Hawthorne James

Hawthorne James
Born
James Hawthorne

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1979–present

Hawthorne James is an American character actor and director, known for his role as Big Red Davis in the 1991 film The Five Heartbeats.[1]

He is also known for his role as Sam, the injured bus driver, in Speed,[2] George, the Night Guard at the Library, in Seven and series as NYPD Blue[2] and guest-starring on Frasier as Bill in the season one episode "Miracle on Third or Fourth Street".

He was born James Hawthorne in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Robert Hawthorne and A. M. Alene.[3] He earned a bachelor's degree in Theater from the University of Notre Dame, a master's degree from the University of Michigan, and taught Theater at Illinois State University.[4]

James was responsible for his appearance in the funeral scene of Jimmy Potter in The Five Heartbeats, which he based on a scene from Shakespeare's Richard III.[5]

  1. ^ Maslin, Janet (March 29, 1991). "The Five Heartbeats (1991) Reviews/Film; Struggling to the Top With the Five Heartbeats". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b "Hawthorne James". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. August 10, 2023.[dead link]
  3. ^ "Hawthorne James". Filmreference.com.
  4. ^ "Meet: Hawthorne James aka "Big Red"". SPOTLIGHT 5 Things To Know. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  5. ^ "big red - five heartbeats 'FIVE HEARTBEATS' STAR HAWTHORNE JAMES TALKS BIG RED, SHAKESPEARE AND SUGE KNIGHT'S LOVE OF MOVIE". eurweb.com. July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2019.