Background
Edward Begley was born on March 25, 1901, in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Michael Joseph Begley, a laborer, and Hannah Clifford. His father was a natural entertainer with a wide repertoire of dialect stories and songs.
Edward Begley was born on March 25, 1901, in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Michael Joseph Begley, a laborer, and Hannah Clifford. His father was a natural entertainer with a wide repertoire of dialect stories and songs.
Young Begley shared his father's flair for entertaining and at age eleven ran away to Stamford, Connecticut, and New York City, hoping to get into show business. Returned to Hartford by the juvenile authorities, he attended St. Patrick's Parochial School through the fifth grade. When he was thirteen, Begley, by then a practiced runaway, left home for good to join a traveling carnival. "I was looking for something, " he later recalled. "I didn't find it then, but it started me on the road that finally led to acting. "
Begley spent many years working at odd jobs, usually leaving them for brief turns in vaudeville, circus, and carnival. But his burning desire to act was frustrated by his impulsiveness and lack of direction. It was not until 1931 that he found a show-business niche on radio station WTIC in Hartford, where he was announcer, actor, writer, producer, and disc jockey. In 1943 he moved on to network radio and became one of radio's busiest actors. He starred in "Charlie Chan, " "Official Detective, " "Family Doctor, " and other popular series. On "State of the Union" he often portrayed President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Thirty years after running away from home to become a stage actor, Ed Begley finally realized his ambition. He first appeared on Broadway as a German general in Land of Fame (1943), a play about Greece under Nazi rule. He also had roles in Get Away, Old Man (1943) and Pretty Little Parlor (1944). In 1947 he starred in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, a breakthrough play for both actor and playwright. Begley won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Joe Keller, a corrupt defense contractor whose shoddy products had caused the death of some aviators during the war. Earlier that year, Begley was in Hollywood for a supporting role in Boomerang, a semidocumentary film directed by Elia Kazan, who staged All My Sons. In his screen debut Begley etched "a remarkable portrait of joviality, venality and fear. "
Begley worked primarily in films between 1948 and 1952 and then was prominent in the so-called golden age of live television drama. During the 1950's he appeared on most of the new medium's major drama anthologies, including "Armstrong Circle Theatre, " "Goodyear Playhouse, " "Robert Montgomery Presents, " "Kraft Theatre, " "Philco Playhouse, " "Alcoa Hour, " and "U. S. Steel Hour. " Begley re-created two of his memorable television roles in films made from teleplays. In Patterns (1956), Rod Serling's drama about conflicts among corporate executives, Begley portrayed Bill Briggs, a man of ability and principle who is ruined by his efforts to observe standards of decency and kindness in a business guided by a ruthless and manipulative chief executive.
In Twelve Angry Men (1957), a tense jury-room drama, Begley was a racially prejudiced juror. The film critic of the New York Times found his performance "properly warped and rabid. " Between film and television roles Begley returned to Broadway for what proved to be his greatest success - the role of Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind (1955), a play inspired by the famous Scopes trial. William Jennings Bryan was the model for Begley's character, and Brady's antagonist, Henry Drummond, a defense attorney modeled after Clarence Darrow, was portrayed by Paul Muni. Playing opposite Muni's much-heralded performance, Begley more than held his own. For his effort Begley received the Donaldson, Variety, and Tony awards.
His other Broadway plays included Look Homeward, Angel (1958) and Advise and Consent (1960). Begley added to his movie laurels as Boss Finley in the film version of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). Finley, wrote Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, is "a horrible, howling Southern roughneck, a strong reminder of Huey Long, splendidly played by Ed Begley, who makes you cringe every time he grins. " For his performance Begley won an Academy Award as best supporting actor. The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), a Hollywood musical, afforded the actor a rare opportunity to clown, sing, and dance.
Throughout the 1960's Begley remained active in television and films. The drama anthologies had nearly vanished from the small screen by then, but Begley made guest appearances on many popular series, including "Ben Casey, " "The Defenders, " "Naked City, " "Route 66, " "Wagon Train, " "Gunsmoke, " and "The Fugitive. " He also did Inherit the Wind on television for "The Hallmark Hall of Fame" in November 1965. His films of this period include Billion-Dollar Brain (1967) and Wild in the Streets (1968).
Begley maintained homes in Merrick, Long Island, and Manhattan for many years, but resided in Van Nuys, California, at the time of his death.
Quotations: "In playing a role, " Begley told Jesse Zunser of Cue, "a villain role, for example, I try to make him a little sympathetic somewheres. The thing is to make each character individual and at the same time an image of all humanity. So, good or bad, we recognize ourselves in him. "
Begley was an instinctive actor who drew upon personal experience for his characterizations. A bulky man, with heavy brows, sharp eyes, and a toothy grin, the actor made the most of his appearance in shaping his characterizations. Begley always tried to find more than a single dimension in a role. Although known for his villainous roles, the actor was, according to an acquaintance, "a gay, merry soul" and a warmhearted family man.
Ed Begley married actress Amanda Huff in Philadelphia on April 1, 1922. They had three children, one of whom, Ed, Jr. , became an actor. Widowed in 1957, Begley married Dorothy Bates on June 7, 1961; they were divorced in January 1963. On Dececember 12, 1963, Begley married Helen Jordan, his agent's secretary; they had one child.