John Hillerman enjoyed a long and varied career as a character actor on Broadway and in Hollywood before achieving his greatest acting success in Hawaii. As Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the hit detective series “Magnum P.I.’ from 1980-88, Hillerman played the very British and proper counterpoint to series star Tom Selleck. The casual and boyish Magnum, a former Navy officer, handled security at the “Robin’s Nest,” the grand mansion of mystery writer, Robin Masters, while also solving cases on the lovely island of O’ahu. The never-seen writer issued orders through his majordomo Higgins, who kept a tight control over the lovely home, located at the Anderson Estate on Kalanianaole Highway in Waimanalo. The CBS series choose Hawaii as the locale for the popular series to keep their Hawaii film production offices open after the cancellation of the original “Hawaii Five-O’ (1968-1980). In interviews, Hillerman, a Texas native, spoke of the beauty of Hawaii and his good fortune in getting the opportunity to live there for 8 months of the year. Hillerman won an Emmy and Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sergeant Major in the British Army He won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Higgins, a former Sergeant Major in the British Army. The character proved so indelible that CBS asked Hillerman to guest star on “Simon & Simon’ and “Murder She Write’ as Higgins.
John Hillerman enjoyed a long and varied career as a character actor on Broadway and in Hollywood before achieving his greatest acting success in Hawaii. As Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the hit detective series “Magnum P.I.†from 1980-88, Hillerman played the very British and proper counterpoint to series star Tom Selleck. The casual and boyish Magnum, a former Navy officer, handled security at the “Robin’s Nest,” the grand mansion of mystery writer, Robin Masters, while also solving cases on the lovely island of O’ahu. The never-seen writer issued orders through his majordomo Higgins, who kept a tight control over the lovely home, located at the Anderson Estate on Kalanianaole Highway in Waimanalo. The CBS series choose Hawaii as the locale for the popular series to keep their Hawaii film production offices open after the cancellation of the original “Hawaii Five-O†(1968-1980). In interviews, Hillerman, a Texas native, spoke of the beauty of Hawaii and his good fortune in getting the opportunity to live there for 8 months of the year. Hillerman won an Emmy and Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sergeant Major in the British Army He won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Higgins, a former Sergeant Major in the British Army. The character proved so indelible that CBS asked Hillerman to guest star on “Simon & Simon†and “Murder She Write†as Higgins.