Born in Avoca, Iowa and moved with his parents to Hollywood, California
in the late 1940s, Richard Beymer acted in various films while
attending North Hollywood High School. He enjoys making his own films
and has a film used in a PBS series on the civil rights
movement.
He hated his performance in West Side Story (1961) and left the London premiere half way through the film's screening, before he could be presented to Queen Elizabeth II.