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Noah Beery Jr. (1913-1994)
Noah Beery

Prairie Wolfer, January 18, 1964 Written by John Dunkel, Directed by Andrew McLaglen, Guest Cast: Noah Beery, Don Dubbins, Frank Coby, Holly McIntire

This great character actor was a member of a famous acting family and seemed to age like 'fine wine.' Dark and macho looking with a square jaw, expressive eyes and an upbeat, laid back demeanor he was often the sidekick. He was born in New York City on August 10, 1913 the son of actor Noah Beery and the nephew of character actor Wallace Beery. With such a background it was inevitable that he would perform and he made his debut as a child in the silent film "The Mark of Zorro" (1920) with his father and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. He toured with his father acting in stock companies and attending military academies for his education. His other film credits include: "Heroes of the West" (1932) as Noah Blaine; "Tailspin Tommy" (1934) as Peter 'Skeeter' Milligan; "Stormy" (1935) as Stormy; "Ace Drummond" (1936) as Jerry; "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939) as Joe Souther; "Of Mice and Men" (1939) with Lon Chaney Jr., as Whit; "20 Mule Team" (1940) as Mitch; "Sergeant York" (1941) with Gary Cooper, as Buck Lipscomb; "'Neath the Brooklyn Bridge" (1942) as Butch; "The Daltons Ride Again" (1945) as Ben Dalton; "Red River" (1948) with John Wayne, as Buster McGee; "Two Flags West" (1950) as Cy Davis; "Rocketship X-M (1950) as Maj. William Corrigan; Disney's "Davey Crockett, Indian Scout" (1950) as Tex; "The Cimmaron Kid" (1951) as Bob Dalton; "War Arrow" (1953) as Sgt. Augustus Wilks; "Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964) as Tim Mitchell; "Little Fauss and Big Halsy" (1970) as Seally Fauss; "Walking Tall" (1973) as Grandpa; "The Spikes Gang" (1974) as Jack Basset, one of my favorite films and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (1980) as Edsel, his last film. He became quite popular on TV as a regular on: "The Adventures of Noah Beery Jr." (1954) an adventure series; "Circus Boy" (1956-58) with Mickey Braddock (later Dolenz), as Joey, the clown; "Riverboat" (1960-61) as Bill Blake; "Hondo" (1967) as Buffalo Baker; "Doc Elliot" (1973-74) as Barney Weeks; "The Rockford Files" (1974-80) as Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford, probably his best known role; "The Quest" (1982) as Art Henley and "The Yellow Rose" (1983-84) as Luther Dillard. He also starred in TV movies and guested on such series as: "Gunsmoke"; "Lassie"; "Wagon Train"; "Perry Mason"; "Magnum P.I." and "Murder She Wrote. He died on November 1, 1994 in Tehachapi, California, at his ranch, of complications of brain surgery at age 81.

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