Description
Maris Valainis is an American construction consultant and a former actor, best known for his role in the 1986 film Hoosiers, in which he played the character of Jimmy Chitwood, a basketball player who makes a last-second shot to win the Indiana state high school championship. The character is based upon Bobby Plump, who actually accomplished that feat in 1954.
Valainis, a native of Indiana, had arrived at an open casting call for Hoosiers but grew impatient waiting in line with hundreds of other hopefuls and decided to leave the line. However, when he did so, he was noticed by a casting director, who then pulled him aside and asked him to demonstrate his basketball skills. Although Valainis had been cut each of the three times he had tried out for his own high school basketball team, he impressed the casting director enough that he was invited back the next day to read lines, and he eventually landed the part. Of the eight actors cast as members of the team, Valainis was reportedly the only one who did not actually play high school basketball.
Born
February 18th, 1963 in Indiana (Age 61)
Films
Last Changes
2021/11/27
New Address: Available to members only
2021/11/21
New Scanned Autograph (In-P/Authentic (In-Person))
2021/11/21
New Scanned Autograph (In-P/Authentic (In-Person))