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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 (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, 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.
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".
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. 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. 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. 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 1975, he appeared in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, in Robert Altman's Nashville, and as Colonel Hollister in the M*A*S*H episode, "Dear Peggy". 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.
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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 (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, 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.
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".
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. 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. 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. 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 1975, he appeared in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, in Robert Altman's Nashville, and as Colonel Hollister in the M*A*S*H episode, "Dear Peggy". 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.