Born in November 1931 in Alva, Jack Lee Ging was the son of Oklahoma farmers. He was left in the care of another family after the divorce of his parents and later attended a Catholic school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ging served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps at MCB Quantico. Upon his honorable discharge, he excelled as an athlete, playing college football as a halfback at the University of Oklahoma, followed by a professional season with the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian league.

Having studied drama under Sanford Meisner in New York, Ging (nicknamed 'Jackie' or Ginger') commenced his screen career in 1958, featuring primarily on television as a supporting actor. He henceforth alternated furtive or villainous roles with a wide assortment of middle-echelon army officers and policemen. Superior riding skills acquired in childhood served him well in numerous western appearances. Ging had one notable starring turn on the big screen in the modestly budgeted Korean War drama Sniper's Ridge (1961), as the only capable trooper among a platoon of misfits. He also showed up in no less than three Clint Eastwood films: Play Misty for Me (1971), Hang 'Em High (1968) and, as the doomed outlaw Morgan Allen, in High Plains Drifter (1973). While possibly best remembered as Gen. Harlan 'Bull' Fulbright in The A-Team (1983), Ging enjoyed earlier recurring roles as one of Mackenzie's Raiders (1958) and as Dale Robertson's sidekick Beau McCloud in the final season of 'Tales of Wells Fargo'. He was also a regular on Mannix (1967) (as police department insider Lt. Dan Ives) and as stiff-necked local cop Ted Quinlan in Riptide (1984). The last of his many single TV guest appearances was in 1994.

Outside of acting, Ging had a prosperous sideline in real estate and was known as an expert golfer and a one-time Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis tournament champion.