15 Facts About Ed Begley

1.

Edward James Begley was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television.

2.

Ed Begley won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film Sweet Bird of Youth and appeared in such classics as 12 Angry Men and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

3.

Ed Begley was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Matthew Harrison Brady in a television adaptation of Inherit the Wind.

4.

Ed Begley is the father of actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr.

5.

Ed Begley was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to two Irish immigrants, Hannah and Michael Joseph Ed Begley.

6.

Ed Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens.

7.

Ed Begley appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year.

8.

Ed Begley starred in the 1950s radio program Richard Diamond, Private Detective, playing Lieutenant Walter Levinson, head of homicide at the 5th Precinct, Manhattan.

9.

Ed Begley was elected a member of The Lambs in 1943.

10.

In 1954 Ed Begley starred in the NBC Television show Robert Montgomery Presents in "Big Boy", an episode sponsored by Lucky Strike, as Joe Grant, an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, who worked on the famous Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotives.

11.

Ed Begley won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sweet Bird of Youth.

12.

One notable role Ed Begley played both on television and in the theatrical film is William Briggs, one of the three primary characters in Rod Serling's Patterns.

13.

Ed Begley married his first wife, Amanda Huff, in 1922; they had two children.

14.

Ed Begley died of a heart attack while attending a party at the home of Jay Bernstein in Hollywood, California, on April 28,1970.

15.

Ed Begley is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.