William Whitney Talman, Jr. was born on February 4, 1915 in Detroit Michigan. His parents
were Ada and William Talman Sr.
Talman founded the drama club at the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He
continued to act at Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan.
After college, he worked in summer stock and at an iron foundry, boat yards, and as car
salesman. Talman began his acting career on Broadway
in the early 1940s. He appeared in "Beverly Hills", "Yokel Boy" and "Of Mice and Men."
He was appearing in "Spring Again" at Henry Miller's Theatre in January of 1942 when he
received his draft notice.
Talman served in the United States Army in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, beginning
his service as a private in 1942, He was eventually promoted to the rank of major during the
war.
After the war he returned to broadway and then films. His first picture was Red, Hot
and Blue in (1949) and The Racket in 1951 among others.
In 1953, Talman played a sadistic, psychopathic killer in film The Hitch-Hiker. His performance was
seen by Gail Patrick Jackson, executive producer of the CBS-TV long running series Perry Mason.
Gail Patrick already had an actor in mind for the Los Angeles district attorney: “ But
I'd seen a brilliant little movie, The Hitch-Hiker, and had to have Bill Talman as Burger.”
Patrick said. Talman, as Hamilton Burger, went on to lose
all but three cases in the nine-year series. Talman was fired from Perry Mason for a
short period in 1960. Sheriff's deputies, suspicious of marijuana use, raided a party
on March 13, 1960, in a private home in Beverly Hills at which Talman was a guest. The deputies
reported finding Talman and seven other defendants either nude or seminude. All were arrested
for possession of marijuana and lewd vagrancy, but municipal judge Adolph Alexander dismissed
all the charges against Talman and the others on June 17th for lack of proof. Despite this
Talman was fired by CBS, which refused to give a reason. Talman was later rehired
after Perry Mason producer Gail Patrick Jackson, staunchly supported by Talman's friend, Raymond
Burr, made a request to CBS following a massive letter-writing campaign by viewers.
In addition to his supporting role in Perry Mason, Talman also guest-starred in various
television series, including Wagon Train, Have Gun-Will Travel, Cimarron City, and Gunsmoke. After
the 1966 cancellation of Perry Mason, Talman went on a six-week tour of Vietnam
to entertain the troops. But when he came home, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Talman kept working and appeared on The Wild, Wild West and in a first-season episode of The
Invaders, which was his last on-screen acting role before his death.
Talman was married three times. His first marriage, to actress Lynne Carter, lasted
from just before Talman left for active service in 1942 to September 1952 and they had one
daughter, Lynda. His second wife was actress Barbara Read they were married in 1953 and had two
children Barbie, and William Talman III. The couple divorced in 1960. His third wife was
Margaret Flanagan, whom he married in 1963. Margaret had two children Timothy and Susan.
Talman is also known for being the first actor in Hollywood to film an antismoking public
service announcement for the American Cancer Society. A lifelong heavy smoker, he was diagnosed
with lung cancer, and knew he was dying when he filmed two commercials. Talman requested
that they not be aired until after his death. In one of the spots He then said, "You know,
I didn't really mind losing those courtroom battles, but I'm in a battle now I don't want
to lose at all. Because if I lose it, it means losing my wife and those kids you just met.
I've got lung cancer... So take some advice about smoking and losing from someone who's
been doing both for years... If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quit!....
Don't be a loser.” Sadly…Four weeks after filming the second
public service announcement, Talman died of lung cancer on August 30, 1968 He was only
53 years old. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. His widow,
Margaret "Peggy" Louise Talman, joined him there at the time of her death in January
of 2002 at the age of 73. After William Talman's death, she continued his antismoking efforts
but within a few years she had resumed smoking, and she too died of lung cancer.