following the war, whitmore appeared on broadway, where he won a special tony award in 1948. his first major movie was "battleground", for which he was nominated for the academy award for best supporting actor. other major movies include; "the asphalt jungle", "the next voice you hear", "kiss me, kate", "them!", "black like me", and "give 'em hell, harry", for which he was nominated for the academy award for best supporting actor for his role as 33rd president of the united states harry s. truman.