Jim Whittaker
Known for
Acting
Born
February 10, 1929
Birthplace
Seattle, WA, USA
Died
April 7, 2026 (aged 97)
Biography
James Warren Whittaker was an American climber and mountain guide. On May 1, 1963, he became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest as a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, alongside the Sherpa Nawang Gombu, a nephew of Tenzing Norgay. They ran out of oxygen, but managed to reach the summit.
Best known work
Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey
2017
High Tension
2013
High and Hallowed: Everest 1963
2013
Return to Mount Kennedy
2018
Everest - Blood, Sweat and Tears
1993
Nawang Gombu - Heart of a Tiger
2013
Americans on Everest
1965
Sherpa: The Proving Grounds
2002
This Is Self Arrest
1967
Pilgrimage to a Mountain Peak
1965Filmography
2018
Return to Mount Kennedyas Self
2017
2013
High Tensionas Self
2013
2013
2002
Sherpa: The Proving Groundsas Self
1993
Everest - Blood, Sweat and Tearsas related character
1967
This Is Self Arrestas Narrator
1965
Americans on Everestas Self
1965