Actor James Farentino died 24 January 2012 of heart failure after a long illness. Born 24 February 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, he won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer in 1967, for his role in The Pad and How to Use It. He was also nominated for an Emmy for his supporting actor work in Jesus of Nazareth (1977). He was also a stage actor, and won a Theatre World Award in 1973 for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire.
His tv career began in 1962, with a role on Naked City. His first movie role came the following year, in the horror film Violent Midnight. He later had recurring television roles on Dynasty, Melrose Place, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, and ER, where he played playing the estranged father to George Clooney’s character.
In 1980, Farentino co-starred, with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, in The Final Countdown, in which the aircraft carrier Nimitz travels back in time to the day before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. His other genre roles include: Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994), The Cradle Will Fall (1983), Dead & Buried (1981), The Possessed (1977), and two episodes of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (1971 and 1972).
Farnetino was married and four times, to four actresses: Elizabeth Ashley (1962-65), Michele Lee (1966-83), Debrah Farentino (1985-87), and Stella Farentino (1994- ). Stella and he each filed for divorce at least once during their marriage. He is survived by two sons.