Ignatius Wolfington
Encyclopedia
Ignatius 'Iggie' Wolfington (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, 14 October 1920 – September 30, 2004, Studio City, California) was an American stage actor. Iggie is the youngest of the Wolfington family of Philadelphia, operators of a carriage business (1900's)and brother of the founder of Wolfington Body Company in Exton, Pa. He married Lynn Wood
Lynn Wood
L. Lin Wood born October 19, 1952 in Raleigh, North Carolina and is a high profile American attorney based in Atlanta Georgia. He represented Richard Jewell, the security guard falsely accused in the Atlanta Olympic bombing. Wood's representation of Richard Jewell propelled L. Lin Wood to be known...

, an actress, about 1972. Iggie is also the great-great uncle of Claire Cole.

Education

Wolfington attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School, then studied at the Bessie V. Hicks School of Drama.

Military service

Lt. Wolfington served with distinction in the 102nd Infantry Division (United States) at the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He received a battlefield commission as a first lieutenant. He was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....

 for his role in saving thirty men. He also received the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...

 for wounds he received in battle. Upon his death, with the assistance of his nephew (Steve Bennett) arrangements were facilitated in order that Wolfington was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

 attended by a large group of relatives. Lt. Wolfington's headstone witnesses his duty to the service of his country and the deep love he held for his country and the men he served with during his military career.

Stage career

Wolfington is best known for his role as Marcellus Washburn in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musical The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...

, which earned him a nomination to receive the 1958 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947...

. He would also play Mayor Shinn in the short-lived 1980 Broadway revival of The Music Man. He also played the role of Chef Ellsworth in "Mrs McThing", a 1952 play which featured Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...

.

Television career

Wolfington worked in the earliest days of live television, then became a familiar face on popular television shows like Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

, Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...

, The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...

, The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...

, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...

, Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...

, and The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...

. He made a few television movies.

Appearance in film

Wolfington appeared in the film Hex and the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

 film 1941
1941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...

.

Labor union career

For many years, "Iggie" Wolfington was a council member of the Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...

, a New York City-based labor union for stage actors. In 1969, Wolfington saw the need for a West Coast office of the Actors' Fund of America to provide medical and financial assistance to actors beyond Broadway, NY. Until that time, stage actors outside of New York had experienced difficulty securing adequate support from the headquarters there. Wolfington handled over 10,000 cases in the fifteen years preceding his 2004 death.

Awards

At the time of his retirement in 1984, Wolfington received the following awards:
  • Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
    Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
    The Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award is given by the Screen Actors Guild's National Honors and Tributes Committee "for outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession." The award predates the 1st Screen Actors Guild Awards by over thirty years, having been...

  • Philip Loeb Humanitarian Award
    Philip Loeb Humanitarian Award
    This award was named in memory of the blacklisted prominent actor and Actors' Equity Association worker Philip Loeb, who committed suicide in 1955 after losing his craft to McCarthyism. The award was bestowed only twice....

  • Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award
    Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award
    The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards is an annual awards program presented by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle . Established in 1969, the awards recognize excellence in theatre in the Greater Los Angeles Area....


External links



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