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IMDbPro

Robert Beatty(1909-1992)

  • Actor
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Robert Beatty in San Demetrio London (1943)
Trailer for this wartime classic
Play trailer2:19
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
3 Videos
17 Photos
Robert Beatty graduated with a B.A. from the University of Toronto and started in amateur dramatics with the Hamilton Player's Guild. For a while, he made a living as a cashier for a gas and fuel company. In order to further hone his acting skills, he made his way to London in 1936 (on the advice of Leslie Howard) to train for acting at RADA. He made his theatrical debut in "Idiot's Delight" at the Apollo, and from there obtained regular work on both stage and screen in bit parts and walk-ons, eventually making his breakthrough on radio as a broadcaster for the BBC. He was famously on hand, reporting eyewitness accounts of the London Blitz for the Overseas News Service during the war years.

On the strength of this, Beatty was promoted to more substantial film roles, beginning with San Demetrio London (1943), in which he played a brash, alcoholic American sailor mellowed by his good-natured British crewmates in the best 'stiff-upper-lip' tradition. This seemed to set the tone for his future screen personae, for he was henceforth typecast as tough, down-to-earth Canadians or Americans, many of them cops or gumshoes in low budget potboilers. That notwithstanding, he had his share of quality assignments as well, notably as loyal friend to IRA fugitive James Mason in Odd Man Out (1947); as a plausible Lord Beaverbrook in The Magic Box (1951); as Lieutenant William Bush, best friend and second-in-command to Gregory Peck's Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951); and as a washed-out heavyweight prizefighter in The Square Ring (1953). Throughout his career, Beatty's stock-in-trade was masculinity, dependability and forthrightness.

Immensely popular on radio, Beatty provided the voice for private eye Philip Odell in a long-running series for the BBC "Light Programme" between 1947 and 1961. From the late 1950's, he also became increasingly prolific on television and as a narrator of documentaries. If his face was not yet recognisable enough, he appeared in commercials for a hair care product. For two years, Beatty starred in his own half-hour series, Dial 999 (1958), as a Canadian mountie seconded to Scotland Yard. On the big screen he was cast as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Towards the end of his lengthy career, he gave one of his finest performances, a thoroughly convincing impersonation of President Ronald Reagan in the documentary-drama Breakthrough at Reykjavik (1987).
BornOctober 19, 1909
DiedMarch 3, 1992(82)
BornOctober 19, 1909
DiedMarch 3, 1992(82)
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Photos17

Robert Beatty in The Return of Sam McCloud (1989)
Robert Beatty and John Longden in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
Robert Beatty in Superman III (1983)
Gregory Peck, Robert Beatty, and James Robertson Justice in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
Gregory Peck, Robert Beatty, and Moultrie Kelsall in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
Rona Anderson, Robert Beatty, and Edward Lexy in The 20 Questions Murder Mystery (1950)
Robert Beatty, Patric Doonan, Margaret Leighton, and Walter Pidgeon in Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951)
Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan, and William Sylvester in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Robert Beatty, Harold Coyne, Roy Lansford, Sean Sullivan, William Sylvester, and Burnell Tucker in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Robert Beatty and Mai Zetterling in Lost Daughter (1949)
Robert Beatty and Terry Moore in Postmark for Danger (1955)
Robert Beatty, Charles Frend, and Robert Hamer in San Demetrio London (1943)

Known for

Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Mark Pillow in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
3.7
  • U.S. President
  • 1987
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey
8.3
  • Dr. Ralph Halvorsen
  • 1968
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
7.2
  • Admiral
  • 1976
Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and Mary Ure in Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Where Eagles Dare
7.6
  • Brig. Gen. George Carnaby
  • 1968

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Return of Sam McCloud (1989)
    The Return of Sam McCloud
  • Diamonds High
  • The Zambezi Kid
  • Breakthrough at Reykjavik
  • Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Mark Pillow in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
    Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
  • Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, Sean Barrett, Denise Bryer, Rob Mills, Ron Mueck, Karen Prell, and Shari Weiser in Labyrinth (1986)
    Labyrinth
    • (voice)
  • George Cole in Minder (1979)
    Minder
  • Murder of a Moderate Man (1985)
    Murder of a Moderate Man
  • Richard Pryor and Christopher Reeve in Superman III (1983)
    Superman III
  • Man and Superman (1982)
    Man and Superman
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
    Tales of the Unexpected
  • The Amateur (1981)
    The Amateur
  • Donald Sumpter and Anna Nicholas in The Rose Medallion (1981)
    The Rose Medallion
  • The Martian Chronicles (1980)
    The Martian Chronicles
  • Michael Gough and Wensley Pithey in Suez 1956 (1979)
    Suez 1956

Videos3

Official Trailer
Trailer 2:14
Official Trailer
Captain Horatio Hornblower
Trailer 2:42
Captain Horatio Hornblower
Where Eagles Dare
Trailer 2:19
Where Eagles Dare

Personal details

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    • Celebrities Net Worth
    • October 19, 1909
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
    • March 3, 1992
    • London, England, UK(pneumonia)
  • Other works
    Narrator of Where Eagles Dare (1968) trailer.

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Appeared in two films from the Superman franchise, but playing different roles: in Superman III (1983) he played a Tanker Captain while in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) he played the U.S. President.

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