Introduction
Jack Ging (born 30 November 1931) is an American film and television actor, best known as General Harlan "Bull" Fulbright on NBC's television adventure series The A-Team.
Early life
Jack Ging was born as Jack Lee Ging on November 30, 1931, in Alva, Oklahoma. His parents farmed outside of Alva, Oklahoma. His maternal and paternal grandparents were participants in the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893.
When he was young, his parents divorced, and his mother began working as a Harvey girl. Although his mother had custody of him, her irregular hours as a waitress led to his living with relatives. Eventually, he settled with a family named Domenici while he attended a Catholic school.
He attended St. Michael's boarding school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He left the school his mother became ill and returned to Oklahoma, where he lived with an aunt and uncle and his mother lived with his grandmother.
Later, he attended the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Career
US army and college football
Before pursuing a career in acting, Ging served in the United States Marine Corps for four years and was honorably discharged. In the 1950s, he played college football at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. He scored five touchdowns during his time at Oklahoma and played in the 1954 Orange Bowl game.
Ging also played for one season with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League after he graduated. He was a Crosby golf tournament winner, and a "Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis tournament champion."
Acting
Ging made his acting debut in 1958, appearing as "Corporal Benning" in "The Governor" episode of the TV series The Rough Riders, starring Kent Taylor and Jan Merlin. The same year, he was cast as a Raider in eight episodes of the 1958-1959 syndicated western series Mackenzie's Raiders, starring Richard Carlson as "Colonel Ranald Mackenzie" and set in southwest Texas on the Mexican border. Also in 1958, he appeared in a minor uncredited role in Director: Leo McCarey's comedy film Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! Thereafter, he appeared as "Beau McCloud" in thirteen episodes in the last season of the ABC western series Tales of Wells Fargo, with fellow Oklahoman Dale Robertson.
He had the starring role in the war film Sniper's Ridge (1961), played "Will Coleman" in the 1975 adaptation of the film Where the Red Fern Grows and appeared sporadically as police contact "Lieutenant Dan Ives" on Mike Connors's TV series Mannix in the early 1970s. Other film credits include Hang 'Em High (1968), Play Misty for Me (1971), and High Plains Drifter (1973), all opposite Clint Eastwood; the horror films Die Sister, Die! (1972) and Sssssss (1973); and That Man Bolt (1973). He also appeared in TV movies such as Terror in the Sky (1971) and The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974).
Ging portrayed "Dan Wright" in NBC's The Man and the Challenge, an adventure series that ran for thirty-six episodes during the 1959-1960 season. He also starred in two episodes of Bat Masterson with Gene Barry: "Dead Men don't pay no debts" (1959), playing a small-town sheriff in love with a girl whose name is the same as the man he's sworn to kill, and "Bat Trap" (1960).
In 1960, Ging appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Whole Truth". He made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including, in 1962, playing "Danny Pierce" in "The Case of the Lonely Eloper". From 1962-1964, he played a young psychiatrist in NBC's 62-episode medical drama The Eleventh Hour.
Ging's other roles were on The Roaring 20s, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Wiseguy, B. J. and the Bear, The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, and The Highwayman. In 1981, he played "Tracy Winslow" in the episode "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" of ABC's The Greatest American Hero. From 1984–1985, Ging played the arrogant "Lieutenant Ted Quinlan" on the adventure/detective series Riptide; his character was killed off and he went on to appear on The A-Team, on which he made two guest appearances as villains.
Ging was last seen on the screen in 1994, in the role of "Coach Dan Mattay" in "Boys Will Be Girls" episode of the TV series Wings, starring Tim Daly, Steven Weber, and Crystal Bernard.
Personal life
Ging was married three times and has four children.
His first marriage with Katie Ellen Paul from 12 November 1951 to 1954 ended in a divorce. They had a child together. He was then married to Gretchen Louise Graening from 19 April 1956 to 1973, which also ended in divorce. He had one child with Graening.
His third marriage, on 23 September 1978, was with Sharon Ramona Thompson, with whom he has two children. The family lives in Palm Springs, California.
Partial filmography
- Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) - Hoxie's Driver (uncredited)
- Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) - Tony
- Desire in the Dust (1960) - Peter Marquand
- Tess of the Storm Country (1960) - Peter Graves
- Sniper's Ridge (1961) - Pvt. Sharack
- Intimacy (1966) - Jim Hawley
- Hang 'Em High (1968) - Marshal Ace Hayes (uncredited)
- Terror in the Sky (1971) - Controller
- Play Misty for Me (1971) - Frank
- Die Sister, Die! (1972) - Edward Price
- High Plains Drifter (1973) - Morgan Allen
- Sssssss (1973) - Sheriff Dale Hardison
- That Man Bolt (1973) - Connie Mellis
- Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) - Father
- The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974) - Green
- Another Man, Another Chance (1977) - Preacher (uncredited)