Biography for
Carl Betz More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

9 March 1921, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Date of Death

18 January 1978, Los Angeles, California, USA (lung cancer)

Birth Name

Carl Lawrence Betz

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carl Betz formed a repertory theatre company while still in high school, then worked in summer stock. He served in the U.S. Army during the Second World War, then attended Carnegie Tech. Following graduation, he worked as a radio announcer. He made his Broadway debut in "The Long Watch". He was given a contract at Twentieth Century-Fox, and appeared in supporting roles in a number of films before moving into television. After a brief period working in soap operas, he was cast as Dr. Alex Stone on the popular "The Donna Reed Show" (1958) and spent eight years there. He followed that show with another series, "Judd for the Defense" (1967), in which he played a masterful attorney. He worked primarily in television, in both guest appearances and TV movies, throughout the Seventies, though he continued to work on stage around the U.S. He fought a gallant fight against early cancer and died in 1978.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Spouse

Gloria Stone Martin	(14 December 1963 - 18 January 1978) (his death)
Lois Harmon	(20 June 1952 - 30 September 1961) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Dr. Alex Stone, Betz's character on "The Donna Reed Show" (1958), was ranked #16 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

Member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University).

Was tailback in the 1938 Sugar Bowl of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) versus Texas Christian University.

One son, Richard Lawrence Betz, with first wife, Lois Harmon. He was born on May 24, 1957.

Wife Gloria is the sister of actress Nita Talbot.

Ex-brother-in-law of Thomas A. Geas.

Adopted stepdaughter and named her Rio Betz.