Don Beddoe

Donald T. Beddoe (July 1, 1903 – January 19, 1991) was an American character actor.

Don Beddoe
Beddoe in Behind Green Lights (1946)
Born(1903-07-01)July 1, 1903
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJanuary 19, 1991(1991-01-19) (aged 87)
Laguna Hills, California, U.S
OccupationFilm, television and stage actor
Years active1929–1984
Spouse(s)
Evelyn Beddoe
​
(
m. 1943; died 1974)

Joyce Mathews
​
(
m. 1974)

Early years

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of Dan Beddoe, a Welsh classical singer,[1] and his wife Mary. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with bachelor's and master's degrees and taught English for three years.[2]

Stage

Beddoe gained much theatrical experience playing in stock theater in Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He made his Broadway acting debut in 1929, receiving top billing (over a young Spencer Tracy) in Nigger Rich.[3] His other Broadway credits include Penny Arcade (1930), The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930), Sing High, Sing Low (1931), The Warrior's Husband (1932), Man Bites Dog (1933), The Blue Widow (1933), Birthright (1933), The Sky's the Limit (1934), Nowhere Bound (1935), First Lady (1935), Father Malachy's Miracle (1937), and Winged Victory (1943).[4]

Film

After a decade of stage work and bit parts in films, Beddoe began more prominent film roles in the late 1930s. He was usually cast as fast-talking reporters and the like. His commercial acting career was put on hold when he served in World War II in the United States Army Air Corps, in which he performed in the Air Force play, Winged Victory.

Beddoe subsequently returned to films playing small character roles. He occasionally appeared in comedy shorts playing comic foils, such as in the Three Stooges shorts Three Sappy People and You Nazty Spy!

Beddoe appeared in more than 250 films.[5]

Television

Beddoe portrayed Mr. Tolliver in the ABC comedy The Second Hundred Years,[6] and he was in the cast of Life with Father on CBS.[7]

He also was seen in dozens of television programs. In the 1950s and 1960s, he made four appearances on Have Gun – Will Travel, three times on Lawman, three on Maverick, three on Laramie, three on Lassie, and three on Perry Mason including in the 1958 episode 'The Case of the Buried Clock'. He was also cast on the western aviation series, Sky King, with Kirby Grant, on the ABC/Warner Brothers series, The Alaskans, with Roger Moore, on the ABC adventure series, Straightaway, with Brian Kelly and John Ashley, and on the NBC western series, The Tall Man, with Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager. He appeared too on the CBS sitcom, Pete and Gladys, with Harry Morgan and Cara Williams, and on the ABC drama series, Going My Way, with Gene Kelly. He guest starred as well on David Janssen's first series, the crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. He also made appearances on episodes of The Lone Ranger in the '50s.

Beddoe played the outlaw Black Bart in the 1954 episode "Black Bart The PO8" of the western anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, Black Bart is cast as a debonair poetry-writing former school teacher who turns to stagecoach robbery after his first holdup, a prank, pays handsomely. Wells Fargo detectives track him down through a laundry mark. He was also pursued with a romantic interest by his landlady, Winona Webb (Helen Brown). Black Bart spent six years in the penitentiary, never to be heard from again.[8]

During the 1970–1971 season of ABC's Nanny and the Professor, Beddoe made four appearances, three as Mr. Thatcher. In 1984, he made his final television appearance as Kris in NBC's Highway to Heaven starring Michael Landon and Victor French.

Radio

Beddoe played Pat Grady in the soap opera John's Other Wife.[9]

Other activities

In 1968, Beddoes proposed construction of a "high-rise trailer park" to be built in Capistrano Beach, California.[10] His plan called for making "more efficient use of land in areas where acreage is too expensive for a trailer park" by building an eight-story structure of concrete and steel and using a crane to lift trailers and insert them into their respective spaces.[10]

Personal life

Beddoe was married to Jessie Evelyn Sebring from 8 May 1944 to her death on 2 January 1974. He later married Joyce Mathews, who had been a showgirl, on 10 August 1974. She survived him.[5]

Death

Beddoe died of natural causes on January 19, 1991, at age 87.

Selected filmography
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References
  1. "Meet the Actors". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. March 12, 1932. p. 11. Retrieved May 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Veteran Screen Actor Now in the Army Here". The Evening Independent. December 31, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  3. ibdb.com
  4. "Don Beddoe". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  5. Conway, Ann (March 24, 1988). "The Stars Shine in Irvine to Aid American Cinema Awards Foundation Cause". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  6. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 940.
  7. "Life with Father" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 30, 1953. p. 18. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  8. "Black Bart The PO8 on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  9. "What Do You Want to Know" (PDF). Radio Mirror. 10 (3): 54. July 1938. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  10. "High Rise Trailer Park Is Proposed". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. March 11, 1968. p. 14. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
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