James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was a radio, television, film actor, character actor, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of "Mr. Magoo," the rich "Hubert Updike, III," of the Alan Young radio show, Joan Davis' husband (a domestic court judge) on TV's I Married Joan, James Dean's father in Rebel Without a Cause and "Thurston Howell, III" on the 1960s hit sitcom Gilligan's Island. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot off the Wire. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.