# Robin Masters has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2017, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200 "2017-11-10T07:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pythonzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/1 "2017-11-10T07:14:32Z")
Character actor John Hillerman has passed away. No more Higgy baby ☹ Zeus and Apollo are now mourning… > **[John Hillerman - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0384916/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)** > > John Hillerman. Actor: Magnum, P.I.. John Hillerman, who most famously played the impeccably urbane Englishman Jonathan Quayle Higgins III (VC !) -- Tom Selleck's sophisticated majordomo in Magnum, P.I. (1980) --, was of French, German and Austrian... ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/2 "2017-11-10T10:10:20Z")
Glad you started a thread about his passing, this versatile character actor deserves one. I’ll always remember him best for his role in Magnum, of course. Another familiar face passes from the scene. _Ave atque vale_, Mr Hillerman, may the earth lie lightly on your grave. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/3 "2017-11-10T11:05:14Z")
… And as Nietzsche said, “Out of chaos comes order.” RIP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/4 "2017-11-10T12:31:49Z")
I really liked him as the hotel manager in Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy _What’s Up, Doc_. His deadpan delivery really sold the one scene he was in. “Mr. Banister, I have a message for you from the staff of the hotel.” “Yes?” “Goodbye.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/5 "2017-11-10T13:13:33Z")
I also remember him as Simon Brimmer, the condescending radio detective who was always upstaged at the end of the old _Ellery Queen_ TV series in the '70s. Shirts throughout Hollywood will be in mourning today; they have lost their stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/6 "2017-11-10T13:29:38Z")
I knew him from Ellery Queen primarily, so when Magnum came out, I said, hey, it’s Simon Brimmer! There goes my dream of a Magnum reuinion where-are-they-now film. Plus, Higgy-baby is NOT Robin Masters! Don’t let them fool you! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/7 "2017-11-10T14:21:13Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Plus, Higgy-baby is NOT Robin Masters! Don’t let them fool you! Indeed. The notion that he is, is just… dumb. I can’t really think of a better word for a plot twist that makes no sense, answers no questions, and just creates conflicts with earlier information. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/8 "2017-11-10T14:32:59Z")
> [@pythonzzz](#): > > Zeus and Apollo are now mourning… Pretty sure Zeus and Apollo were waiting for him at the gates ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/9 "2017-11-10T15:11:23Z")
To me he will always be Howard Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/10 "2017-11-10T15:33:15Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > To me he will always be Howard Johnson. Oh, blow it out your ass! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/11 "2017-11-10T15:52:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Indeed. The notion that he is, is just… dumb. I can’t really think of a better word for a plot twist that makes no sense, answers no questions, and just creates conflicts with earlier information. Higgins: Remember when I told you I was Robin Masters? Magnum: Yes? Higgins: I lied. I looked at his listing in IMDB - he was in a lot I’d seen before Ellery Queen (Kojak, Mannix, Hawaii 5-0) but he never registered. He’d been around a while. Even The Love Boat (twice!)! He really did a good job distinguishing all the different half-brothers of JQ Higgins (plus a single scene as his own father). Glad we never got to see his half-sister Soo Ling. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/12 "2017-11-10T16:34:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Glad we never got to see his half-sister Soo Ling. Or we’d be saying, “So long, Soo Ling!” 😛 He was a very versatile actor, I think, having played numerous character parts over the years, each quite different from the other. I loved that he got his chance to shine as Higgins on _Magnum, P.I._ Too bad he’s gone. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/13 "2017-11-10T17:08:05Z")
I just want the Ferrari Magnum got to drive. As a kid I thought that was the coolest car in the world. A great straight man. I once used the term majordomo in conversation. Greeted with blank stares. You know like Higgins. Not a butler or caretaker, but the guy in charge. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/14 "2017-11-10T17:17:38Z")
> [@Mr.Goob](#): > > I just want the Ferrari Magnum got to drive. As a kid I thought that was the coolest car in the world. > > A great straight man. I once used the term majordomo in conversation. Greeted with blank stares. You know like Higgins. Not a butler or caretaker, but the guy in charge. I drove one, of the same vintage. My head stuck out the top, just like Selleck’s. It was, and remains, the coolest car I have ever driven. Majordomo. Not “the butler cat”. 🙂 I like that Hillerman did a great slow burn and convincing anger. In real life. I’m more like Magnum. I get whiny sounding when I’m exasperated. Oh. My. GOD! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/15 "2017-11-10T17:19:34Z")
Lest we forget, the _original_ voice of Robin Masters was Orson Welles. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/16 "2017-11-10T18:34:04Z")
“Higgy Baby, It ain’t over till it’s over!” It’s over now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/17 "2017-11-10T18:57:29Z")
Donald Bellisario had written a script for _Quantum Leap_ in which Sam Beckett leapt into Thomas Magnum, which never got filmed, mostly because \*Magnum, P. I. \* had ended its run and the actors had moved on to other projects. But it would have been interesting to see Sam, as Magnum, interacting with everyone else in character as Higgins, Rick, T. C., etc. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/18 "2017-11-10T20:21:22Z")
I had a forlorn hope that Bellisario would do a movie about Higgins and his half-siblings. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/19 "2017-11-10T22:38:15Z")
That is indeed one hella impressive IMDb listing. _Chinatown_ and _Blazing Saddles_ in the same year! It just goes on and on. A lot of TV, mostly comedies but some quite serious stuff. Was even on an episode of _The Bob Crane Show_! Forget it Bart, it’s Rock Ridge. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-masters-has-died/801200/20 "2017-11-11T00:13:14Z")
I’ve often wanted to have two miniature pinschers, and name them Zeus and Apollo.