Edward James Begley, Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an Academy Award-winning

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

  American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

.

Biography

Born in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, Begley began his career as a Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up

Going Up (musical)

Going Up is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Louis Hirsch and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and James Montgomery. Set in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States at the end of World War I, the musical tells the story of a writer turned aviator who wins the hand of the high society girl...

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

The Fat Man (radio)

The Fat Man, a popular radio show during the 1940s and early 1950s was a detective drama based on characters by Dashiell Hammett. It starred J...

. His radio work included a period as Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...

 and Stroke of Fate

Stroke of Fate

Stroke of Fate was an American radio drama in 1953.This NBC alternate history series aired 13 episodes from October 4th to December 27th featuring actors like Ed Begley, Alexander Scourby, Hal Studer and Santos Ortega. The episodes were written by Mort Lewis and George Faulkner, directed by Fred...

 amongst other roles. He also starred in the 1950s radio program Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Richard Diamond, Private Detective is an American detective drama which aired on radio from 1949 to 1953, and on television from 1957 to 1960.-Radio:...

, playing Lieutenant Walter Levinson, head of homicide at the 5th Precinct, Manhattan. In the late 1940s, he began appearing regularly in supporting film roles.

In the 1952-1953 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 season, Begley co-starred with Eddie Albert

Eddie Albert

Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...

 in the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 sitcom

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 Leave It to Larry

Leave It to Larry

Leave It to Larry is a 1952-1953 CBS sitcom starring Eddie Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his own family in the residence of his employer and father-in-law, played by Ed Begley, Sr. , in the role of Mr...

. Begley, though only five years older than Albert, played the father-in-law and employer of Albert's character, Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman, who with his young family lives with Begley.

He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for his role in Sweet Bird of Youth

Sweet Bird of Youth

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...

(1962). Some of his other notable films include 12 Angry Men (1957) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964).

His other television work included appearances on Justice

Justice (1954 TV series)

Justice is an NBC half-hour drama television series about attorneys of the Legal Aid Society of New York, which aired from April 8, 1954 to March 25, 1956. In the 1954-1955 season, Justice starred Dane Clark as Richard Adams and Gary Merrill as Jason Tyler. In the 1955-1956 season, William Prince...

, The Virginian

The Virginian (TV series)

The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...

, Bonanza

Bonanza

Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...

, The Fugitive

The Fugitive (TV series)

The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...

, and Target: The Corruptors!

Target: The Corruptors!

Target: The Corruptors! is a 35-episode crime drama starring Stephen McNally as newspaper reporter Paul Marino, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1961 to June 8, 1962. The character Jack Flood, Marino's undercover agent, was portrayed by Robert Harland...

Begley married three times. He is the father of the actor and environmental advocate Ed Begley, Jr.

Ed Begley, Jr.

Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...

Among his many Broadway credits were All My Sons

All My Sons

All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...

and Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind may refer to:* Inherit the Wind , a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee* Inherit the Wind , directed by Stanley Kramer; starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly...

.

He died of a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 in Hollywood, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery

San Fernando Mission Cemetery

The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....

 in Mission Hills

Mission Hills, California

Mission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

, California.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1947	Body and Soul Body and Soul (1947 film) Body and Soul is a 1947 film noir which tells the story of a boxer who becomes involved with crooked promoters. It stars John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere and William Conrad....	Party leader	uncredited
	The Web The Web (film) The Web is a black-and-white 1947 thriller film starring Vincent Price. The film, directed by Michael Gordon, is considered film noir. It also features amongst its cast the science fiction/horror writer Fritz Leiber as Leopold Kroner.-Plot:...	Man	uncredited
	Boomerang Boomerang (1947 film) Boomerang! is a 1947 film based on the true story of a vagrant who was accused of murder, only to be found innocent through the efforts of the prosecutor...	Paul Harris
1948	Sorry, Wrong Number Sorry, Wrong Number Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American suspense film noir directed by Anatole Litvak. It tells the story of a woman who overhears a plot for murder. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Ed Begley, Leif Erickson and William Conrad.The film was adapted by Lucille...	James Cotterell
	Deep Waters	Josh Hovey
	The Street with No Name The Street with No Name The Street with No Name is a black-and-white film noir. The movie, a follow up to The House on 92nd Street , tells the story of an undercover FBI agent, Gene Cordell , who infiltrates a deadly crime gang. Cordell's superior, FBI Inspector George A. Briggs also appears in The House on 92nd Street...	Chief Bernard Harmatz
	Sitting Pretty	Horatio J. Hammond
1949	The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby (1949 film) The Great Gatsby is a 1949 film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Elliott Nugent and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume based on the novel of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play by Owen Davis. The music score was by Robert...	Myron Lupus
	It Happens Every Spring It Happens Every Spring It Happens Every Spring is a 1949 comedy film starring Ray Milland directed by Lloyd Bacon. The story of a baseball pitcher is completely fictitious, and the main character King Kelly is not based on or related to the actual player....	Edgar Stone
	Tulsa Tulsa (film) Tulsa is a 1949 Technicolor film that was directed by Stuart Heisler and starred Susan Hayward, Robert Preston, Lloyd Gough, Chill Wills , and featured Ed Begley in one of his earliest film roles, billed as Edward Begley....	John J. 'Johnny' Brady	as Edward Begley
1950	Stars in My Crown	Lon Backett
	Backfire	Captain Garcia
	Saddle Tramp	Mr. Hartnagle
	Convicted	Mackay, Head of Parole Board
	Wyoming Mail	Prison Warden Haynes
	Dark City Dark City (1950 film) Dark City is a 1950 film noir. The casting of Charlton Heston—in his first Hollywood film appearance—as a petty hood is unusual in light of his subsequent career. The film also features Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who both went on to co-star in Dragnet. The musical score was composed by Franz...	Barney
1951	The Lady from Texas	Dave Blodgett
	You're in the Navy Now You're in the Navy Now You're in the Navy Now is a Hollywood film released in 1951 by Twentieth Century Fox about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. Its initial release was titled USS Teakettle...	Port Commander
1952	The Turning Point The Turning Point (1952 film) The Turning Point is a 1952 crime syndicate drama starring Edmond O'Brien. It's based on Horace McCoy's novel "Storm in the City" and inspired by the Kefauver Committee hearings.-Plot:...	Neil Eichelberger
	Deadline - U.S.A. Deadline - U.S.A. Deadline – U.S.A. is a 1952 crime film starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore and Kim Hunter. A crusading newspaper editor fights a gangster. The newspaper used as background on the film, called The Day is loosely based upon the old New York City newspaper The Sun, which closed in 1950. The...	Frank Allen
	On Dangerous Ground On Dangerous Ground On Dangerous Ground is a film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by John Houseman. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides based on the novel Mad with Much Heart, by Gerald Butler...	Captain Brawley
	Lone Star Lone Star (1952 film) Lone Star is a 1952 Western film starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Ed Begley, and Lionel Barrymore as President Andrew Jackson...	Anthony Demmet
	Boots Malone Boots Malone Boots Malone is a 1952 drama film starring William Holden as a down-on-his-luck sports agent and Johnny Stewart as a rich runaway who wants to become a jockey.-Plot:...	Howard Whitehead
1956	Patterns Patterns (film) Patterns is a feature film starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, and Ed Begley. Directed by Fielder Cook, it was released March 27, 1956. The screenplay by Rod Serling was an adaptation of his teleplay Patterns originally telecast January 12, 1955 on the Kraft Television Theatre, which starred...	William Briggs
1957	12 Angry Men	Juror #10
1959	Odds Against Tomorrow Odds Against Tomorrow Odds Against Tomorrow is a 1959 film noir produced and directed by Robert Wise for HarBel Productions, a company founded by the film's star, Harry Belafonte. Belafonte selected Abraham Polonsky to write the script, which is based on a novel by William P. McGivern. As a blacklisted writer Polonsky...	Dave Burke
1961	The Green Helmet The Green Helmet The Green Helmet is a 1961 British film starring Bill Travers, Ed Begley and Sid James. The film is centred around a British motor racing team. It is based on a novel by Australian author Jon Cleary.-Cast:* Bill Travers as Rafferty...	Bartell
1962	Sweet Bird of Youth Sweet Bird of Youth Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...	Tom 'Boss' Finley	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
1964	The Unsinkable Molly Brown	Shamus Tobin
1965	Inherit the Wind Inherit the Wind (1965 film) Inherit the Wind is a 1965 television film adaptation of the play of the same name. The original 1955 play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials...	Brady
1966	The Oscar The Oscar (film) The Oscar is a 1966 American drama film, written by Harlan Ellison, Clarence Greene, Russell Rouse and Richard Sale, directed by Rouse and starring Stephen Boyd, singer Tony Bennett , comedian Milton Berle , Elke Sommer, Ernest Borgnine, Jill St. John, and Eleanor Parker...	Grobard
1967	The Violent Enemy	Colum O'More
	Warning Shot Warning Shot Warning Shot is a 1967 movie about a police sergeant who kills a man in self-defense while on a stakeout. He must clear his name when the gun pulled on him disappears...	Captain Roy Klodin
	Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle, or Mutilate
	Billion Dollar Brain Billion Dollar Brain Billion Dollar Brain is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist of the film versions of The IPCRESS File and Funeral in Berlin...	General Midwinter
1968	Firecreek Firecreek Firecreek is a 1968 western movie directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda in his second role as an antagonist that year. The film is similar to High Noon in that it features an entire town refusing to help a peace officer against outlaws, showing no backbone...	Preacher Broyles
	Hang 'Em High Hang 'Em High Hang 'Em High is a 1968 American Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat...	Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party
	Wild in the Streets Wild in the Streets Wild in the Streets is a 1968 film featuring Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook, and Shelley Winters. It was produced by American International Pictures and based on a short story by writer Robert Thom...	Senator Allbright
	A Time to Sing	Kermit Dodd
1969	The Monitors	President
1970	Neither Are We Enemies Neither Are We Enemies Neither Are We Enemies is a made-for-television drama that is set in Judea at the time of Christ. It was broadcast on NBC as a Hallmark Hall of Fame Easter special on March 13, 1970.-Plot:...	Annas	Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...  Easter special
	Road to Salina Road to Salina Road to Salina is a 1970 French film, a psychological thriller directed by Georges Lautner. It stars Robert Walker, Jr., Mimsy Farmer and Rita Hayworth. The film is based upon Maurice Cury’s novel Sur la Route de Salina...	Warren
	The Dunwich Horror The Dunwich Horror (film) The Dunwich Horror is a 1970 B-movie from American International Pictures directed by Daniel Haller and produced by Roger Corman. The film was based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft with a script co-written by future Academy Award winning director Curtis Hanson. This was the...	Dr. Henry Armitage

Radio

Date	Show	Episode	Role	Notes
1949	Let George Do It Let George Do It Let George Do It is a 1940 British, black-and-white, comedy musical war film, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, with Ronald Shiner as the clarinetist...	The Man Under the Elm Tree	Darrell
1951	Tales of the Texas Rangers Tales of the Texas Rangers Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952...	Blind Justice	Unknown
		No Living Witnesses
		Paid In Full
		The Blow Off
1952	Tales of the Texas Rangers Tales of the Texas Rangers Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952...	Birds Of A Feather
		Prelude To Felony

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