Ned Beatty titanic character actor of ‘Network,’ dies at 83
Ned Beatty titanic character actor of ‘Network,’ dies at 83. Ned Beatty, the Oscar-nominated character actor who in half a century of American movies, including “Deliverance,” “Network” and “Superman,” was a booming, indelible presence in even the smallest parts, has died. He was 83.
After years in regional theater, Beatty was cast in 1972’s “Deliverance” as Bobby Trippe, the happy-go-lucky member of a male river-boating party terrorized by backwoods thugs in “Deliverance.”
The scene in which Trippe is brutalized and forced to “squeal like a pig” 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.
Beatty received only one Oscar nomination, as a supporting actor for his role as corporate executive Arthur Jensen in 1976’s “Network,” 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.
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, and a Golden Globe Award; he also won a Drama Desk Award.
Personal Information of Ned Beatty
| Born | Ned Thomas Beatty July 6, 1937 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | June 13, 2021 (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Transylvania University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1956–2013 |
| Spouse(s) | Walta Chandler(m. 1959; div. 1968)Belinda Rowley(m. 1971; div. 1979)Dorothy “Tinker” Lindsay(m. 1979; div. 1998)Sandra Johnson (m. 1999) |
| Children | 8 |
| Awards | Drama Desk Award (2004) |
He was equally memorable as Otis, the idiot henchman of villainous Lex Luthor in the first two Christopher Reeve “Superman” movies and as the racist sheriff in “White Lightning.” Other films included “All The President’s Men,” “The Front Page,” “Nashville,” and “The Big Easy.” In a 1977 interview, he had explained why he preferred being a supporting actor.
