# Actual pic of JFK Secret Service agent. . . or TV prop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207 "2020-06-07T17:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/1 "2020-06-07T17:33:14Z")
In the “Quantum Leap” episode “Lee Harvey Oswald,” as the story ends, we see Sam, who has replaced a Secret Service Agent leaning against a wall. As he leaps, the frame dissolves to a picture of (possibly) [a Secret Service agent](http://imgur.com/a/JVPMiUS) leaning against a wall. From some cursory browsing, I couldn’t find any info on whether this was an actual pic, or just a prop for the TV program. If it is an actual archive pic, who is it? (Doesn’t look like Clint Hill, who was probably the best know of the agents working ‘that day.’) (Actually, it looks a little like a young William Devane.) ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/2 "2020-06-07T18:14:50Z")
William Devane? The same William Devane who starred as John F. Kennedy in The Missiles of October. Connect the dots, sheeple! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/3 "2020-06-07T18:49:32Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Sam, who has replaced a Secret Service Agent … (Doesn’t look like Clint Hill …) Sam didn’t just replace any old secret service agent, he specifically replaced Clint Hill. Hill was the guy who [climbed over the back of the car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Hill_(Secret_Service)#/media/File:Clint_Hill_on_the_limousine.jpg)and shielded Jackie with his body. This is what we see Sam do. The picture [looks](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2013/11/23/0ccbe419-8c20-4733-9dbb-c3e2d0ba248b/thumbnail/1200x630/bad83a379126cc8287caee0f7bce12e3/EN_1122_ClintHillNEW_640x360.jpg)sufficiently [like Hill](https://www.irishcentral.com/uploads/article/119140/cropped_Jackie_Clint_Hill_John_F_Kennedy_clinthillsecretserviceCOM.jpg?t=1543058282)to me, allowing for focus/ motion blur. I’m sure it’s at least meant to be him. I’m guessing it’s a frame from a news film, rather than a still photo. I’m sure there must be sufficient real photos of Hill, why would they fake one? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/4 "2020-06-08T13:50:43Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Sam didn’t just replace any old secret service agent, he specifically replaced Clint Hill. Hill was the guy who [climbed over the back of the car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Hill_(Secret_Service)#/media/File:Clint_Hill_on_the_limousine.jpg)and shielded Jackie with his body. This is what we see Sam do. > > The picture [looks](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2013/11/23/0ccbe419-8c20-4733-9dbb-c3e2d0ba248b/thumbnail/1200x630/bad83a379126cc8287caee0f7bce12e3/EN_1122_ClintHillNEW_640x360.jpg)sufficiently [like Hill](https://www.irishcentral.com/uploads/article/119140/cropped_Jackie_Clint_Hill_John_F_Kennedy_clinthillsecretserviceCOM.jpg?t=1543058282)to me, allowing for focus/ motion blur. I’m sure it’s at least meant to be him. I’m guessing it’s a frame from a news film, rather than a still photo. > > I’m sure there must be sufficient real photos of Hill, why would they fake one? Well, in the picture in the OP, the agent has a definite part on the right in his hair. These pictures of Clint Hill show him with very short, close-cropped hair with no part. Perhaps, the picture in the OP is meant to look a bit more like Scott Bakula, perhaps to suggest a bit of mystery? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/5 "2020-06-08T14:31:57Z")
I’m not seeing any “definite part.” And it looks to me like there’s a shadow behind his head. It sort of merges with his hair, and makes his hair look larger. But if you look closely, it’s a different shade of grey. Remove that, and it’s the same close cropped hair. What really convinces me, if you look, the man in the photo, and Hill both have the same distinctive widow’s peak/ M-shaped hairline. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/6 "2020-06-09T19:22:00Z")
Not Clint Hill, IMO. [Here’s](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fac%2F2a%2Fca%2Fac2aca436286e26ceb0b72ce27526a35.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F134896951309900526%2F&docid=ohG5rakMw61wHM&tbnid=4aU2UNmF9VL6IM%3A&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim) a contemporary picture of Hill. I think his face is shorter and rounder than the man in the screen grab. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/7 "2020-06-09T21:04:21Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m sure there must be sufficient real photos of Hill, why would they fake one? Because there’s not? I can’t find any photos of him as a young man at that time casually hanging out alone like that, especially close up. If it were him, that photo would be easily Googleable. And yeah, it looks nothing like him and the man in the photo definitely parts his hair on his right side. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/8 "2020-06-09T22:52:06Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing any “definite part.” And it looks to me like there’s a shadow behind his head. It sort of merges with his hair, and makes his hair look larger. But if you look closely, it’s a different shade of grey. Remove that, and it’s the same close cropped hair. > > What really convinces me, if you look, the man in the photo, and Hill both have the same distinctive widow’s peak/ M-shaped hairline. It doesn’t look like him to me. There’s seems to be a definite part to his hair in the OP’s photo, and I don’t see that in any of the other photos of him. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/9 "2020-06-09T22:53:06Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing any “definite part.” And it looks to me like there’s a shadow behind his head. It sort of merges with his hair, and makes his hair look larger. But if you look closely, it’s a different shade of grey. Remove that, and it’s the same close cropped hair. > > What really convinces me, if you look, the man in the photo, and Hill both have the same distinctive widow’s peak/ M-shaped hairline. I, too, see a clear part in his hair in the OP’s photo. I don’t think that’s him. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/10 "2020-06-09T23:52:31Z")
As far as “why fake it if they don’t have to?” goes, it’s TV. Faking it is what they do. Making their fiction match existing facts is not what they do. I think it’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/11 "2020-06-10T00:05:04Z")
Looking at Google Images, I’m not seeing any photos from inside Parkland Memorial during the time Kennedy was there. That makes sense, in my mind. The writer wanted a bookend to Sam leaping into Oswald’s rifle photo, but there wasn’t one available, so had to create one. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/12 "2020-06-10T00:45:20Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > the agent has a definite part on the right in his hair. > [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > the man in the photo definitely parts his hair on his right side. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I, too, see a clear part in his hair in the OP’s photo. Okay, I’m not seeing any part. But lets try a little test. I wonder if you are even seeing the same thing as each other. Each of you, please mark on the photo with a red line where you see the part, and PM it to me. Don’t post it in the thread, please do it by PM. I’ll see if they match, and post the results. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/13 "2020-06-10T13:59:13Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing any “definite part.” And it looks to me like there’s a shadow behind his head. It sort of merges with his hair, and makes his hair look larger. But if you look closely, it’s a different shade of grey. Remove that, and it’s the same close cropped hair. There’s no shadow behind his head. There’s a faint shadow on the wall to his right. All of what you see surrounding the top of his head is his hair. The lighter gray you speak of is light bouncing off the top of his hair. As everyone else has said, there is a very obvious part directly above his right eye. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/14 "2020-06-10T14:12:39Z")
Yeah, definitely no shadow behind the head. Look at the light source(s). There’s a key light from the top left, that lights up the right side of his face, and then there’s a kicker light on the right side of the frame to highlight the left edge of his face. If you look at his left hand (right side of the picture), you can see the shadow of his hand from just below and to the right. Note its intensity. Look at the intensity of all the shadows in the background. I don’t see anything of that significantly lighter intensity behind his hair. And if what I think you are interpreting as a shadow (I personally don’t see a great variation in tone there, but I think you’re saying some of the volume of his hair above his left eye is shadow) is a shadow, for it to be that dark, the background would have to be much closer, and there would need to be a light source from below to cast it up over his head. And there isn’t a light source from that direction. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/15 "2020-06-10T14:20:25Z")
For context, [here’s the scene as it played out in the episode](https://youtu.be/iWOGNTmbuIc?t=114). To me, it looks like it was made for the show.ETA: Oh, and it just occurred to me, it would be unlikely for a hospital corridor to be lit in the way it is in that still photograph. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/16 "2020-06-10T15:53:45Z")
It’s so clearly not the same guy, especially on the same day, I can’t believe any poster wouldn’t see it. The pic from QL is of a man with much more hair, a part, and more classic good looks. [This](https://i.ibb.co/9VJrjRH/rc2.jpg) guy is not [this](https://i.ibb.co/yN8TxCj/fclint.png) guy. The fake Clint’s left sideburn ends almost at about mid-ear. The real Clint’s right sideburn ends much higher. Maybe he rushed shaving that day. But the hardest thing to believe is that there would be this picture of Clint Hill in the hospital that day (apparently with time to chill alone near a photographer with access) that can’t be found anywhere online, yet it was used in an episode of a TV show in 1992. C’mon! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/17 "2020-06-10T17:36:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, definitely no shadow behind the head. Look at the light source(s). Oh, I am. And what I see is that there is a thin object casting a shadow over the left side of his face. See how his left eye, and half his nose mouth and chin are in shadow, but his left temple and ear are lit. There is a definite shadow there. What you see as hair, I see as part of the same shadow. You can take a look [at this](https://i.ibb.co/jvFVqmp/lighter.jpg). All I’ve done is lighten the picture a bit. But it makes the difference between hair and shadow more pronounced. And if it IS hair, then don’t you think it’s a rather strange hairstyle: close cropped on the right, close cropped on the left, and a thick tuft on top. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/18 "2020-06-10T18:01:41Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Oh, I am. And what I see is that there is a thin object casting a shadow over the left side of his face. See how his left eye, and half his nose mouth and chin are in shadow, but his left temple and ear are lit. There is a definite shadow there. What you see as hair, I see as part of the same shadow. > > You can take a look [at this](https://i.ibb.co/jvFVqmp/lighter.jpg). All I’ve done is lighten the picture a bit. But it makes the difference between hair and shadow more pronounced. > > And if it IS hair, then don’t you think it’s a rather strange hairstyle: close cropped on the right, close cropped on the left, and a thick tuft on top. Try as I might, I’m not seeing what you’re seeing. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-pic-of-jfk-secret-service-agent-or-tv-prop/855207/19 "2020-06-10T18:05:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing any “definite part.” **And it looks to me like there’s a shadow behind his head**. It sort of merges with his hair, and makes his hair look larger. But if you look closely, it’s a different shade of grey. Remove that, and it’s the same close cropped hair. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, **definitely no shadow behind the head. Look at the light source(s)**. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > **Oh, I am**. And **what I see is that there is a thin object casting a shadow over the left side of his face**. See how **his left eye, and half his nose mouth and chin are in shadow** , but his left temple and ear are lit. **There is a definite shadow there**. What you see as hair, I see as part of the same shadow. See what you did there?