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Edgar Latimer Hinton Jr. (March 26, 1919 – October 12, 1958) was an American actor known particularly for guest-starring roles on television westerns. He was the father of actor Darby Hinton (born 1957), who was only fourteen months old, when Ed Hinton perished in an airplane crash on Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.
Early life and career
Hinton was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, the son of Edgar Latimer Hinton II, Sr. (1868–1934). His father owned the Seashore Hotel and Steel Pier, whose pier was one of the earliest for entertaining over the ocean in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. and all of the town's laundry businesses back then, as well as being a community actor in Wilmington himself. In 1948, Ed Hinton was cast as Kurt Shand in the film Harpoon. This would seem to have been his first acting role, however the Internet Movie Data Base does indicate that he appeared in an uncredited role as a Dartmouth College student in the 1938 film entitled Spring Madness, starring Sterling Holloway. IMDB contends that Hinton was born on March 26, 1919, which would be age-consistent for Spring Madness. TV Guide omits Spring Madness from Hinton's list of screen credits and instead begins ten years later with Harpoon.
Hinton had uncredited roles in the films Samson and Delilah (1949) and in two 1951 productions,The Red Badge of Courageand I Was a Communist for the FBI, as agent Jim Broderick. The latter film inspired the syndicated television series, I Led Three Lives, in which Hinton appeared, apparently in only one episode, "Relatives" (1955), as Special Agent Henderson. Richard Carlson starred as informant Herbert Philbrick.
In 1954, Hinton appeared in some of his first television roles with an appearance on the CBS series Captain Midnight, starring Richard Webb, later of the syndicated series, Border Patrol.
Western roles
- The Cisco Kid (with Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo), Hinton portrayed an outlaw in "Gold Strike" and the character Muley in "Caution of Curley Thompson" (both 1954)
- The Lone Ranger, as Flint in "The Black Hat" (1950), as Bob Shay in "Letter of the Law" (1951), and as Stag the Mute in "Heritage of Treason" and as Jake Logan in "Uncle Ed" (both 1955)
- Apache Ambush, as a husky unnamed pioneer (1955)
- The Adventures of Champion (Gene Autry series), as Rex Baggot in "Lost River" and "King of the Rodeo" (both 1955)
- Tales of the Texas Rangers as Matt Carter in "Blazing Across the Pecos" and as Walker in "The Rough, Tough West" (both 1955)
- The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin in "Bounty Hunters" and as Whitley Larrimore in "The Poor Little Rich Boy" (both 1955) and as Seth Ramsey in "Circle of Fire" (1956)
- Buffalo Bill, Jr. with Dick Jones, episodes "The Lady and the Judge" and "Double-Cross Money" (both 1956)
- Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, as Barry Jeffers in "Remember the Maine" and as Lefty "Red" Burke in "The Rookie" (both 1956)
- The Roy Rogers Show in "High Stakes" (1957)
- State Trooper as Will Morrison in "Violets on Mt. Rose" (1957)
- Circus Boy in "The Return of Colonel Jack", as the Sheriff in "The Magic Lantern" and as Glenn Keyes in "The Judge's Boy" (all 1957)
- The Walter Winchell File "The Law and Aaron Benjamin" - Guard Sgt. David 'Earl' Bailey (1957)
- Tales of Wells Fargo as a colonel in "The SoonerS" (1958)
- Sky King as Red O'Brian in "Danger at the Sawmill" (1958)
- Cimarron City as a prosecutor in "Kid on a Calico Horse" (1958)
- The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as Dean in "Rich Man's Son" (1955) and as Moresby in "The Manly Art" and as Snakey in "Frontier Woman" (both 1958)
- The Rough Riders in "Shadow of the Past" (1958)
- The Buccaneer as Second Mate at Barataria (posthumously 1959)
- Good Day for a Hanging as unnamed citizen (posthumously 1959)
Drama roles
- Adventures of Superman, as Cave Man in "Through the Time Barrier" (1955) and as the pilot in "Julie" (1956) and as Joe in "The Phantom Ring" (1956)
- The Ford Television Theatre as an outlaw in "Duffy's Man" (1956)
- General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald W. Reagan, as Big Nick in "Too Good with a Gun" (1957)
- Perry Mason as Sheriff Mark Daley in "The Case of the Cautious Coquette" (1958)
- Lassie as Jeannie's father in "The Sermon" (1958)
- Gidget (film), uncredited as a police officer (posthumously, 1959)
Family
Hinton and his wife, Marilynn Hinton had three children, Daryn Hinton, Darcy Hinton Cook, and Darby Hinton, who co-starred from 1964-1970 on NBC's western series, Daniel Boone, with Fess Parker in the title role. Mrs. Hinton never remarried after Ed's death.