John McGiver

John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975.The owl-faced, portly character actor with his mid-Atlantic accent and precise diction, was often cast as pompous Englishmen and other stuffy, aristocratic and bureaucratic types. He was known for his performances in such films as Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961); The Manchurian Candidate (1962); and Who's Minding the Store? (1963). He appeared on many television shows and commercials during the 1960s and early 1970s, including the very first of a long running popular series of commercials for the American Express charge card ("Do you know me?"). 2Early life McGiver was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Irish immigrants. He graduated from the Jesuit-run Regis High School in Manhattan in 1932.He earned a B.A. in English from Fordham University in 1938 and master's degrees from Columbia University and Catholic University. He became an English teacher and worked as an actor and director in New York's Irish Repertory Theater. He interrupted those activities and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and served as an officer in the U.S. Army's 7th Armored Division in Europe during World War II. Returning to civilian life, he continued to teach English and speech at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx and worked occasionally in off-Broadway plays until 1955, when he became a full-time actor. 2Career In 1959, McGiver appeared in the episode "The Assassin" of NBC's espionage drama Five Fingers, starring David Hedison. In 1962, he appeared as Gramps in the episode "The Seventh Day of Creation" of the NBC medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour, starring Wendell Corey and Jack Gin