Richard Beymer

George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938)[1][2] is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who is best known for playing the roles of Tony in the film version of West Side Story (1961), Peter in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and Ben Horne on the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017).

Richard Beymer
Beymer in 1961
Born	George Richard Beymer Jr. February 20, 1938 Avoca, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, painter, sculptor, novelist
Years active	1949–present
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)

Early life

Beymer was born in Avoca, Iowa, to George Richard Beymer, a printer, and his wife, Eunice (née Goss).[2] He and his family moved in 1940 to Los Angeles.

Acting career

Child actor

In 1949 Beymer began acting in television in a Los Angeles TV series for children Sandy Dreams (1949–53). He did it for three years, rehearsing after school during the week and recording it on Saturdays. The show ended when he was 13.[3]

Beymer made his feature-film debut in Vittorio De Sica's Stazione Termini (1953).[4] De Sica cast him in part because his dark complexion made him look like Jennifer Jones' nephew.

He was under contract to Jones' husband, David O. Selznick for a year.[5] Selznick loaned him to Warners to play Jane Wyman's piano protege in So Big (1953).

The contract with Selznick only lasted a year. Beymer found himself in much demand on television: Cavalcade of America (1954) and Johnny Tremain (1957). He guest starred in 26 Men, Zane Grey Theater, Make Room for Daddy, The Gray Ghost, Navy Log, Whirlybirds, Sky King, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, and Schlitz Playhouse. He auditioned unsuccessfully for the role played by Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause (1954).[5][3]

20th Century Fox

Beymer achieved success when George Stevens cast him in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) playing Peter Van Daan.

Beymer was put under contract to 20th Century Fox and started to be regarded as an exciting future star.[5] Producer William Perlberg later said, "It's a thing that periodically happens out here. Somebody comes along and talk starts and agents and studios keep talking and talking. Like an avalanche, the talk gathers speed. Ultimately that 'somebody' turns out to be a big name in Hollywood only."[5]

After appearing in Playhouse 90 he had a support role in High Time (1960), a comedy with Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld at 20th Century Fox. "I wanted to be a very good actor," said Beymer later. "I wanted to work and let the work stand for something."[5]

In June 1960 Beymer, was cast in the lead role of Tony in West Side Story (1961), a huge hit. He shared a 1962 Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor with Bobby Darin and Warren Beatty.[6]

Beymer later said he "was miserable in West Side Story. I didn't know enough at the time because I lacked certain knowledge in acting... I came out ridiculous. I didn't stand up for what I should have and I didn't know enough. The blame should be on me."[7]

Beymer was reunited with Weld in the Fox comedy Bachelor Flat (1961). At Columbia he played the son of Rosalind Russell and Jack Hawkins in Five Finger Exercise (1962). Beymer later said he was "terrible" in that film.[8]

Beymer was given the role of Nick Adams in Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) for Fox, with an all-star supporting cast. Producer Jerry Wald says he and director Martin Ritt agreed that Beymer was "the young actor I think stands the best chance of being the next Gary Cooper."[9] During filming Beymer met Sharon Tate and it was he who encouraged her to get into acting.[10] The film was a big flop.

Beymer had a significant role in the film The Longest Day (1962), which was successful, but he was unhappy with his acting in the film.[4] "They tried to make me the nice kid next door," he said. "That's just not me. They said just play you - but I am not the all American boy."[7]

In December 1962 Richard Zanuck of Fox wanted Beymer in Illicit based on a story by Vera Caspary but the story was not made.[11] Neither was A Promise at Dawn with Ingrid Bergman[12] after Fox studio shut down temporarily due to cost overruns.[13]

Beymer started attending daily classes at the Actors Studio. "I just want to learn and be as professional as I can," he said.[14]

Producer Wald and director Franklin Schaffner cast Beymer in The Stripper (1963) with Joanne Woodward, which was critically acclaimed but not a big hit. Beymer returned to New York.[8] "I got sick of the whole thing and I left," he said.[7]

Semi-retirement

In 1964 Beymer became involved in Freedom Summer in Mississippi. "You get tired of being a complainer, passive," he said.[15]

He assisted Barney Frank in rescuing Freedom Democrat forms in a rental truck that had been confiscated from arrested Freedom volunteers in Canton, Mississippi on Freedom Day (July 16, 1964).[16] During this time, he filmed the award-winning documentary A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer (1964), documenting the efforts of volunteers registering African-Americans to vote.[17][15]

In February 1964, he said all the films he had done except The Longest Day "should have been classroom work and never should have been shown publicly... I'm not a leading man. I"m a character actor. That is, I'm not a stereotyped leading man type. I'm kind of a schlepp at times... I don't care about billing and being a star. Being myself is the first thing."[7]

Beymer guest starred in episodes of Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Virginian, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Death Valley Days.[18] He did The Country Girl on stage.[19]

Beymer returned to features with Scream Free! (1969) co starring his West Side Story co star Russ Tamblyn, also known as Free Grass.[20]

Filmmaker

Beymer turned to filmmaking with The Innerview (1973), which he wrote, produced and directed as well as starred.[21]

He starred in, wrote and directed episodes of Insight. He lived for two years in a commune and worked in Switzerland. He starred in a film Free Grass that was never released.[5]

"I never left the movies," Beymer said. "I just made different kinds of movies."[22]

Return to acting

Beymer returned to Los Angeles in 1982 to reactivate his career.[5]

He appeared in Cross Country (1983). He had roles in Paper Dolls (1984), playing the husband of Mimi Rogers, and Generation (1985), Moonlighting, Dallas, The Bronx Zoo, Buck James, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989).

Beymer was widely seen in Twin Peaks (1990–91) playing Ben Horne. He followed it in Blackbelt (1992), and The Presence (1993).

He made three appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Li Nalas in the episodes "The Homecoming", "The Circle", and "The Siege".

Beymer could also be seen in Under Investigation (1993), My Girl 2 (1994), State of Emergency (1994), The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996), several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, A Face to Die For (1996), The Little Death (1996), Foxfire (1996), Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) and Home: the Horror Story. He was in episodes of Flipper, The X-Files, Vengeance Unlimited, Profiler, and Family Law.[23]

Filmmaking

He was in Sadie's Waltz (2008) then focused on directing documentaries: The Passing of a Saint (2010), It's a Beautiful World (2014), Richard Beymer's Before... the Big Bang (2016), I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun (2017), and Behind the Red Curtain (2017).[24]

Beymer reprised his role as Ben Horne in the third season of Twin Peaks in 2017.[25]

The avant-garde film The Innerview, which he directed, produced, wrote the screenplay for and edited, won the Josef von Sternberg Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival in 1974. His 2010 film, The Passing of a Saint, chronicles the funeral rites of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.[26] In April 2014 his film of a trip to India with David Lynch, It's a Beautiful World, was released.[27]

Books

In 2007 Beymer completed his first book, a self-published novel, Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?, a semi-autobiographical account of a young actor's struggle to find himself.[28]

As visual artist

Beymer's photographs of Twin Peaks cast and crew were featured in the gallery of behind the scenes photos on the Definitive Gold Box Edition for Twin Peaks, released on October 30, 2007. He is also a painter and sculptor.[26]

Personal life

As of 2010, Beymer resided in Fairfield, Iowa, where he continued to make films and to write, sculpt, and paint.[26] He practices Transcendental Meditation, to "cool out".[27]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Fourteen Hours		Uncredited
1953	Terminal Station	Paul Stevens
1953	So Big	Roelf (Age 12-16)
1957	Johnny Tremain	Rab Silsbee
1959	The Diary of Anne Frank	Peter Van Daan
1960	High Time	Bob Bannerman
1961	West Side Story	Tony	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1961	Bachelor Flat	Mike Pulaski
1962	Five Finger Exercise	Philip Harrington
1962	Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man	Nick Adams
1962	The Longest Day	Pvt. Dutch Schultz
1963	The Stripper	Kenny Baird
1964	A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer		Documentary short; director and writer
1969	Scream Free!	Dean
1973	The Innerview		Also director, writer, producer, editor and cinematographer
1983	Cross Country	Evan Bley
1989	Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!	Dr. Newbury	Direct-to-video
1992	Blackbelt	Eddie Deangelo
1993	Under Investigation	Dr. Jerry Parsons
1994	My Girl 2	Peter Webb
1996	The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson	Chad Leary
1996	Foxfire	Mr. Parks
1998	Playing Patti
2000	Home the Horror Story	Bob Parkinson
2008	Sadie's Waltz	Garvus	Short film
2010	The Passing of a Saint		Documentary; director, editor and cinematographer
2014	It's a Beautiful World		Documentary; director, editor and cinematographer
2016	Richard Beymer's Before the Big Bang		Documentary; director, editor and cinematographer
2017	I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun		Documentary short; director, editor and cinematographer
2017	Behind the Red Curtain		Documentary short; director, editor and cinematographer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Cavalcade of America		Episode: "Gentle Conqueror"
1956–1957	Make Room for Daddy	The Boyfriend / Freddie Baxter	2 episodes
1957	The Gray Ghost	Luke Burnette	Episode: "An Eye for an Eye"
1957	26 Men	Tod Devers	Episode: "Dead Man in Tucson"
1957	Zane Grey Theater	Shep Jolland	Episode: "The Bitter Land"
1958	Navy Log	Ennis Thompson	Episode: "The Soapbox Kid"
1958	Whirlybirds	John Thompson	Episode: "The Brothers"
1958	Sky King	Joe Belden	Episode: "Man Hunt"
1958	Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre	Mark	Episode: "On the Brink"
1958, 1968	Death Valley Days	John Owens / Zeb Fallon	2 episodes
1959	Schlitz Playhouse		Episode: "On the Brink"
1959	Playhouse 90	LeRoy Cadman	Episode: "Dark December"
1965	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Werner Schiff	Episode: "The East Breach"
1965	The Virginian	Mark Shannon / Frank Colter	2 episodes
1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Ralph Belmonte	Episode: "Guilty or Not Guilty"
1966	Dr. Kildare	Reverend Jack Elder	3 episodes
1967	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Harry Williams	Episode: "The Survival School Affair"
1975, 1980	Insight	Train Conductor / Josh / God	3 episodes
1981	The Girl on the Edge of Town		Television film; cinematographer
1982	The Juggler of Notre Dame		Television film; cinematographer
1984	Paper Dolls	David Fenton	13 episodes
1985	Generation	Allan Breed	Television film
1986	Moonlighting	Ray Adamson	Episode: "All Creatures Great... and Not So Great"
1987, 1991 1993, 1996	Murder, She Wrote	Various roles	6 episodes
1987–1988	Buck James	Max	2 episodes
1987	Dallas	Jeff Larkin	Episode: "Bedtime Stories"
1988	The Bronx Zoo	Mr. Locke	Episode: "The Gospel Truth"
1990–1991	Twin Peaks	Benjamin Horne	30 episodes
1992	Danger Island	Ben	Television film
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Li Nalas	3 episodes
1994	State of Emergency	Dr. Ronald Frames	Television film
1996	A Face to Die For	Dr. Matthew Sheridan	Television film
1996	Flipper	Andrew Cantrell	Episode: "Sharks"
1996	The X-Files	Dr. Jack Franklin	Episode: "Sanguinarium"
1997	Elvis Meets Nixon	Bob Haldeman	Television film
1998	Vengeance Unlimited	Douglas Bradford	Episode: "Noir"
1999	Profiler	Martin Fizer	Episode: "Ceremony of Innocence"
2001	Family Law	Richard Collins	Episode: "Against All Odds"
2017	Twin Peaks	Benjamin Horne	6 episodes

References

1. John Willis' Screen World. Crown Publishers. 1981. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-517-54482-2.
2. Breymer profile, FilmReference.com; accessed June 27, 2014.
3. Hopper, Hedda (August 21, 1960). "The DICK BEYMER STORY: He Thanks Bing Crosby for His First Big Break, but He Won a Starring Role in 'West Side Story' Thru His Own Talent". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. B26.
4. Brennan, Sandra. "Full Biography". Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
5. Rosenfield, Paul (December 26, 1982). "MOVIES: Richard Beymer Never Was 'The Soft Young Man'". Los Angeles Times. p. M27.
6. "Beymer Gets Film Role". The New York Times. June 8, 1960. p. 45.
7. Alpert, Don (February 23, 1964). "Actors 'Come Out Ridiculous' in Films; Richard Beymer Tells Why". Los Angeles Times. p. C4.
8. Bart, Peter (September 9, 1964). "A YOUNG EX-ACTOR RETURNS TO FILMS: Richard Beymer Writes and Produces Documentary". The New York Times. p. 48. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
9. Parsons, Louella (August 2, 1961). "Ernest Hemingway's 'young man' film to honor Gary Cooper". The Washington Post.
10. Thomas, Kevin (January 18, 1966). "Miss Tate: Old, New Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. p. C11.
11. Hopper, Hedda (December 22, 1962). "Beymer Will Star in 20th's 'Illicit': Zanuck Lifts Star's Option; for Rosenberg's Production". Los Angeles Times. p. B6.
12. Hopper, Hedda (September 9, 1962). "The Heat's on Beymer!: Did He Fly Too High Too Fast?". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. C32.
13. "4 Officials Leave Fox Posts; 3 Films Delayed: Levathes Will Take Over TV Division; Bergman, Stewart Movies Called Off". Los Angeles Times. August 28, 1962. p. A2.
14. "Richard Beymer Is Daily Student at Actors' Studio". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1963. p. D12.
15. Seidenbaum, Art (October 5, 1964). "Richard Beymer's South Side Story". Los Angeles Times. p. D1.
16. Watson, Bruce (2010). Freedom Summer. New York: Penguin. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-101-19018-0.
17. Profile, University of Southern Mississippi Libraries; accessed June 28, 2014.
18. "Katherine Crawford in Suspense Segment". Los Angeles Times. March 11, 1965. p. D9.
19. Smith, Cecil (October 17, 1966). "2 Revivals Do Little to Inspire". Los Angeles Times. p. C25.
20. Martin, Betty (March 11, 1968). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: John Saxon Set for 'Lead'". Los Angeles Times. p. C32.
21. Thomas, Kevin (June 29, 1973). "MOVIE REVIEW: Beymer Goes Avant-Garde". Los Angeles Times. p. H16.
22. Wheelock, Julie (April 6, 1990). "Twin Peaks' Stars Tamblyn, Beymer Share Twin Experience: Television: Actors at work on ABC series share a common bond... their roles in 'West Side Story' almost 30 years ago". Los Angeles Times. p. F23.
23. "Beymer's Career Karma He Used A Knife For Ill Iin West Side,For Good In 'A Face To Die For'". Los Angeles Daily News. March 10, 1996. p. L3.
24. Lee, Felicia R. (June 22, 2014). "Right Out of Hollywood, A Witness to History". The New York Times. p. AR10.
25. Munson, Kyle (October 13, 2014). "Richard Beymer another 'Twin Peaks' angle in Fairfield". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
26. Moore, James (March 2010). "Richard Beymer's Tribute to Maharishi – The Passing of a Saint". The Iowa Source. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
27. "Richard Beymer talks "It's a Beautiful World" and more". Brad D Studios. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014. There is a TM center here in Fairfield, Iowa, so I would come here for two or three weeks and cool out.
28. Beymer, Richard (2007). Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?. Richard Beymer. ISBN 978-0615175515. Retrieved April 21, 2020.

Further reading

• Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 18.

External links

• Richard Beymer at AllMovie
• Richard Beymer's Twin Peaks Photos
• Richard Beymer at IMDb
• Richard Beymer at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection