James Hampton brought warmth and a useful lack of fuss to fathers and comic sidekicks. Teen Wolf is a reminder that an agreeable presence cannot make up for a thinly written part.
Fi1m perspective
As Harold Howard in Teen Wolf (1985), James Hampton brings a father's warmth to a comedy more interested in Michael J. Fox. He has less room to make an impression than the part needs, but his understated presence suits a film that is at least kind to its characters. We found that kindness comforting, particularly when the jokes ran short. Hampton is worth noticing for this unforced good nature, though we would not pretend it rescues the film. There is too little for the supporting cast to do independently of Fox.
That familiar supporting position took several forms. On television, he was the tone-deaf bugler Hannibal Dobbs in F Troop (1965–1967); in The Longest Yard (1974), he played Caretaker opposite Burt Reynolds. The latter part grew through improvisation, a useful indication that his amiability could produce something more than agreeable background company. The China Syndrome (1979), in which he played Bill Gibson alongside Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, gave him a dramatic supporting role. The dramatic role matters in a career so often associated with genial, hapless companions.
Sling Blade (1996) offers a more rewarding setting for that unshowy approach. Working with actor-director Billy Bob Thornton, Hampton plays Jerry Woolridge, a hospital administrator whose credibility helps establish the film's ordinary small-town surroundings. We admire the film's patience with its people, while finding that some scenes linger too long. Hampton makes sense in that ensemble: he can play an ordinary official without making him seem merely useful to the plot. Thornton remains the main attraction, and his central performance earns the attention it asks for.
His later career also included directing episodes of the sitcoms Evening Shade and Hearts Afire, alongside continued acting. For all his reliability, Teen Wolf leaves us wishing someone had written more for him. Start with Sling Blade, and watch what he adds without expecting the film to stop for him.
Biography
James Hampton was an American actor, television director and screenwriter. Born James Wade Hampton in Oklahoma City in 1936, he grew up in Dallas and studied theatre arts at the University of North Texas. He trained in New York and Los Angeles, and served in the US Army before making his screen debut in the early 1960s.
He appeared regularly on television in the 1960s and 1970s, including as Private Hannibal Dobbs in F Troop (1965–1967) and Leroy B. Simpson on The Doris Day Show (1968–1973). Film roles included Caretaker in The Longest Yard (1974), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, Bill Gibson in The China Syndrome (1979), Harold Howard in Teen Wolf (1985) and its sequel, and Jerry Woolridge in Sling Blade (1996). He also directed episodes of series such as Evening Shade.
Hampton died in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2021.
