John Beck (born 28 January 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American actor. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He grew up in Joliet, Illinois. Joliet is a city in Will county in the US state of Illinois, located 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Renowned as a gritty actor with plenty of presence on set, he is ultimately best-known worldwide for playing the role of Mark Graison in Dallas during the mid-1980s, but is also well-known for several other roles in which he specialised in playing hard-ball businessmen. Dallas is a highly popular long-running American prime-time television Soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991
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Early career (1964–1976)
Beck grew up in Chicago, where he lived on his father's ranch. His childhood ambition was to become a vet. However, following his performance in a school play aged 16 his tutors encouraged him to try and get into drama school instead. He moved to California in 1962 at age 19, and initially made his living by appearing in TV commercials. A year later he made his first television appearance as an actor in his own right in a 1965 episode of I Dream of Jeannie (entitled 'Russian Roulette') at the age of 21, and was soon highly commended as one of the United States' strongest support actors. I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a Fantasy premise His numerous credits as a support actor over the years include guest slots in such series as the Perry Mason TVMs of 1985 to 1993, Diagnosis Murder, Baywatch (Beck was a good friend of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff during the 1980s), Tales from the Crypt, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible and Matlock, among numerous others. Perry Mason is a fictional character a defense Attorney who originally was the main character in numerous pieces of Detective fiction authored by Diagnosis Murder is a mystery / medical / Crime drama Television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr Baywatch was an American Television series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the crowded Beaches of David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952) is an American Actor and Singer, who is best known for his lead roles on Knight Tales from the Crypt is a horror anthology American TV series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the Premium Cable channel Bonanza is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 12 1959 to January 16 1973 Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston Mission Impossible (often referred to as Mission Impossible The Original Series) is an American Television series that chronicles Matlock was a long-running American Television Legal drama. The show ran from September 23, 1986 to May So busy was his schedule in his early career that many of the characters he played were either killed off or written out prematurely as he no longer had time to play them.
Already a household name in the United States by this point, Beck first came to the attention of international audiences in 1973 when he played an underground leader named "Erno" who leads a revolt against a fascist government in the Woody Allen sci-fi comedy Sleeper. Sleeper ( 1973) is a futuristic Science fiction Comedy Film, written by directed by and starring Woody Allen. That same year he appeared as a character named "Poe" in the Sam Peckinpah western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21 1925 &ndash December 28 1984 was an American Film director who achieved iconic status following the release Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson And in 1975 he appeared opposite James Caan in the science fiction thriller Rollerball directed by Norman Jewison. James Edmund Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American Academy Award - Emmy - and Golden Globe -nominated American Rollerball is a 1975 dystopian fiction Film directed by Norman Jewison from a screenplay by William Harrison, who adapted Norman Frederick Jewison CC, BA, LLD (born July 21, 1926) is an Academy Award -winning Canadian Film
Commercial peak (1977–1986)
In the film The Other Side of Midnight in 1977, Beck played the male lead. The Other Side of Midnight is a 1973 novel by Sidney Sheldon. The film, though critically acclaimed, was a box office flop, largely due to 20th Century Fox's controversial decision to tag the film as a double bill with the first Star Wars film on its cinema release, a factor that caused The Other Side of Midnight to do less well commercially than it might otherwise have done. Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Nevertheless, Beck's strong performance in this film made numerous TV producers and directors take notice, and marked him out as an actor with great potential.
In 1978 Beck starred in an adaptation of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine (with future Three's Company actress Priscilla Barnes). The year 1978 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1978. Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political The Time Machine is a novella by H G Wells, first published in 1895 and later directly adapted into at least two Feature films of the same name as Three's Company is an American Sitcom that aired from 1977 to 1984 on ABC. Priscilla Barnes (born December 7, 1952 or 1955 is an American Actress known for replacing Suzanne Somers ( Jenilee Harrison He appeared as Dorian Blake in 1985's Peyton Place: The Next Generation, a proposed revival of 1960s nighttime drama Peyton Place. The year 1985 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1985. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Peyton Place is an American primetime Drama serial which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15 Both productions aired on NBC in the United States. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's
After over fifteen years of being cast in support roles and bit-parts in various American drama and comedy series and low-budget films, he finally landed his first major starring role playing Sam Curtis in the early 1980s television soap opera Flamingo Road, followed by the role of Mark Graison on Dallas (his best-known role) from 1983 to 1986. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Dallas is a highly popular long-running American prime-time television Soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991 The year 1983 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1983. The year 1986 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1986. His other credits as a leading performer include Santa Barbara and, more recently, a recurring role in Walker: Texas Ranger. Santa Barbara was an American decade long and award-winning Television Soap opera, first broadcast in United States on NBC Walker Texas Ranger is an American Television western / police drama series created by Lesie Grief and Paul Haggis.
Recent career (1989–present)
The 1990s saw Beck turn to voice acting for the first time in his career when he provided the voice of the Punisher in three episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, although to date this remains the only role as a voice actor in his career. The Punisher ( Frank Castle) is a fictional Antihero that appears in the Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Spider-Man (also known as Spider-Man The Animated Series) is an American Animated television series featuring the Beck also guest-starred as the character Raymond Boone in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine extended episode "Tribunal" in 1994 to great acclaim. “Tribunal” is the penultimate episode of the second season of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. His increasingly hectic workload between the early 1970s and the mid-1990s wore Beck down to the extent that after leaving the Walker: Texas Ranger series in 1997 he began to wind down his acting schedule due to exhaustion.
Still a favourite of US critics, Beck's last appearance on screen to date was in the 2005 TV movie Crash Landing.
Personal life
Throughout his time in the showbiz industry Beck has rarely talked to the media, even at the peak of his career in the mid-1980s.
Now aged 65, Beck has over 200 TV/film appearances to his name, in an acting career spanning more than four decades. He has been married to former actress and model Tina Carter since 1971 and they have four children.
Selected filmography
External links
- John Beck at the Internet Movie Database
- John Beck at Allmovie
- John Beck article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Nothing but John - A John Beck Fansite
- John Beck
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Beck, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 28 January 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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