American actor James MacArthur was a beloved star of the 1970s, best known for his 11-year role as Detective Danny “Danno” Williams on crime drama Hawaii Five-O.
Throughout his career, which began when James was a Disney child star, he appeared as Fritz Robinson in Swiss Family Robinson (1960), David Balfour in Kidnapped (1960) and later made a brief appearance in Murder, She Wrote in 1984.
However, it was his long-running role on CBS’s Hawaii Five-O that truly won over audiences. Danno served as second-in-command to US naval officer Steve McGarrett, played by Jack Lord, in the elite police task force operating in Hawaii. After starring for 11 seasons, James eventually moved on to pursue other roles in shows such as Time Express, The Love Boat and Superboy.
Meet James MacArthur’s famous parents
The star, who passed away on 28 October 2010, was the adopted son of playwright Charles MacArthur and legendary actress Helen Hayes. While they were not biologically related, James clearly followed in his parents’ impressive footsteps in the entertainment industry.
His mother, Helen, was the first woman to achieve EGOT status, winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. She became known as the “First Lady of American Theatre”, starring in celebrated stage productions including Victoria Regina, Time Remembered and What Every Woman Knows.
© Bettmann ArchiveHelen also portrayed Agatha Christie’s iconic sleuth Miss Jane Marple in 1983’s A Caribbean Mystery and later reprised the role in 1985’s Murder with Mirrors.
It took 45 years for Helen to complete her EGOT, which she achieved after winning an Oscar for The Sin of Madelon Claudet, a Tony for Happy Birthday, an Emmy for Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and a Grammy for Great American Documents.
© Bettmann ArchiveHelen was not the only Oscar winner in the family. Her husband Charles won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story in 1936 for The Scoundrel, alongside longtime collaborator Ben Hecht. The pair were also nominated for Rasputin and the Empress (1932) and Wuthering Heights (1939).
Elsewhere, Charles co-wrote iconic stage plays such as The Front Page, Twentieth Century and Jumbo. He was later portrayed by Matthew Broderick in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.
© Bettmann ArchiveMeet James MacArthur’s sister
As well as their adopted son James, Helen and Charles also had a daughter, Mary. Like her family, Mary pursued a career in acting, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and appearing in a handful of theatre and Broadway productions, including Victoria Regina alongside her mother when she was just seven.
Tragically, Mary fell ill in 1949 during a production of Good Housekeeping and was later pronounced dead at the age of 19 on 22 September. Her cause of death was ruled as respiratory polio, which led to the formation of the Mary MacArthur Memorial Fund. The foundation aimed to support research and funding for those affected by the disease.
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