Ned Beatty

Ned Beatty was born in Louisville, Kentucky July 6th, 1937. His mother Margaret Fortney Beatty and father, Charles William Beatty had survived the flood that spring, which was and is still the worst flood to inundate Louisville. The family moved to higher ground when Ned was nearly 4. His mother told him years later that they had finally moved from the rented house they fixed up after the flood to a home of their own , when , their rent was raised 50 cents a month to nearly $30. Outrageous. So Ned grew up in St. Matthew's , Jefferson County Ky. He was educated in the county school system. They did their best.

Singing was probably his favorite subject in school . He also sang in church, at weddings , in a quartet, ( they sang for their supper), the Louisville a cappella choir, and received a scholarship to Transylvania University to sing in their excellent a cappella choir, under the direction of Harvey Davis, a gifted musician and composer of modern Liturgical music. Ned loved to sing in that choir, but wasn't particularly interested in attending classes in other subjects. So, Transylvania did not extend his scholarship. By the way , if you find yourself thinking about Vampires, try thinking, First College west of the Appalachians (woods) , instead.
While studying to play Count Dracula, Ned auditioned for and got a job singing in the chorus of an outdoor pageant in Berea, Kentucky. The Show, "Wilderness Road", included acting singing and dancing. There were more small parts than there were small actors, so Ned got a couple of lines to say because he could speak loudly. His quick answer to how he got into acting has been, " I talked loud".
Now to make a long story longer, We use a film technique. Cut to card saying, "50 years later". Ned and his wife , Sandy are spending a lovely evening with Their friends Larry and Myrna Bastian. Myrna is one of the best hostesses ever and Larry is one of the best song writers of our time, short list ("Rodeo" and "Unanswered Prayers") O.K.? After dinner they got to singing. This included quite a few Hymns. Again cut/ to seagulls flying by/ and Larry tells Ned that Ned is going to make a Gospel Album.
After 200 or so Films and TV shows Ned finds himself back where he began his career as a performer in 1955.
If you were to ask him how he feels about this turn of events, his answer would most likely be:......
What a Blessing. What a ride. Thank you , Larry

Ned Beatty spent the first two decades of his career as a stage actor.
Since then, he has found his niche as a supporting actor and has become one of those performers who seems to appear in every film that is released. In 1976, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Network for his portrayal of Arthur Jenson, owner of the fictional UTN network. Beatty also earned 2 Emmy nominations for his numerous television movie and guest appearances. He appeared on the critically acclaimed series Homicide and had a recurring role as Dan's dad on the hit show Roseanne.

His big screen credits include Nashville (1975), All The President's Men (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980) and The Big Easy (1987). In the 1990's, Beatty appeared in Hear My Song (1991) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, A Prelude to a Kiss (1992), Rudy (1994), He Got Game (1998), Life (1999) and Cookie's Fortune (1999). Beatty recently won critical acclaim for his outstanding performance as groundskeeper Murph in Tom Gilroy's debut film Spring Forward (2000). The film also stars Liev Schreiber and is unique in that it was shot in sequence over a one year period.