into a woman. One family scene is surprising for a film of the era, with the dad's uncomfortable feelings right out in the open. Judy ... comes from an affluent home, and her rough demeanor completely bewilders her parents.
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Jim is married to Dr. Mindy Backus, a professor in the College of Education and Human Services at Marshall University. His older daughter, Chelsea, recently completed her freshman year of college at Ball State University. Jim's younger daughter, Analisse, is three years old and full of energy.
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Official acknowledgement of caliber or not, Backus has earned a reputation as a notable talent on the offensive line. Backus has now started exactly 80 out of a possible 80 games for the Lions since joining the team as a first-round draft pick in 2001; he ... never missed a game in his four-year turn at the University of Michigan. Though Backus reportedly played the last 11 games of 2005 with bone fragments in his ankle and had offseason surgery to clean it up, the big tackle has been given a clean bill of health.
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Jim Backus