Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-14 of 14
- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Beal was born James Andrew Bliedung on August 13, 1909, in Joplin, Missouri. The son of a department store owner and concert pianist, he began acting in school and church plays and decided to pursue it as a career following his B.S. degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. The more marquee-friendly stage moniker of "John Beal" came from the names of two close college friends that same year.
Following repertory theatre work, he began his Broadway run as an understudy and walk-on before earning his first lead in the short-lived play "Wild Waves" in 1932. Following excellent notices in the hit play "Another Language," John repeated his showcase role in the film version of Another Language (1933) opposite Helen Hayes. Declining a Hollywood contract at the time, he returned to Broadway in 1933 for "She Loves Me Not". It wasn't long, however, before he was front-and-center again in films and showing great promise in RKO movie parts opposite Katharine Hepburn in both The Little Minister (1934) and Break of Hearts (1935), the title role in Laddie (1935) co-starring Gloria Stuart, and in the prime role of Marius in the Charles Laughton/Fredric March version of Les Misérables (1935).
Briefly signed by MGM, in which his best role was as Gladys George's son in the studio's classic, tear-stained drama Madame X (1937), WWII took the wind out of his career sails, serving as a staff sergeant in the motion picture unit of the Army Air Force. Theatre, radio and film would take up much of his time in the post-WWII years. Prestigious stage productions over time included "The Voice of the Turtle," "Lend an Ear," "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "Our Town," "The Long Christmas Dinner," "The Front Page," "To Be Young Gifted and Black" and "The Little Foxes". Excellent performances on TV in "A Trip to Bountiful," "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Long Way Home" added flavor and distinction to his later career.
Sporadic film roles included I Am the Law (1938), The Cat and the Canary (1939), One Thrilling Night (1942), My Six Convicts (1952), The Vampire (1957), The Sound and the Fury (1959), The Bride (1973), Amityville 3-D (1983), and his last, The Firm (1993), in which he played a bearded villain. He was never able again to achieve his early cinematic prowess of the early 1930s. In the 1960s Beal made a dent in daytime soap dramas, in particular his Judge Vail in the cult vampire series Dark Shadows (1966).
Long married (1934-1986) to actress Helen Craig and the father of two daughters, he focused on his passion for portrait painting in later years. Beal died in 1997 at age 87 in Santa Cruz, California, from the lingering effects of a stroke.- Music Department
- Composer
- Additional Crew
An internationally recognized film music conductor with thousands of hours in front of orchestras in Hollywood and around the world, award-winning film and television composer John Beal is as at home on the concert stage as he is in the recording studio. Principal Pops Conductor of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra®, Maestro Beal is a highly sought-after conductor and has conducted a wide and diverse variety of shows and live-to-film scores with many of the world's greatest musicians in venues stretching from London to Tokyo, from the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Brussels Philharmonic and The City of Prague Philharmonic, to the National Symphony of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur or the Evergreen Symphony of Taiwan, as well as major symphony orchestras throughout the United States, including several decades in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra. Throughout his career as a Music Director, Maestro Beal has arranged and conducted orchestras on albums and in concerts and television with very diverse artists ranging from the world premiere of Rocketman: Live in Concert with Elton John and Taron Egerton to the world premiere orchestral concert of Electronica DJ Deadmau5 Deadmau5, the world premiere of Serengeti Live with Lola Lennox, the U.S. concert debut of Olivia Newton-John, and for singers Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, and B.B. King.
John Beal is a film and television composer and conductor, who is most well-known not only for his work on numerous hit television shows, but as the industry's leading composer of original scores for theatrical motion picture trailers for over thirty years. Beal specialized in actual scoring for trailers, rather than creating library music which would be randomly licensed and plugged into marketing campaigns. Working with Hollywood's movie marketing pioneer Andrew J. Kuehn, John was an integral part of the ground-breaking creation of today's definitive contemporary motion picture trailer form. John Beal is recognized throughout the industry as the creative who defined its musical style and template. Beal is the President of Reeltime Creative.
Born in Santa Monica, California. His grandfather was involved with the very first television broadcasts from RCA in New York and the development of multi-channel sound for Disney's Fantasia (1940), and John's earliest years were spent in the San Fernando Valley, where he attended school with the children many of Hollywood's most famous stars. John was selected to be one of the child guests on Art Linkletter's The Linkletter Show (1952).
John began piano studies at age six. By age eight, he had moved to La Cañada-Flintridge, California and was singing with a professional boys choir. His first job as a professional musician was as a drummer at age ten. In junior high school, he appeared on shows hosted by Steve Allen and Dick Clark. With studies at San Diego State and UCLA behind him, his musical career was interrupted by combat service in the United States Marine Corps, where he was decorated for heroism, bravery, valor and gallantry.
John quickly returned to Hollywood to pursue his dream. In his twenties, he had already worked with Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald, Phyllis Diller (as her conductor and straight man) and many more stars as their music director and arranger. John began studying with composer mentors Earle Hagen, Dominic Frontiere and George Duning, while ghostwriting and orchestrating for many other major film and television composers and conducting for variety television shows. He also contributed original music to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Enchanted Village.
His first feature film was Zero to Sixty (1978) with Darren McGavin and Joan Collins, and he continued scoring films (The Funhouse (1981), Terror in the Aisles (1984)) and many hit television series, beginning with Happy Days (1974), Laverne & Shirley (1976), Eight Is Enough (1977), Vega$ (1978), Chicago Story (1982) and Goodtime Girls (1980).
John Beal was part of the ground-breaking team that created today's contemporary motion picture trailer format and is recognized throughout the industry as the composer who defined its musical style and template. Composing original scores for the marketing of over 2,000 major studio projects, the success of movie campaigns to which John Beal contributed vital original creative is literally measured in hundreds of billions of dollars, with titles ranging from Aladdin (1992), Ghost (1990), Black Rain (1989), and Forrest Gump (1994) to The Matrix (1999), The Last Samurai (2003), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Titanic (1997) and True Lies (1994).
Mr. Beal attributes the passion that led him to pursue a lifetime in film and television music to childhood days at the knee of family friend, celebrated silent movie theater organist Gaylord Carter, and to an amazing group of mentors: Five time Academy Award composer nominee George Duning; Academy Award winner Dominic Frontiere; Disney's Academy Award nominee Buddy Baker; Academy Award nominee and multiple Emmy Award-winning conductor Ian Fraser; twelve-time Emmy Award nominee, conductor Nick Perito; and Emmy Award-winning composers Billy Goldenberg and Earle Hagen.- John Beal is known for The Investigator (1958).
- Director
John Beal is known for New Faces (1954).- Camera and Electrical Department
John Beal is known for Crush Proof (1972).- John Beal is known for Son of Sam & Delilah (1991).
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John Beal is known for Everyone Says I Love You (1996), American Splendor (2003) and Dead Man Walking (1995).- John Beal is known for The Circuit (2008).
- John Beal is known for Dirty Laundry (2007).
- Music Department
John Beal is known for Largo (2016).- John S. Beal III is known for Unforgiven Sins (2006).
- Composer
- Additional Crew
John Beal is known for Wings of Faith (2010).- Additional Crew
John Beal is known for Billyboy (2008).