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James Whitmore as Sgt. Ben Peterson

Born on October 1, 1921, in White Plains, New York, gruff veteran character actor James Whitmore earned early and widespread respect with his award-winning dramatic capabilities on Broadway and in films. He would later conquer TV with the same trophy-winning results.

Applause and kudos came swiftly for Whitmore while under both the Broadway and film banners. After appearing with the Peterborough, New Hampshire, Players in the summer of 1947 in "The Milky Way," Whitmore made a celebrated Broadway debut as Tech Sergeant Evans in "Command Decision" later that year.

Hollywood soon took notice of Whitmore. He made an auspicious film bow the following year with a prime role in the documentary-styled crime thriller The Undercover Man (1949).

Battleground (1949), another war picture, was highly praised and the actor became the talk of the town upon its initial release, grabbing both the Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for "supporting actor" for his efforts.

He showed off his soft inner core as a religious, moral-minded family man in the inspirational drama The Next Voice You Hear (1950); featured his usual saltier side in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950); ably portrayed a pathetic crook in The Asphalt Jungle (1950); and displayed customary authority as a security chief in the stoic military drama Above and Beyond (1952).

Elsewhere, he played a Runyonesque gangster in the musical Kiss Me Kate (1953); portrayed a valiant cop fighting off mutant ants in the intelligent sci-fi thriller Them! (1954); a hard-hitting social worker in Crime in the Streets (1956) and made the most of his small role in The Eddy Duchin Story (1956).

By 1959, he turned more toward the small screen, with memorable roles in "Twilight Zone" (1959), "The Detectives" (1959), "Ben Casey" (1961) and a host of live theater dramas. He also starred in his own series as attorney Abraham Lincoln Jones in "The Law and Mr. Jones" (1960).

Every so often a marvelous character would interest him back to the big screen. Notable of these were his white man passing for black in the controversial social drama Black Like Me (1964); his weary veteran cop in Madigan (1968); and his brash simian in the classic sci-fi Planet of the Apes (1968).

In the 1970s the actor transformed into a magnificent one-man-show machine playing such celebrated and inspiring historical/entertainment icons as Will Rogers, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt.

He disappeared into these historical legends in the form of Will Rogers' USA (1972) (TV); Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975), which earned him his second Oscar nomination; and Bully: An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt (1978).

In his twilight years, Whitmore showed he still had what it took to touch movie audiences, most notably as the fragile prisoner-turned-parolee who cannot adapt to his late-life freedom in the classic film The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

On TV he continued to win awards, copping a TV Emmy for a recurring part on "The Practice" (1997) in the late 1990s. Whitmore died of lung cancer on February 6, 2009, after having been diagnosed in mid-November 2008.

The whole side of the trailer is in shambles.

PETERSON: This blood must be 10-12 hours old. Whatever happen here, must have happen either last night or early this morning.

BLACKBURN: Yea.

PETERSON: Check outside, will you.

BLACKBURN: Yea.

Peterson sees a gun on the floor, using his pen he picks it up, inspects it, smells it.

He finds the broken piece from the doll and a patch of cloth from the little girl's robe.

BLACKBURN: Sure no traffic accident, was it.

PETERSON: No. . . This wasn't caved in, it was caved out. . . Did you find anything?

BLACKBURN: No foot prints or tire marks. Found this, I picked up just one, six or seven more scattered over there. Sugar.

PETERSON: Yea.

BLACKBURN: Say, there's something over here you ought to take a look at. I don't know whether it's anything important or not, see what you think.

Inside, they see a box of spilled sugar cubes.

BLACKBURN: Mountain lions never come down into the desert.

PETERSON: No cat would leave a print like that.

BLACKBURN: Maybe something was set down there. A can or something like that.

PETERSON: Yea, could almost be anything. . . . Oh I found these inside.

Peterson shows Blackburn the doll piece and the patch of cloth.

PETERSON: Look, put in a call, get finger print equipment out here right away. Oh and have the medics come along and pick up the kid.

BLACKBURN: Right.