Jack Ging

Early life

Ging was the son of a couple who farmed outside of Alva, Oklahoma. Both sets of his 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. Later, he attended St. Michael's boarding school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He left there when his mother became ill, resulting in their return to Oklahoma, where she lived with his grandmother while he lived with an aunt and uncle.

Before turning to acting, Ging served in the United States Marine Corps for four years and was honorably discharged. During 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.

Career

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 Mannix^:653-654 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 which ran for thirty-six episodes during the 1959-1960 season. Ging also starred in an episode of Bat Masterson with Gene Barry, "Dead Men don't pay no debts", playing a small town sheriff in love with a girl whose name is the same as the man he's sworn to kill.

Ging 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. Thereafter, he appeared as Beau McCloud in thirteen episodes in the last season of the ABC western series Tales of Wells Fargo,^:1051 with fellow Oklahoman Dale Robertson.

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.^:303

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, and War and Remembrance. In 1981, Ging 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.

His roles as a regular on TV programs included that of Chuck Morris on the CBS crime drama Dear Detective and Admiral Conte on the NBC adventure series The Highwayman.^:462

Athletic accomplishments

In addition to his achievements in football during his college years, Ging played for one season with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League after he graduated. He also was a "Crosby golf tournament winner, [and a] Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis tournament champion."

Personal life

Ging married a girl named Katie "right out of high school". He had one child with her. After they divorced, he wed Gretchen Graening on April 19, 1956. They had one son and divorced in September 1973. On September 23, 1978, Ging married Sharon Ramona Thompson in Los Angeles. They have two daughters.

He lives in Palm Springs, California.