James Richard Gammon (April 20, 1940 – July 16, 2010) was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon is best known as Lou Brown, the manager in the movies Major League and Major League II, which portrayed a fictitious version of the Cleveland Indians.

Biography

Early life

Gammon was born in Newman, the son of Doris Latimer (née Toppe), a farm girl, and Donald Gammon, a musician. After his parents divorced and he bounced around home to home, he made his way to Orlando, Florida. He worked at Orlando's ABC TV affiliate WLOF Channel 9 as a cameraman and director. In his 20s, he packed up and moved to Hollywood to try to find work.

Acting career

His early television credits include appearing twice as Deputy Virgil Bramley in the NBC western series The Road West in the 1966–1967 season, which co-starred Barry Sullivan, Andrew Prine, and Glenn Corbett.

In the 1970s, he helped found the Met Theatre in Los Angeles. While performing there, a rep from The Public Theater saw him and had him cast as Weston in Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class in 1978. The two became friends afterward. He made his sole Broadway appearance as "Dodge" in a revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance. He also appeared on stage in Shepard's San Francisco debut of The Late Henry Moss along with Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Cheech Marin and Woody Harrelson in 2000.

James Gammon (fl. 1660–1670), was an English engraver of portraits.

Gammon's works were for the most part copies of better known engravings.Joseph Strutt described his works as being executed "in a stiff, tasteless style".

He lived in London, and was employed mainly by booksellers. Among his engravings were portraits of James I, Charles I, Charles II, Catherine of Braganza, James, duke of York, Henry, duke of Gloucester, Mary, princess of Orange, the Duke and Duchess of Monmouth, Richard Cromwell, George Monck, Duke of Albemarle (a copy from Loggan's print), Sir Tobias Mathew (prefixed to his Letters, 1660), Edward Mascall the painter, and others. A portrait of Ann, duchess of Albemarle, was engraved by a Richard Gammon "against Exeter House in ye Strand", probably a relative of James.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gammon, James". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.