NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ned Beatty, the Oscar-nominated character actor who in half a century of American movies, including 鈥淒eliverance,鈥� 鈥淣etwork鈥� and 鈥淪uperman,鈥� was a booming, indelible presence in even the smallest parts, has died. He was 83.
Beatty’s manager, Deborah Miller, said Beatty died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by friends and loved ones.
After years in regional theater, Beatty was cast in 1972’s 鈥淒eliverance鈥� as Bobby Trippe, the happy-go-lucky member of a male river-boating party terrorized by backwoods thugs in 鈥淒eliverance.鈥� The scene in which Trippe is brutalized and forced to 鈥渟queal like a pig鈥� became the most memorable in the movie and established Beatty as an actor whose name moviegoers may not have known but whose face they always recognized.
鈥淔or people like me, there鈥檚 a lot of 鈥業 know you! I know you! What have I seen you in?鈥欌�� Beatty remarked without rancor in 1992.
Beatty received only one Oscar nomination, as supporting actor for his role as corporate executive Arthur Jensen in 1976鈥瞫 鈥淣etwork,鈥� but he contributed to some of the most popular movies of his time and worked constantly, his credits including more than 150 movies and TV shows.
Beatty’s appearance in 鈥淣etwork,鈥� scripted by Paddy Chayefsky an directed by Sidney Lumet, was brief but titanic. His three-minute monologue ranks among the greatest in movies. Jensen summons anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) to a long, dimly lit boardroom for a come-to-Jesus about the elemental powers of media.
鈥淵ou have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won鈥檛 have it!鈥� Beatty shouts from across the boardroom before explaining that there is no America, no democracy. 鈥淭here is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.鈥�
He was equally memorable as Otis, the idiot henchman of villainous Lex Luthor in the first two Christopher Reeve 鈥淪uperman鈥� movies and as the racist sheriff in 鈥淲hite Lightning.鈥� Other films included 鈥淎ll The President鈥檚 Men,鈥� 鈥淭he Front Page,鈥� 鈥淣ashville,鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Easy.鈥� In a 1977 interview, he had explained why he preferred being a supporting actor.
鈥淪tars never want to throw the audience a curveball, but my great joy is throwing curveballs,鈥� he told The New York Times. 鈥淏eing a star cuts down on your effectiveness as an actor because you become an identifiable part of a product and somewhat predictable. You have to mind your P鈥檚 and Q鈥檚 and nurture your fans. But I like to surprise the audience, to do the unexpected.鈥�
He landed a rare leading role in the Irish film 鈥淗ear My Song鈥� in 1991. The true story of legendary Irish tenor Josef Locke, who disappeared at the height of a brilliant career, it was well reviewed but largely unseen in the United States. Between movies, Beatty worked often in TV and theater. He had recurring roles in 鈥淩oseanne鈥� as John Goodman鈥檚 father and as a detective on 鈥淗omicide: Life on the Street.鈥�
On Broadway he won critical praise (and a Drama Desk Award) for his portrayal of Big Daddy in a revival of 鈥淐at on a Hot Tin Roof,鈥� a role he had first played as a 21-year-old in a stock company production. His more recent movies included 鈥淭oy Story 3鈥� (as the duplicitous stuffed bear Lotso) in 2010 and the villainous tortoise mayor in 鈥淩ango.” He retired in 2013.
Ned Thomas Beatty was born in 1937 in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Lexington, where he joined the Protestant Disciples of Christ Christian Church. 鈥淚t was the theater I attended as a kid,鈥� he told The Associated Press in 1992. 鈥淚t was where people got down to their truest emotions and talked about things they didn鈥檛 talk about in everyday life. … The preaching was very often theatrical.鈥� For a time he thought of becoming a priest, but changed his mind after he was cast in a high school production of 鈥淗arvey.鈥�
He spent 10 summers at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, and eight years at the Arena Stage Company in Washington, D.C. At the Arena Stage, he appeared in Chekhov鈥檚 鈥淯ncle Vanya鈥� and starred in Arthur Miller鈥檚 鈥淒eath of a Salesman.鈥� Then his life changed forever when he took a train to New York to audition for director John Boorman for the role of Bobby Trippe. Boorman told him the role was cast, but changed his mind after seeing Beatty audition.
Beatty, who married Sandra Johnson in 1999, had eight children from three previous marriages.
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The late AP Entertainment Writer Bob Thomas contributed biographical material to this story.
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