Ned Beatty

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 film and television roles. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood". His film appearances included Deliverance, White Lightning (1973), All the President's Men (1976), Network (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Back to School (1986), Rudy (1993), Shooter (2007) and voice roles in 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.

Early life Beatty was born on July 6, 1937, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Margaret (née Fortney) and Charles William Beatty. He had an older sister, Mary. 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.

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.

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

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. 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".

In 1976, he also appeared in The Big Bus, Silver Streak, and Mikey and Nicky.

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. 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.

2000s 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.

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 titled 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).

2010s In 2010, Beatty starred in the thriller The Killer Inside Me (2010), which was part of the Sundance Film Festival. 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. playing the role of Tortoise John. 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.

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 2013 film was Baggage Claim, 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.

Personal life and death

Beatty was married four times. His first wife was Walta Chandler; they were married from 1959 until 1968 and had four children. His second wife was actress Belinda Rowley; they were married from 1971 to 1979 and had two children.

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

He supported Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign.

Beatty died of natural causes in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, California on June 13, 2021, at the age of 83, and he was cremated with his ashes given to his widow.

Filmography

Film

YearFilmsRole 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 HackelWhite 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. ElliottHopscotch G.P. "See you next Tuesday" Myerson Superman II Otis 1981 The Incredible Shrinking Woman Dan Beame 1982The Toy Sydney MorehouseThe 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 IGN Award for Favorite Villain Nominated –IGN Movie Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Villain 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 HollisterEpisode: "Dear Peggy"GunsmokeKarpEpisode: "The Hiders" 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" 2008 Law & Order Judge Malcolm Reynolds Episode: "Zero" 2013 Go On Coach Spence Episode: "Go Deep"

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

Theater 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

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 1976 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Network 2004 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1991 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Hear My Song 2011 MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Villain Toy Story 3 1990 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Last Train Home 1999 Online Film & Television Association Best Ensemble Cookie's Fortune 2006 RiverRun International Film Festival Master of Cinema