Don Beddoe

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

Early years

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of a singer, also named Don Beddoe. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with bachelor's and master's degrees and taught English for three years.

Stage

Beddoe gained much theatrical experience playing in stock theater in Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made his Broadway acting debut in 1929, receiving top billing (over a young Spencer Tracy) in Nigger Rich. 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).

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 the Three Stooges shorts Three Sappy People and You Nazty Spy!. Beddoe appeared in over 180 films.

Beddoe appeared in more than 250 films.

Television

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

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. 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.

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.

Radio

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

Other activities

In 1968, Beddoes proposed construction of a "high-rise trailer park" to be built in Capistrano Beach, California. 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.

Personal life

Beddoe was married to Joyce Rose, who had been a showgirl.

Death

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

Partial filmography