John Beal (actor)
Encyclopedia

Life and career

Beal was born James Alexander Bliedung in Joplin, Missouri
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...

. He originally went to New York to study art but a chance to understudy in a play made him change his mind. He began acting in the 1930s, opposite Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...

 (in the 1934 RKO film The Little Minister
The Little Minister
The Little Minister is a 1934 American drama film directed by Richard Wallace. The screenplay by Jane Murfin, Sarah Y. Mason, and Victor Heerman is based on the 1891 novel and subsequent 1897 play of the same title by J. M. Barrie. It was the fifth feature film adaptation of the works, following...

), among others; one of his notable screen appearances was Les Misérables
Les Misérables (1935 film)
Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...

(1935). He continued appearing in films during the war years while serving in Special Services as actor and director of Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 camp shows and training films.

He was hired to play the role of Jim Matthews in the television soap opera Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

when the show went on the air in 1964, but was fired by creator and headwriter Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips was an American actress and most notably writer who created and scripted many of the first American soap operas.Phillips created radio and TV soap operas including:...

 after only one episode.

He continued to work in films and television, notably as Judge Vail in the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows (for 9 episodes), and also the theater up until the 1980s. Beal died at age 87 in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

, two years after suffering a stroke.

Filmography

  • Amityville 3-D
    Amityville 3-D
    Amityville 3-D is a 1983 horror film and the third installment in the The Amityville Horror series. It was one of a spate of 3-D films released in the early 80s. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and the script was written by David Ambrose...

    (1983)
  • The Adams Chronicles
    The Adams Chronicles
    The Adams Chronicles is a thirteen-episode miniseries by PBS that aired in 1976 to commemorate the American Bicentennial.-Synopsis:The series chronicles the story of the Adams political family over a 150-year span, including John Adams , his wife Abigail Adams, his son John Quincy Adams The Adams...

    (1976) as the elder Charles Francis Adams
  • Ten Who Dared
    Ten Who Dared
    Ten Who Dared is a movie made by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution in 1960. It tells the story of United States Army officer John Wesley Powell, who was the first to travel down the Colorado River, and the dangers that he and nine other men had to face while making a...

    (1960)
  • Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One) (1954)
  • My Six Convicts
    My Six Convicts
    My Six Convicts is an American 1952 comedy-drama film adapted from the autobiographical book written by Donald Powell Wilson. The film was adapted for the screen by screenwriter Michael Blankfort and directed by Hugo Fregonese who was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for...

    (1952)
  • How to Fly the Vultee Valiant Basic Trainer (BT-13) (1943)
  • The Great Commandment
    The Great Commandment
    The Great Commandment is a Christian film directed by Irving Pichel, which portrays the conversion to Christianity of a young Zealot, Joel, and the Roman soldier Longinus through the teachings of Jesus in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. It was co-produced by Rev. James K. Friedrich and released...

    (1939)
  • The Cat and the Canary
    The Cat and the Canary (1939 film)
    The Cat and the Canary starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard is a 1939 comedy horror film remake of the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, which was based on the 1922 play of the same name by John Willard...

    (1939)
  • Port of Seven Seas
    Port of Seven Seas
    Port of Seven Seas is a 1938 drama film starring Wallace Beery and featuring Frank Morgan and Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie was written by Preston Sturges based on the plays of Marcel Pagnol and the films based on them, and was directed by James Whale...

    (1938)
  • Beg, Borrow Or Steal (1937)
  • Double Wedding
    Double Wedding
    Double Wedding is a 1937 romantic comedy film. A bohemian free spirit helps meek Waldo win back his fiancée and falls in love with her over-controlling sister in the process....

    (1937)
  • Madame X
    Madame X (1937 film)
    Madame X is a drama film, a sanitized remake of several Pre-Code films of the same name. It was directed by Sam Wood with additional direction by Gustav Machatý .-Plot:...

    (1937)
  • M'Liss
    M'Liss (1936 film)
    M'Liss is a 1936 drama film starring Anne Shirley. The film was directed by George Nichols Jr. and based upon a Bret Harte novel. It is a remake of the 1918 version starring Mary Pickford in the title role.-Plot:...

    (1936)
  • Break of Hearts
    Break of Hearts
    Break of Hearts is a 1935 RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn and Charles Boyer. The screenplay was written by the team of Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, with Anthony Veiller, from a story by Lester Cohen, specifically for Hepburn....

    (1935)
  • Les Misérables
    Les Misérables (1935 film)
    Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...

    (1935)
  • The Little Minister
    The Little Minister
    The Little Minister is a 1934 American drama film directed by Richard Wallace. The screenplay by Jane Murfin, Sarah Y. Mason, and Victor Heerman is based on the 1891 novel and subsequent 1897 play of the same title by J. M. Barrie. It was the fifth feature film adaptation of the works, following...

    (1934)

External links

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