American actor (1913–1994)
Noah Beery Jr.
Born Noah Lindsey Beery
(1913-08-10 ) August 10, 1913Died November 1, 1994(1994-11-01) (aged 81) Occupation Actor Years active 1920–1986 Spouses
Maxine Jones
(
m. 1940;
div. 1966)
Lisa Thorman
(
m. 1968)
Children 3 Parent Relatives
Wallace Beery (uncle)
Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 – November 1, 1994) was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his
Oscar -winning uncle,
Wallace Beery . Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing
James Garner 's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the
NBC television series
The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Nicholas Beery (known professionally as
Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr.) enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a
leading man during the
silent film era.
Life and career
Noah Beery Jr. with his father
Noah Beery Sr. in 1922
Noah Beery Jr. in 1940
Beery was born in New York City, New York, where his father was working as a stage actor. He was given his nickname "Pidge" by
George M. Cohan 's sister Josie.
[1]
The family moved to California in 1915 when his father began acting in motion pictures. After attending school in Los Angeles, they moved to a ranch in the
San Fernando Valley , a style of living he would maintain for the rest of his life.[
citation needed ]
At the age of seven, he appeared with his father in
The Mark of Zorro and like his father, who immediately began billing himself as "Noah Beery Sr.", he went on to become a respected character actor. His paternal uncle,
Oscar -winning actor
Wallace Beery , became the world's highest-paid actor by 1932. Although neither Beery Jr. nor his father ever approached that level, both had long and memorable acting careers. The three acting Beerys physically closely resembled each other, but Noah Beery Jr. lacked the powerful voice his father and uncle possessed.
Beery appeared in dozens of films, including a large early role as
John Wayne 's action partner in
The Trail Beyond (1934; Wayne was 27 years old and Beery was 21),
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) with
Cary Grant ,
20 Mule Team (1940) with his uncle Wallace Beery, and
Red River (1948), again with John Wayne as well as
Montgomery Clift .
Beery's early television work included a weekly stint as Joey the Clown in
Circus Boy with
Micky Dolenz in the mid-1950s. In 1960, Beery replaced
Burt Reynolds as the co-starring sidekick on
Riverboat , an
NBC
Western series starring
Darren McGavin .
He appeared once on the religion anthology series
Crossroads and on
Walter Brennan 's
ABC sitcom,
The Real McCoys . He guest-starred three times on the long-running NBC Western series
The Virginian in the 1960s, and twice during the same era on
Wagon Train . In 1965, he made two guest appearances on
Perry Mason (murderer Tony Claus in "The Case of the Golden Venom", nine months later he played as defendant Lucas Tolliver in "The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner").
Beery portrayed the buckskin-clad recurring
sidekick character "Buffalo Baker" in the 17-episode 1967 television series
Hondo starring
Ralph Taeger , a role played by
Ward Bond in the original
3D
John Wayne film . In 1970 Beery appeared as Will Baxter on the TV western
The Virginian . But Beery remains best known for his role as Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, the amiable but occasionally cantankerous father of Jim Rockford,
James Garner 's character on
The Rockford Files (1974–1980).
Personal life
Beery Jr.'s first wife until 1966 was Maxine Jones, the only child of Western star
Buck Jones . His second wife from 1968 until his death was Lisa Thorman. He had two daughters, Muffett and Melissa; a son, actor Bucklind Beery; and three step-children, Page and Sean Slattery
[2] and Lerena Barbe.
On February 8, 1960, he received a star located at 7047
Hollywood Blvd. on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.
[3]
[4]
Beery died on November 1, 1994, in
Tehachapi, California of a
cerebral thrombosis , aged 81.
[5] He was interred in
Forest Lawn Memorial Park .
[6]
Filmography
The Mutiny of the Elsinore (1920) as Boy (uncredited)
The Mark of Zorro (1920) (with
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and
Noah Beery Sr. ) as Boy (uncredited)
Penrod (1922) (uncredited)
Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) as Stage Boy (uncredited)
Showgirl in Hollywood (1930) as Himself – Cameo Appearance at Premiere (uncredited)
Renegades (1930) as Young Legionnaire (uncredited)
Heroes of the West (1932) as Noah Blaine
Jungle Mystery (1932) as Fred Oakes
Rustlers' Roundup (1933) as Danny Brand
The Three Musketeers (1933, Serial) (with
John Wayne ) as Stubbs [Chs. 1–2, 10]
Fighting with Kit Carson (1933) (with
Noah Beery Sr. ) as Nakomas
Viva Villa! (1934) (scenes deleted)
The Trail Beyond (1934) (with
John Wayne and
Noah Beery Sr. ) as Wabi
Tailspin Tommy (1934, Serial) as Skeeter Milligan
Five Bad Men (1935) as Gene Taggart
Devil's Canyon (1935)
The Call of the Savage (1935, Serial) as Jan Trevor
Stormy (1935) as Stormy
Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935, Serial) as Skeeter Milligan
Parole! (1936) as Bobby Freeman
Ace Drummond (1936, Serial) as Jerry
The Mighty Treve (1937) as Bud McClelland
The Road Back (1937) as Wessling
Trouble at Midnight (1937) as Kirk Cameron
Some Blondes Are Dangerous (1937) as Bud Mason
Forbidden Valley (1938) as Ring Hazzard
Girls' School (1938) as George
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade (1938) as Mart
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) (with
Cary Grant and
Jean Arthur ) as Joe Souther
Bad Lands (1939) as Chick Lyman
Flight at Midnight (1939) as 'Torpy' McDonald
Parents on Trial (1939) as Jerry Kearns
Of Mice and Men (1939) (with
Burgess Meredith and
Lon Chaney Jr. ) as Whit
The Light of Western Stars (1940) as Poco
20 Mule Team (1940) (with
Wallace Beery and
Anne Baxter ) as Mitch
Passport to Alcatraz (1940) as Ray Nolan
The Carson City Kid (1940) as Scott 'Arizona' Warren
Riders of Death Valley (1941, Serial) as Smokey
Sergeant York (1941) (with
Gary Cooper ,
Walter Brennan , and
Joan Leslie ) as Buck Lipscomb
Two in a Taxi (1941) (with
Anita Louise ) as Sandy Connors
Tanks a Million (1941) as Charlie Cobb
All-American Co-Ed (1941) as Slinky
Hay Foot (1942) as Sgt. Charlie Cobb
Dudes Are Pretty People (1942, Short) as Pidge Crosby
Overland Mail (1942, Serial) (with
Lon Chaney Jr. and
Noah Beery Sr. ) as Sierra Pete
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942) as Butch
Calaboose (1943) (with
Mary Brian ) as Pidge Crosby
Prairie Chickens (1943) (with
Raymond Hatton ) as Pidge Crosby
We've Never Been Licked (1943) (with
Richard Quine ,
William Frawley and
Robert Mitchum ) as Cyanide Jenkins
Frontier Badmen (1943) (with
Robert Paige ,
Anne Gwynne ,
Diana Barrymore and
Lon Chaney Jr. ) as Jim Cardwell
Top Man (1943) as Ed Thompson
Corvette K-225 (1943) as Stone
Gung Ho! : The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders
[7] (1943) (with
Randolph Scott and
Robert Mitchum ) as Kurt Richter
Week-End Pass (1944) as Johnny Adams
Follow the Boys (1944) (with
George Raft ,
Orson Welles , and
Marlene Dietrich ) as Himself (uncredited)
Allergic to Love (1944) as Kip Henderson
Hi, Beautiful (1944) as Jeff Peters
Under Western Skies (1945) as Tod Howell
Her Lucky Night (1945) (with
The Andrew Sisters ) as Larry
See My Lawyer (1945) as Arthur Lane
The Beautiful Cheat (1945) as Prof. Alexander Haven
The Crimson Canary (1945) as Danny Brooks
The Daltons Ride Again (1945) (with
Lon Chaney Jr. ) as Ben Dalton
The Cat Creeps (1946) as Pidge 'Flash' Laurie
Red River (1948) (with
John Wayne and
Montgomery Clift ) as Buster McGee
Indian Agent (1948) as Chief Red Fox
The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949) as Little Bill
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) as Tex McGee
The Savage Horde (1950) as Glenn Larrabee
Rocketship X-M (1950) (with
Lloyd Bridges ) as Maj. William Corrigan
Two Flags West (1950) as Cy Davis
The Last Outpost (1951, aka Cavalry Charge) (with
Ronald Reagan ) as Sgt. Calhoun
The Texas Rangers (1951) as Buff Smith
The Cimarron Kid (1952) (with
Audie Murphy ) as Bob Dalton
Wagons West (1952) (with
Rod Cameron ) as Arch Lawrence
The Story of Will Rogers (1952) (with
Will Rogers Jr. and
Jane Wyman ) as Wiley Post
Tropic Zone (1953) (with
Ronald Reagan and
Rhonda Fleming ) as Tapachula Sam
Wings of the Hawk (1953) as Pascual Orozco
War Arrow (1953) (with
Maureen O'Hara and
Jeff Chandler ) as Sgt. Augustus Wilks
The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) as Tonio Perez
The Black Dakotas (1954) as Gimpy Joe Woods
White Feather (1955) (with
Robert Wagner and
Jeffrey Hunter ) as Lt. Ferguson
Jubal (1956) (with
Ernest Borgnine and
Glenn Ford ) as Sam – Horgan Rider
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) as Dink Wells, Bank Robber
Decision at Sundown (1957) (with
Randolph Scott ) as Sam
Escort West (1959) as Lt. Jamison
Guns of the Timberland (1960) as Blackie
Inherit the Wind (1960) (with
Spencer Tracy and
Fredric March ) as John Stebbins
7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) as Tim Mitchell
Incident at Phantom Hill (1966) (with
Robert Fuller and
Dan Duryea ) as O'Rourke
Journey to Shiloh (1968) as Sgt. Mercer Barnes
Heaven with a Gun (1969) (with
Glenn Ford ) as Garvey
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970) as Eddie
Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) (with
Robert Redford ,
Michael J. Pollard , and
Lauren Hutton ) as Seally Fauss
43: The Richard Petty Story (1972) as Julie
Walking Tall (1973) (with
Joe Don Baker and
Elizabeth Hartman ) as Grandpa
The Spikes Gang (1974) (with
Lee Marvin and
Gary Grimes ) as Basset
Walking Tall Part II (1975) as Carl Pusser
The Bastard (1978, TV movie) (with
Andrew Stevens and
Kim Cattrall ) as Dan O'Brien
The Great American Traffic Jam (1980, TV movie) as Barney
The Big Stuffed Dog (1981, TV movie) as Petey's Grandfather
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) (with
Burt Reynolds and
Dolly Parton ) as Edsel
Waltz Across Texas (1982) (with
Anne Archer ) as Joe Locker
Television
Rin Tin Tin (TV series) - (1954)
Circus Boy (TV series) – series – Joey (1956–1957)
Rawhide – episode: "Incident of the Chubasco" – Arkansas (1959)
The Real McCoys – episode: "The Investors" – Claude McCoy (1961)
Wagon Train – episode: "The Jonas Murdock Story" – Jonas Murdock (1960)
Wagon Train – episode: "Path of the Serpent" – Ruddy Blaine (1961)
Wanted: Dead or Alive – episode: "El Gato" – El Gato (1961)
Wanted: Dead or Alive – episode: "Barney's Bounty" – Barney Durant (1961)
Route 66 – episode: "1800 Days to Justice" – Emlyn Job (1962)
Gunsmoke – episode: S9E18 "Prairie Wolfer" (1964)
Wagon Train – episode: "The Kate Crawley Story" – Stump Beasley (1964)
Bonanza – episode: "Lotherio Larkin – Lotherio Larkin (1965)
Perry Mason – episode: "The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner" - Lucas Tolliver (1965)
Lassie – episode: "Danger Mountain" (Season 13) - Carl Bryan (1966)
Laredo – episode: "A Taste of Money" – Ezekiel Fry (1966)
Combat! – episode: "A Little Jazz" – Hank (1967)
Hondo – 17 episodes - Buffalo Baker (1967)
Bonanza – episode: "The Crime of Johnny Mule" – Johnny Mule (1968)
Alias Smith and Jones – episode: "Something to Get Hung About" – Sheriff (1971)
Police Story – episode: "The Big Walk" – Hecker (1973)
The Six Million Dollar Man – episode: "Run, Steve, Run" – Tom Molson (1974)
The Waltons – episode: "The Heritage" – Charlie Harmon (1974)
The Rockford Files – 121 episodes – Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (1974–1980)
The Six Million Dollar Man – episode: "The Bionic Badge" – Officer Banner (1976)
Ellery Queen – episode: "The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario" – Lionel Briggs (1976)
Greatest Heroes of the Bible – episode: "The Story of Esther" – Mordechai (1979)
Eight Is Enough – episode: "Marriage and other Flights of Fancy" (1979)
The Love Boat – episodes: "Celebration; Captain Papa"; "Honeymoon Pressure" (1980)
Vega$ – episode: "Sourdough Suite" – Josiah Sparks (1981)
Magnum, P.I. – episode: "All Roads Lead to Floyd" – Floyd Lewellen (1981)
Fantasy Island – episode: "High Off the Hog/Reprisal" – Otis T. Boggs (1981)
Beyond Witch Mountain (with
Eddie Albert ) – Uncle Ben (1982)
The Yellow Rose – 22 episodes – Luther Dillard (1983–1984)
Cover Up – episode: "Nothing to Lose" – Graham (1984)
Murder, She Wrote – episode: "Funeral at Fifty-Mile" – Doc Wallace (1985)
Trapper John, M.D. – episode: "Buckaroo Bob Rides Again" – Buckaroo Bob Morgan (1985)
The Love Boat – episode: "Hello, Emily/The Tour Guide/The Winning Number" – Daryl Wilcox (1986)
References
^
Hal Erickson (2014).
"Noah Beery Jr" . Movies & TV Dept.
The New York Times . Archived from
the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014 .
^
"Noah Beery Jr., 81, an Actor Known for Playing Sidekicks" . The New York Times . November 3, 1994.
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved June 19, 2016 .
^
"Noah Beery Jr" . walkoffame.com . Retrieved June 19, 2016 .
^
"Noah Beery Jr. profile" .
Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 19, 2016 .
^ Wire Reports (November 2, 1994).
"Noah Beery Jr.; Film, TV Character Actor" . Los Angeles Times .
ISSN
0458-3035 . Retrieved June 19, 2016 .
^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons , 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 3178–3184), McFarland & Company, Inc.
^
Bugs Bunny-War Bonds , 1943, retrieved September 21, 2017
External links
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