Ed Begley

This article is about the mid twentieth century actor. For his son, see Ed Begley Jr.

Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television.^[1] He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) and appeared in such classics as 12 Angry Men (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Matthew Harrison Brady in a television adaptation of Inherit the Wind. He is the father of the actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr.

Ed Begley
Begley in 1958
Born	Edward James Begley (1901-03-25)March 25, 1901 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	April 28, 1970(1970-04-28) (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1917–1970
Spouses	Amanda Huff ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1957)​ Dorothy Reeves ​ ​ (m. 1961; div. 1963)​ Helen Jordan ​ ​ (m. 1963)​
Children	3, including Ed Jr.

Early life

Begley was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to two Irish immigrants, Hannah (née Clifford) and Michael Joseph Begley.^[2][3][4] After he dropped out of school as a fifth-grader, Begley ran away from home several times, going to work for "carnivals, fairs, and small circuses".^[5] Later he sold brushes, delivered milk, and served four years in the United States Navy during World War I.^[5][6]

Career

Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in roles as Sgt. O'Hara in the radio show The Fat Man. His radio work included Stroke of Fate and a period as Charlie Chan, among other roles. He also starred in the 1950s radio program Richard Diamond, Private Detective, playing Lieutenant Walter Levinson, head of homicide at the 5th Precinct, Manhattan. He was elected a member of The Lambs in 1943. In the late 1940s, he began appearing regularly in supporting film roles.

Begley (right) with Monte Markham in 1969

In the 1952–1953 television season, Begley co-starred with Eddie Albert in the CBS sitcom Leave It to Larry. In 1954 Begley starred in the NBC Television show Robert Montgomery Presents in "Big Boy", an episode sponsored by Lucky Strike, as Joe Grant, an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, who worked on the famous Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotives. The show is about how Begley's character copes with the transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives in the 1950s.

He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). Some of his other notable films include Deadline – U.S.A. (1952), 12 Angry Men (1957) as juror #10, Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), and Wild in the Streets (1968). One notable role Begley played both on television (twice in 1955) and in the theatrical film (1956) is William (Bill) Briggs, one of the three primary characters in Rod Serling's Patterns.

In 1956, he appeared in the Broadway production of Inherit the Wind, in the role of Matthew Harrison Brady. For this performance, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.^[7][8] In 1968 he appeared with Clint Eastwood in the classic Western Hang 'Em High.

His other television work included appearances on the 1954 TV series Justice, Empire, The Virginian, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Target: The Corruptors, The Invaders, The Wild Wild West, My Three Sons, Wagon Train and Going My Way, with Gene Kelly. Among his many Broadway credits were All My Sons and Our Town.

Personal life

Begley married his first wife, Amanda Huff, in 1922; they had two children. Huff died in 1957. His second marriage ended in divorce and his third wife, Helen, survived him.^[1] Begley is father of actor Ed Begley Jr., from his extramarital relationship with Allene Jeanne Sanders.^[9]

Begley died of a heart attack while attending a party at the home of Jay Bernstein in Hollywood, California, on April 28, 1970.^[10] He is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.^[11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1947	Body and Soul	Party leader	Uncredited
	The Web	Man	Uncredited
	Boomerang	Paul Harris
	The Roosevelt Story	Narrator	Documentary
1948	Sitting Pretty	Horatio J. Hammond
	The Street with No Name	Chief Bernard Harmatz
	Deep Waters	Josh Hovey
	Sorry, Wrong Number	James Cotterell
1949	Tulsa	John J. 'Johnny' Brady	as Edward Begley
	It Happens Every Spring	Edgar Stone
	The Great Gatsby	Myron Lupus
1950	Backfire	Captain Garcia
	Stars in My Crown	Lon Backett
	Convicted	Mackay, Head of Parole Board
	Saddle Tramp	August Hartnagle
	Wyoming Mail	Prison Warden Haynes
	Dark City	Barney
1951	You're in the Navy Now	Port Commander
	The Lady from Texas	Dave Blodgett
	On Dangerous Ground	Captain Brawley
1952	Boots Malone	Howard Whitehead
	Lone Star	Senator Anthony Demmet
	Deadline – U.S.A.	Frank Allen
	The Turning Point	Neil Eichelberger
1954	Big Boy	Joe Grant
1956	Patterns	William Briggs
1957	12 Angry Men	Juror #10
1959	Odds Against Tomorrow	Dave Burke
1961	The Green Helmet	Bartell
1962	Sweet Bird of Youth	Tom 'Boss' Finley	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Laurel Award for Top Male Supporting Performance (3rd place) Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
	Naked City	Jimmy Fenton	Season 4, Episode 9
	My Three Sons (TV)	Ed Wallace, Carl Storffmann	Season 2, Episode 15 & Season 9, Episode 13
1963	Route 66 (TV)	Kyle Hawkes	Season 3, Episode 21
1964	The Unsinkable Molly Brown	Seamus Tobin	Laurel Award for Top Male Supporting Performance (2nd place)
	Rawhide (TV)	Piney Kinney	Season 7, Episode 3
	The Virginian (TV)	Micah Ellis, Mike Tyrone	(2 episodes) Season 2, Episode 15 & Season 4, Episode 19
1965	The Dick Van Dyke Show (TV)	Judge	Season 4, Episode 21
	The Fugitive (TV-1963)	Dan Brady	Season 2, Episode 27
	Inherit the Wind (TV)	Matthew Harrison Brady	Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama
	Gunsmoke (TV)	Jeb Crater
	Bonanza	Dan Tolliver/Clint Watson	2 episodes
1966	The Oscar	Grobard
	The Lucy Show (TV Series)	Andrew Bailey	Season 5, Episode 3
1967	Warning Shot	Captain Roy Klodin
	The Violent Enemy	Colum O'More
	Billion Dollar Brain	General Midwinter
	Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate	Scotty Duncan
1968	Firecreek	Preacher Broyles
	Wild in the Streets	Senator Allbright
	Hang 'Em High	Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party
	A Time to Sing	Kermit Dodd
1969	The Monitors	President
	Secrets of Pirates' Inn	Dennis McCarthy	TV film
1970	The Dunwich Horror	Henry Armitage
	Neither Are We Enemies	Annas	Hallmark Hall of Fame Easter special
	Road to Salina	Warren	(final film role)
	Corwin (TV series)	Stan Holindrake	Season 2, Episode 1

Radio

Date	Show	Episode	Role	Notes
1944–48	Charlie Chan	All	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946–1951	The Fat Man	Various episodes	Sgt. O'Hara
1947	Mollé Mystery Theatre	"Goodbye, Darling"	George Lucas
1947	The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	"The Friend From Detroit"
1948	The Whistler	"Hired Alibi"		with Jack Webb
1949–53	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Various episodes	Lt. Levinson
1949	Let George Do It	"The Man Under the Elm Tree"	Darrell	[13]
1951	Fibber McGee and Molly	"Hitchhiking Bureau"	Tilford C. Crabfish
1951	Tales of the Texas Rangers	"Blind Justice"	Unknown	[14]
		"No Living Witnesses"
		"Paid in Full"
		"The Blow Off"
1952	Tales of the Texas Rangers	"Birds of a Feather"
		"Prelude to Felony"

References

1. "Ed Begley, Actor, Dead at 69; Noted for Character Portrayals". The New York Times. April 30, 1970. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
2. Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. 1957. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Google Books.
3. Keylin, Arleen; Boiangiu, Suri (June 1, 1977). Hollywood album: lives and deaths of Hollywood stars from the pages of the New York Times. Arno Press. ISBN 978-0405103117. Retrieved December 29, 2018 – via Google Books.
4. "The Passion of Ed Begley Jr. — Hollywood's Go-To Green Guru". Tonic. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
5. "Ed Begley Loves Life". The Bridgeport Post. April 24, 1964. p. 21. Retrieved April 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Ed Begley, Actor, Dead at 69; Noted for Character Portrayals. The New York Times via Internet Archive. Published April 30, 1970. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
7. "Ed Begley". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
8. "Inherit the Wind". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
9. Koenenn, Connie (April 14, 1996). "Rooted to the Cause; Ed Begley Jr. shines in a world in which some stars are environmentalists only when the cameras are on. He lives what he preaches". Los Angeles Times.
10. "Ed Begley Dies in California". St. Petersburg Times. April 30, 1970. p. 6A. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
11. Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. pp. 194–195. ISBN 978-0-7864-0983-9.
12. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
13. "EP0358: Let George Do It: The Man Under the Elm Tree". Greatdetectives.net. March 9, 2011. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
14. "Old Time Radio Westerns » Ed_Begley". Old Time Radio Westerns. Retrieved December 29, 2018.

External links

• Ed Begley at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Ed Begley at IMDb 
• Ed Begley at AllMovie
• Ed Begley at the TCM Movie Database
• Ed Begley at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ed Begley at Find a Grave