Ned Beatty

Ned Beatty
Beatty at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 1990
Born	Ned Thomas Beatty (1937-07-06)July 6, 1937 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	June 13, 2021(2021-06-13) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–2013
Spouses	Walta Chandler ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1968)​ Belinda Rowley ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1979)​ Dorothy Lindsay ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 1998)​ Sandra Johnson ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	8

Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood".^[1][2] His film appearances included Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), All the President's Men (1976), Network (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Back to School (1986), Rudy (1993), Shooter (2007), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Rango (2011). He also had the series regular role of Stanley Bolander in the first three seasons of the hit NBC TV drama Homicide: Life on the Street.

Beatty was nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, and a Golden Globe Award; he also won a Drama Desk Award.

Beatty was born on July 6, 1937, in Louisville, Kentucky,^[3] to Margaret (née Fortney) and Charles William Beatty.^[4][5] He had an older sister, Mary.^[6] In 1947, Beatty began singing in gospel and barbershop quartets in St. Matthews, Kentucky, and at his local church. He graduated from Eastern High School and subsequently received a scholarship to sing in the a cappella choir at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky; he attended but did not graduate.^[4]

In 1956, Beatty made his stage debut at age 19, appearing in Wilderness Road, an outdoor-historical pageant located in Berea, Kentucky. During his first ten years of theater, he worked at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, the State Theatre of Virginia. Returning to Kentucky, Beatty worked in the Louisville area through the mid-1960s, at the Clarksville Little Theater (Indiana) and the newly founded Actors Theater of Louisville. His time at the latter included a run as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1966.

Throughout his career, Beatty had no regrets about mostly only playing supporting roles: "[Leading roles] are more trouble than they're worth. I feel sorry for people in a star position. It's unnatural".^[7]

In 1972, Beatty made his film debut as Bobby Trippe in Deliverance, starring Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds, and set in northern Georgia. Beatty's character is forced to strip at gunpoint by two mountain men who humiliate and rape him, a scene so shocking that it is still referred to as a screen milestone.^[8][9] Beatty admitted that most of the people who worked on the film did not want to do that scene, but it was an important one.^[7] The film was the fifth highest grossing that year, and also featured "Dueling Banjos" as its theme tune, which went on to be a number one hit record. In 1972, he also appeared in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, a western with Paul Newman.^[10]

In 1973, Beatty had roles in The Thief Who Came to Dinner, The Last American Hero, and White Lightning. The latter film reunited Beatty with his Deliverance co-star Burt Reynolds.^[11] He also appeared in an episode of the TV series The Waltons that year, as well as the TV movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which was the pilot for the series Kojak.^[12] The next year, he appeared in the television miniseries The Execution of Private Slovik and in the two-part episode of The Rockford Files, "Profit and Loss".^[12] In 1975, he appeared in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, in Robert Altman's Nashville,^[13] and as Colonel Hollister in the M*A*S*H episode, "Dear Peggy".^[10] He appeared in the NBC-TV movie Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan as Deputy Sheriff Ollie Thompson (1975). Beatty also made an appearance on Gunsmoke in "The Hiders" episode in 1975.

Beatty received his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor category for the acclaimed film Network (1976), portraying a television network's bombastic but shrewd chairman of the board who convinces the mad Howard Beale character (portrayed by Peter Finch) that corporation-led global dehumanization is not only inevitable, but is also a good thing. Neither Beatty nor William Holden, who shared the lead role with Finch, won an Oscar. The other three acting awards besides the best supporting actor category were swept by Network performers: Best Actor for Peter Finch, Best Actress for Faye Dunaway, and Best Supporting Actress for Beatrice Straight. The Best Supporting Actor award went to Jason Robards for his role in All the President's Men, which also starred Beatty.^[14]

In 1976, he also appeared in The Big Bus, Silver Streak, and Mikey and Nicky.^[13] In 1977, he returned to work with John Boorman in Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), and appeared in "The Final Chapter", the first episode of the television series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected.^{[citation needed]} During 1977-78, he starred in the short-lived sitcom Szysznyk on CBS.^[10]

In 1978, Beatty appeared in Gray Lady Down (1978), a drama aboard a submarine starring Charlton Heston. The film is significant chiefly for being the screen debut of Christopher Reeve, Beatty's future costar. Later that year, Beatty was cast by Richard Donner to portray Lex Luthor's inept henchman Otis in Superman: The Movie (1978), as he would in the 1980 sequel, where his character is seen being left behind in prison. He received his first nomination for Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for the television series Friendly Fire (1979). In 1979, he was also seen in Wise Blood, directed by John Huston, and 1941, directed by Steven Spielberg.^[12]

In 1980, Beatty appeared in Ronald Neame's film Hopscotch with Walter Matthau. In 1981, Beatty appeared in the comedy/science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Woman, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Lily Tomlin. In 1982, Beatty returned to work with Richard Donner and Richard Pryor in the comedy The Toy. Beatty worked with Burt Reynolds again in the auto-racing farce Stroker Ace (1983).^[11]

In the middle of the 1980s, Beatty appeared in the comedy film Restless Natives (1985), directed by Michael Hoffman. By the end of the 1980s, Beatty appeared in another comedy film, as the academic "Dean Martin" in Back to School (1986), starring Rodney Dangerfield. He played a corrupt cop in the 1987 American neo-noir crime film The Big Easy, directed by Jim McBride and starring Dennis Quaid, and continued with a spy drama, The Fourth Protocol (1987), opposite Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan.

In 1988, Beatty appeared with the main character Thelonious Pitt in Shadows in the Storm, and reunited with Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve for the comedy film Switching Channels, his fifth time in a movie with Reynolds.^[11] He appeared in Purple People Eater (1988), portraying a simple grandfather. In 1989, Beatty made Chattahoochee, portraying Dr. Harwood. He had a recurring role as the father of John Goodman's character Dan Conner on the TV comedy series Roseanne (1989–1994).

Entering the 1990s, Beatty gained his third nomination for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special category for Last Train Home (1990). A year later, he appeared in the British film Hear My Song (1991), in which he portrayed tenor Josef Locke, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.^[15]

In 1990, Beatty worked again with Linda Blair in Repossessed (1990), a spoof of The Exorcist. He appeared in the Marvel Comics superhero adventure Captain America (1990). He portrayed the father of the bride in Prelude to a Kiss (1992), opposite Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin. In 1993, he appeared in the true story based film Rudy, playing a Notre Dame Fighting Irish football fan whose son, against all odds, makes the school's football team. In 1992, he played Blanche Devereaux's developmentally disabled older brother in the TV show The Golden Palace. Beatty starred in the television series Homicide: Life on the Street as Detective Stanley Bolander for its first three seasons (1993–1995).^{[citation needed]}

Beatty made the 1994 science-fiction film Replikator (1994) and mystery-comedy Radioland Murders. In 1995, he worked with Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne in the thriller Just Cause. He appeared as Judge Roy Bean in the TV miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's western novel, Streets of Laredo (1995). David Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker wanted Beatty to play John Doe in Seven (1995), because of his resemblance to the 1969 composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer; Beatty declined, describing the script as the "most evil thing I've ever read."^[16] He appeared in a 1998 sports-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, He Got Game. In 1999, Beatty returned to work with Cookie's Fortune, Life, and Spring Forward.^{[citation needed]}

In the beginning of the 2000s, he was a member of the original cast of the television police drama reunion film Homicide: The Movie (2000), reprising his role of Detective Stanley Bolander. In 2002, he appeared in Peter Hewitt's film Thunderpants. In 2003, he portrayed a simple sheriff in Where the Red Fern Grows.

Beatty also enjoyed a career as a stage actor, including a run in the Broadway and London productions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Brendan Fraser and Frances O'Connor. He won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for playing Big Daddy in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.^[17][18]

In the middle of the 2000s, Beatty appeared in the television film The Wool Cap (2004) with William H. Macy, and in 2005, in an American independent film directed and written by Ali Selim, Sweet Land. In March 2006, Beatty received the RiverRun International Film Festival's "Master of Cinema" Award (the highest honor of the festival), in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

At the end of the 2000s, Beatty portrayed a corrupt U.S. Senator in the film version of Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact retitled Shooter (2007), directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, and Danny Glover; in a drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, The Walker (2007), and as the honorable U.S. Congressman Doc Long in the true story Charlie Wilson's War (2007), with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, directed by Mike Nichols. He also worked with Tommy Lee Jones in the thriller In the Electric Mist (2009).

In 2010, Beatty starred in the thriller The Killer Inside Me (2010), which was part of the Sundance Film Festival.^[19] He also voiced Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear in the 2010 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 3 (2010) opposite Charlie Wilson's War costar Tom Hanks, who was reprising his role of Woody from the first two films.^[13] In 2011, Beatty worked with actor Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski in the animated film Rango (2011),^[20] playing the role of Tortoise John.^[15] He appeared briefly in the film Funny Guy and in the film Rampart (2011), opposite Woody Harrelson, which is set in 1999 Los Angeles. Beatty's final television appearance was in sitcom television series Go On (2013), starring Matthew Perry.^[21]

Beatty's next film was The Big Ask (2013), a dark comedy about three couples who head to the desert to help their friend heal after the death of his mother. The film featured Gillian Jacobs, Zachary Knighton, David Krumholtz, Melanie Lynskey, Ahna O'Reilly, and Jason Ritter, and was directed by his son Thomas Beatty and Rebecca Fishman. His other next movie was Baggage Claim (2013), an American comedy film directed by David E. Talbert and written by Talbert based on his book of the same name, opposite Paula Patton, Adam Brody, Djimon Hounsou, Taye Diggs, Christina Milian and Derek Luke, which was also Beatty's final film role before his retirement.^[13]

Beatty was married four times. His first wife was Walta Chandler; they were married from 1959 until 1968 and had four children.^[22] His second wife was actress Belinda Rowley; they were married from 1971 to 1979 and had two children.^[22] His third wife was Dorothy Adams "Tinker" Lindsay; they were married from June 28, 1979, to March 1998 and had two children.^[22] His fourth wife was Sandra Johnson; they were married on November 20, 1999, and lived in Los Angeles, California.^[22] They also maintained a residence in Karlstad, Minnesota.^[22]

Beatty was not related to fellow Hollywood star Warren Beatty, also born in 1937. When asked if they were related, Beatty had been known to joke that Warren was his "illegitimate uncle".^[23]

On June 29, 2012, Beatty attended a 40th anniversary screening of Deliverance at Warner Bros., with Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Jon Voight.^[24][25]

He supported Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign.^[26]

Beatty died at his home in Los Angeles, on June 13, 2021, at the age of 83.^[27][28][29]

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This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2023)

Year	Films	Role	Notes
1972	Deliverance	Bobby Trippe
	The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean	Tector Crites
1973	The Thief Who Came to Dinner	Deams
	The Last American Hero	Hackel
	White Lightning	Sheriff J.C. Connors
1975	W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings	'Country Bull' Jenkins
	Nashville	Delbert Reese
1976	All the President's Men	Martin Dardis
	The Big Bus	Scotty 'Shorty Scotty'
	Network	Arthur Jensen	Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Silver Streak	FBI Agent Bob Stevens / Bob Sweet
	Mikey and Nicky	Kinney
1977	Exorcist II: The Heretic	Edwards
	Alambrista!	Anglo Coyote
1978	Gray Lady Down	Mickey
	The Great Bank Hoax	Julius Taggart
	Superman	Otis
1979	Promises in the Dark	Bud Koenig
	Wise Blood	Hoover Shoates
	1941	Ward Douglas
1980	The American Success Company	Mr. Elliott
	Hopscotch	G.P. "See you next Tuesday" Myerson
	Superman II	Otis
1981	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	Dan Beame
1982	The Toy	Sydney Morehouse
	The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez	Lynch Mob Leader
1983	Stroker Ace	Clyde Torkle
	Touched	Herbie
1985	Restless Natives	Bender
1986	Back to School	Dean David Martin
1987	The Big Easy	Jack Kellom
	The Fourth Protocol	General Pavel Borisov
	Rolling Vengeance	'Tiny' Doyle
	The Trouble with Spies	Harry Lewis
1988	Shadows in the Storm	Thelonious Pitt
	Switching Channels	Roy Ridnitz
	The Unholy	Lieutenant Stern
	Midnight Crossing	Ellis
	After the Rain	Kozen
	Purple People Eater	Sam Johnson
1989	Time Trackers	Harry Orth
	Physical Evidence	James Nicks
	Tennessee Nights	Charlie Kiefer
	Chattahoochee	Dr. Harwood
	Ministry of Vengeance	Reverend Bloor
1990	Going Under	Admiral Malice
	Big Bad John	Charlie Mitchelle
	Angel Square	Officer Ozzie O'Driscoll
	A Cry in the Wild	Jake Holcomb
	Repossessed	Ernest Weller
	Fat Monroe	Fat Monroe	Short
	Captain America	Sam Kolawetz
1991	Hear My Song	Josef Locke	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture[15]
1992	Blind Vision	Sergeant Logan
	Prelude to a Kiss	Dr. Boyle
1993	Warren Oates: Across the Border	Narrator	Documentary
	Rudy	Daniel Ruettiger, Sr.
	Ed and His Dead Mother	Uncle Benny
1994	Replikator	Inspector Victor Valiant
	Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart	Unknown
	Radioland Murders	General Walt Whalen
1995	The Affair	Colonel Banning
	Just Cause	McNair
1997	The Curse of Inferno	Moles Huddenel
1998	He Got Game	Warden Wyatt
1999	Cookie's Fortune	Lester Boyle
	Life	Dexter Wilkins
2000	Spring Forward	Murph
2002	This Beautiful Life	Bum
	Thunderpants	General Ed Sheppard
2003	Where the Red Fern Grows	Sheriff Abe McConnell
2005	Sweet Land	Harmo
2007	Shooter	Senator Charles F. Meachum
	The Walker	Jack Delorean
	Charlie Wilson's War	Clarence 'Doc' Long
2009	In the Electric Mist	Twinky LeMoyne
2010	The Killer Inside Me	Chester Conway
	Toy Story 3	Lotso	Voice[30] IGN Award for Favorite Villain[31] Nominated—IGN Movie Award for Best Ensemble Cast[32] Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Villain[15]
2011	Rango	Tortoise John	Voice[30]
	Rampart	Hartshorn
2013	The Big Ask	Old Man Carl
	Baggage Claim	Mr. Donaldson	Final film role

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2023)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Footsteps	Frank Powell	Television film
1973	The Waltons	Curtis Norton	Episode: "The Bicycle"[33]
	Kojak	Det. Dan Corrigan	Episode: "The Marcus-Nelson Murders"
	Dying Room Only	Tom King	Television film
1974	The Rockford Files	Leon Fielding	Episode: "Profit and Loss"
	The Execution of Private Slovik	Father Stafford	Television film
1975	Lucas Tanner	Harold Ogden	Episode: "A Touch of Bribery"
	The Deadly Tower	Allan Crum	Television film
	M*A*S*H	Colonel Hollister	Episode: "Dear Peggy"
	Gunsmoke	Karp	Episode: "The Hiders"[33]
	Petrocelli	Gage	Episode: "Death Ride"[33]
	Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan	Deputy Sheriff Ollie Thompson	Television film
	The Rookies	Frank Forest	Episode: "Shadow of a Man"[33]
1976	Hunter	Lt. Kluba	Unaired pilot for 1977 series
	Hawaii Five-O	Keith Caldwell	Episode: "Oldest Profession - Latest Price"[33]
	NBC Special Treat	Big Henry	Episode: "Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid"[33]
1977	Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected	McClaskey	Episode: "The Final Chapter"[33]
	Tail Gunner Joe	Sylvester	Television film
	The Streets of San Francisco	Eddie Boggs	Episode: "Hang Tough"[33]
	Delvecchio	Wakefield	Episode: "The Madness Within" parts 1 and 2[33]
	Nashville 99	Randy Blair	Episode: "Sing Me a Song to Die By"[33]
	Lucan	Larry MacElwaine	Television film[33]
	Visions	Anglo Coyote / Pinky	2 episodes[33]
1977–1978	Szysznyk	Nick Szysznyk	15 episodes[33]
1978	A Question of Love	Dwayne Stabler	Television film
1979	Friendly Fire	Gene Mullen	Nominated – Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
1980	Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones	Congressman Leo Ryan	Television film
1981	The Violation of Sarah McDavid	Dr. Walter Keys	Television film
	Splendor in the Grass	Ace Stamper	Television film
1982	A Woman Called Golda	Senator Durward	Television film
	Faerie Tale Theatre	The King	Episode: "Rumpelstiltskin"
1983	Kentucky Woman	Luke Telford	Television film
1984	The Last Days of Pompeii	Diomed	Miniseries
	The Haunting of Barney Palmer	Cole Scholar	Television film
	Murder, She Wrote	Chief Roy Gunderson	Episode: "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes"
	Celebrity	Otto Leo	Miniseries
1985	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Larry Broome	Episode: "Pilot"; segment: "Incident in a Small Jail"
	Robert Kennedy and His Times	J. Edgar Hoover	Miniseries
	Konrad	Mr. Thomas	Television film
	Hostage Flight	Art Hofstadter	Television film
1985-1986	Highway to Heaven	Bill Cassidy / Willy The Waver / Melvin Rich	2 episodes
1987	Dolly	John Pacer	1 episode
1988	Go Toward the Light	George	Television film
1989–1994	Roseanne	Ed Conner	6 episodes[10][34]
1989	Spy	Thomas Ludlow	Television film
	Last Train Home	Cornelius van Horne	Nominated – Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
	B.L. Stryker	Ryan Quinn	Episode: "The King of Jazz"
1990	It's Garry Shandling's Show	Himself	Episode: "The Wedding Show"
	The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story	Edward C. Acker	Television film
1992	Road to Avonlea	Wally Higgins	Episode: "The Calamitous Courting of Hetty King"[33]
	Trial: The Price of Passion	Scoot Shepard	Television film
	Illusions	George Willoughby	Television film
1993	The Golden Palace	Tad Hollingsworth	Episode: "Tad"
	The Boys	Herbert Francis "Bert" Greenblatt	6 episodes[10]
1993–1995	Homicide: Life on the Street	Stanley Bolander	33 episodes
1995	Streets of Laredo	Judge Roy Bean	Miniseries
1996	Crazy Horse	Dr. Valentine McGillicuddy	Television film
	Gulliver's Travels	Farmer Grultrud	"Part 1"
1999	Hard Time: Hostage Hotel	Tony	Television film
2000	The Wilgus Stories	Fat Monroe	Television film
	Homicide: The Movie	Stanley Bolander	Television film
2001	I Was a Rat	Mudduck	Miniseries
2002	Roughing It	Slade	Television film
2004	The Wool Cap	Mr. Gigot	Television film
2007	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Dr. David Lowry	Episode: "Sweet Jane"[35]
2008	Law & Order	Judge Malcolm Reynolds	Episode: "Zero"
2013	Go On	Coach Spence	Episode: "Go Deep"

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine	Sheriff Francis Wompler	Appears in live action video sequences[36]
2010	Toy Story 3: The Video Game	Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear	Voice

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	The Great White Hope	Various	Replacement
2004	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Big Daddy Pollitt	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1976	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Network	Nominated	[37]
2004	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Won	[38]
1991	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Hear My Song	Nominated	[39]
2011	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Villain	Toy Story 3	Nominated	[18]
1979	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special	Friendly Fire	Nominated	[40]
1990		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	Last Train Home	Nominated

• List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area

• Ned Beatty at IMDb
• Ned Beatty at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ned Beatty at the TCM Movie Database
• Ned Beatty at AllMovie
• Ned Beatty Interview by Beth Stevens on Broadway.com
• Ned Beatty discography at Discogs