Born: February 16, 1909
Died: May 14, 1982 (at age 73)
Birthplace: Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.
Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 - May 14, 1982) was an American actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach by the Methodist church. Beaumont is best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963). He had earlier played the role of the private detective Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s films.
Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas. His parents were Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a traveling salesman whose profession kept the family on the move. After graduating from Baylor School, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. He married Kathryn Adams in 1942, and the pair had three children.
Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of these were bit parts and minor roles and were not credited. He worked along with another future TV dad, William Bendix, who would star in The Life of Riley in the 1946 film The Blue Dahlia along with Alan Ladd. In 1946-1947, Beaumont starred in five films as private detective Michael Shayne, taking over the role from Lloyd Nolan. In 1957, he acquired his best-known role as the archetypal philosophy-dispensing suburban father, Ward Cleaver, on the popular sitcom television series Leave It to Beaver.
A precursor to his role as the kindly father figure came in Adventures of Superman. In a 1953 episode called The Big Squeeze, he played an ex-convict with a wife and son whose trust he must win back after an apparent return to his criminal past. In 1952, he played the role of Rev. Randy Roberts in an episode of The Lone Ranger.
From 1950 to 1953 Beaumont was the narrator of the Reed Hadley series, Racket Squad, based on the cases of a fictional detective, Captain John Braddock, in San Francisco. In Hadley's second series, The Public Defender, which aired on CBS from 1954 to 1955, Beaumont appeared three times in the role of Ed McGrath.
Before Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley were cast as the concerned parents on Leave It to Beaver, each had appeared separately in the early 1950s on Rod Cameron's syndicated detective series City Detective. Consistent with his interest in the clergy, Beaumont played the Reverend Clifton R. Pond in an episode of the religion anthology series Crossroads.
He also appeared in one of the early episodes of the CBS western series, My Friend Flicka and guest starred in an episode of Frank Lovejoy's detective series, Meet McGraw.
On July 1, 1957, two months before the premiere of Leave It to Beaver, Beaumont played a sympathetic characterization of the western bandit Jesse James on Dale Robertson's NBC series, Tales of Wells Fargo. Bobby Jordan played Bob Ford, the James assailant, but this episode ends some two months before the shooting of James in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Not only did Beaumont act in Leave It to Beaver but he also wrote and directed several episodes, including the retrospective "Family Scrapbook." His portrayal as head of the Cleaver household ranked #28 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" in the June 20, 2004, issue.
After Leave It to Beaver ended production and went into syndication in the fall of 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and played a few guest roles on such television series as Mannix, The Virginian, Wagon Train and Petticoat Junction.
Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He was forced to retire in 1972 after suffering a stroke from which he never fully recovered. Beaumont and Kathryn Adams divorced in 1974. On May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychology professor, in Munich, Germany. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered on the then family-owned island on Lake Wabana, Minnesota, near Grand Rapids. The 1983 telemovie Still the Beaver was dedicated to Beaumont's memory.
Year | Title | Role | Director | Producer | Studio/Distributor | Other cast members | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1940 | Phantom Raiders | Seaman (scenes deleted) | Tourneur !Jacques Tourneur | Stephani !Frederick Stephani | MGM | Walter Pidgeon | |
Secret !The Secret Seven | Southern Racketeer (uncredited) | Moore !James Moore | Cohn !Ralph Cohn | Columbia Pictures | Barton MacLane, Florence Rice | ||
1941 | Cowboy !The Cowboy and the Blonde | Sound Man (uncredited) | McCareu !Ray McCarey | Dietrich !Ralph Dietrich | 20th Century Fox | George Montgomery, Mary Beth Hughes | |
Private Nurse | McDonald (uncredited) | Burton !David Burton | Wurtzel !Sol M. Wurtzel | 20th Century Fox | Jane Darwell | ||
South of Panama | Paul Martin | Yarbrough !Jean Yarbrough | Shyer !Melville Shyer | Producers Releasing Corporation | Duncan Renaldo, Virginia Vale | ||
Unfinished Business | Groom (uncredited) | LaCava !Gregory La Cava | Universal Pictures | Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery | |||
Week-End in Havana | Officer (uncredited) | Lang !Walter Lang | Zanuck !Darryl F. Zanuck | 20th Century Fox | Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero | ||
1942 | Canal Zone | Radio Operator (uncredited) | Landers !Lew Landers | Briskin !Irving Briskin | Columbia Pictures | Chester Morris, Harriet Hilliard, Lloyd Bridges | |
Flight Lieutenant | John McGinnis (uncredited) | Salkow !Sidney Salkow | Schulberg !B. P. Schulberg | Columbia Pictures | Glenn Ford, Pat O'Brien, Evelyn Keyes | ||
Right to the Heart | Willie Donovan | Forde !Eugene Forde | Wurtzel !Sol M. Wurtzel | 20th Century Fox | Brenda Joyce | ||
To the Shores of Tripoli | Orderly (uncredited) | Humberstone !Bruce Humberstone | Zanuck !Darryl F. Zanuck | 20th Century Fox | Maureen O'Hara, Randolph Scott | ||
Unseen Enemy | Narrator | Rawlins !John Rawlins | Grant !Marshall Grant | Universal Pictures | Leo Carrillo, Irene Hervey, Don Terry | ||
Wake Island | Captain (uncredited) | Farrow !John Farrow | DeSylva !B. G. De Sylva | Paramount Pictures | Brian Donlevy, Macdonald Carey | ||
Wife !The Wife Takes a Flyer | Officer (uncredited) | Wallace !Richard Wallace | Schulberg !B. P. Schulberg | Columbia Pictures | Joan Bennett, Franchot Tone | ||
Young America | G-Man | King !Louis King | Wurtzel !Sol M. Wurtzel | 20th Century Fox | Jane Withers | ||
1943 | Bombardier | Soldier (uncredited) | Wallace !Richard Wallace | Fellows !Robert Fellows | RKO | Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott | |
Du Barry Was a Lady | Footman (uncredited) | Del Ruth !Roy Del Ruth | Freed !Arthur Freed | MGM | Red Skelton, Lucille Ball | ||
Fallen !The Fallen Sparrow | Otto Skaas | Wallace !Richard Wallace | Fellows !Robert Fellows | RKO | John Garfield | ||
Flight for Freedom | Flight Instructor (uncredited) | Mendes !Lothar Mendes | Hempstead !David Hempstead | RKO | Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray | ||
Good Luck, Mr. Yates | Adjutant (uncredited) | Enright !Ray Enright | Chatkin !David J. Chatkin | Columbia Pictures | Claire Trevor | ||
He Hired the Boss | Jordan | Loring !Thomas Z. Loring | Wurtzel !Sol M. Wurtzel | 20th Century Fox | Stu Erwin | ||
Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event | George Sharpe | Goodwins !Leslie Goodwins | Gilroy !Bert Gilroy | RKO | Lupe Vélez | ||
Northwest Rangers | Mountie who finds Fowler's body (uncredited) | Newman !Joe Newman | Marx !Samuel Marx | MGM | James Craig, John Carradine | ||
Salute to the Marines | Sergeant (uncredited) | Simon !S. Sylvan Simon | Considine !John W. Considine Jr. | MGM | Wallace Beery | ||
Seventh !The Seventh Victim | Gregory Ward | Robson !Mark Robson | Lewton !Val Lewton | RKO | Tom Conway | ||
There's Something About a Soldier | Lt. Martin | Green !Alfred E. Green | Bischoff !Samuel Bischoff | Columbia Pictures | Evelyn Keyes | ||
1944 | I Love a Soldier | John (uncredited) | Sandrich !Mark Sandrich | DeSylva !B. G. De Sylva | Paramount Pictures | Paulette Goddard, Sonny Tufts | |
Mr. Winkle Goes to War | Ranger Officer (uncredited) | Green !Alfred E. Green | Moss !Jack Moss | Columbia Pictures | Edward G. Robinson | ||
Practically Yours | Cutter (uncredited) | Leisen !Mitchell Leisen | DeSylva !B. G. De Sylva | Paramount Pictures | Cecil Kellaway | ||
Racket !The Racket Man | "Irish" Duffy | Lederman !D. Ross Lederman | MacDonald !Wallace MacDonald | Columbia Pictures | Tom Neal | ||
Seventh !The Seventh Cross | Truck Driver (uncredited) | Zinnemann !Fred Zinnemann | Berman !Pandro S. Berman | MGM | Spencer Tracy, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn | ||
Story !The Story of Dr. Wassell | aide to Admiral Hart in Surabaya | DeMille !Cecil B. DeMille | DeSylva !B. G. De Sylva | Paramount Pictures | Gary Cooper, Signe Hasso | ||
Strange Affair | Detective Carey (uncredited) | Green !Alfred E. Green | Kelly !Burt Kelly | Columbia Pictures | Allyn Joslyn | ||
They Live in Fear | Instructor (uncredited) | Berne !Josef Berne | Fier !Jack Fier | Columbia Pictures | Otto Kruger | ||
1945 | Apology for Murder | Kenny Blake | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Ann Savage | |
Blonde from Brooklyn | Discharging Lieutenant (uncredited) | Lord !Del Lord | Briskin !Irving Briskin | Columbia Pictures | Lynn Merrick, Robert Stanton | ||
Blood on the Sun | Johnny Clarke (uncredited) | Lloyd !Frank Lloyd | Cagney !William Cagney | United Artists | James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney | ||
Counter-Attack | Russian Lieutenant (uncredited) | Korda !Zoltan Korda | Columbia Pictures | Paul Muni, Marguerite Chapman | |||
Lady !The Lady Confesses | Larry Craig | Stern !Alfred Stern | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Mary Beth Hughes | ||
You Came Along | Chaplain (uncredited) | Farrow !John Farrow | Wallis !Hal B. Wallis | Paramount Pictures | Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott | ||
1946 | Blonde for a Day | Michael Shayne | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Kathryn Adams | |
Blue Dahlia !The Blue Dahlia | George Copeland | Marshall !George Marshall | Houseman !John Houseman | Paramount Pictures | Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Howard Da Silva, William Bendix | ||
Johnny Comes Flying Home | Engineer (uncredited) | Stoloff !Benjamin Stoloff | Schenck !Aubrey Schenck | 20th Century Fox | Richard Crane | ||
Larceny in Her Heart | Michael Shayne | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Cheryl Walker | ||
Murder is My Business | Michael Shayne | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Cheryl Walker | ||
1947 | Bury Me Dead | Michael Dunn | Vorhaus !Bernard Vorhaus | Riesner !Charles F. Riesner | Eagle-Lion Films | Cathy O'Donnell, June Lockhart | |
Guilt !The Guilt of Janet Ames | Frank Merino (uncredited) | Levin !Harry Levin | Deutsch !Helen Deutsch | Columbia Pictures | Melvyn Douglas, Sid Caesar | ||
Railroaded! | Mickey Ferguson | Mann !Anthony Mann | Riesner !Charles F. Riesner | Eagle-Lion Films | John Ireland | ||
Three on a Ticket | Michael Shayne | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Producers Releasing Corporation | Cheryl Walker | ||
Too Many Winners | Michael Shayne | Beaudine !William Beaudine | Sutherland !John Sutherland | Producers Releasing Corporation | Trudy Marshall | ||
1948 | Counterfeiters !The Counterfeiters | Phillip Drake | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Conn !Maurice H. Conn | 20th Century Fox | John Sutton | |
Money Madness | Steve Clark (previously known as Freddie Howard) | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Neufeld !Sigmund Neufeld | Sigmund Neufeld Productions | Frances Rafferty | ||
Reaching from Heaven | Bill Starling | Strayer !Frank R. Strayer | The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod | Cheryl Walker | |||
1949 | Tokyo Joe | Provost Marshal Major (uncredited) | Heisler !Stuart Heisler | Lord !Robert Lord | Columbia Pictures | Humphrey Bogart, Sessue Hayakawa | |
1950 | Second Chance | Dr. Emory | Beaudine !William Beaudine | Heard !Paul F. Heard | Protestant Film Commission | Ruth Warrick | |
1951 | Callaway Went Thataway | Mr. Adkins, Attorney (uncredited) | Panama !Norman Panama | Panama !Norman Panama | MGM | Dorothy McGuire | |
Danger Zone | Dennis O'Brien | Berke !William Berke | Berke !William Berke | Lippert Pictures | Edward Brophy | ||
Flying Missile !The Flying Missile | Major Wilson (uncredited) | Levin !Harry Levin | Bresler !Jerry Bresler | Columbia Pictures | Glenn Ford | ||
Go for Broke! | Chaplain (uncredited) | Pirosh !Robert Pirosh | Schary !Dore Schary | MGM | Van Johnson | ||
Home Town Story | Bob MacFarland (uncredited) | Pierson !Arthur Pierson | Pierson !Arthur Pierson | MGM | Donald Crisp | ||
Last Outpost !The Last Outpost | Lt. Fenton | Foster !Lewis R. Foster | Pine !William H. Pine | Paramount Pictures | Ronald Reagan | ||
Lost Continent | Robert Phillips | Newfield !Sam Newfield | Lippert !Robert L. Lippert | Lippert Pictures | Caesar Romero | ||
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell | Policeman (uncredited) | Koster !Henry Koster | Hakim !André Hakim | 20th Century Fox | Clifton Webb | ||
Overland Telegraph | Brad Roberts | Selander !Lesley Selander | Schlom !Herman Schlom | RKO | Tim Holt | ||
Pier 23 | Dennis O'Brien | Berke !William Berke | Berke !William Berke | Lippert Pictures | Edward Brophy | ||
Roaring City | Denny O'Brien | Berke !William Berke | Berke !William Berke | Lippert Pictures | Edward Brophy | ||
Target Unknown | Colonel (uncredited) | Sherman !George Sherman | Schenck !Aubrey Schenck | Universal Pictures | Mark Stevens | ||
1952 | Bugles in the Afternoon | Lt. Cooke (uncredited) | Rowland !Roy Rowland | Cagney !William Cagney | Warner Bros. | Ray Milland | |
Night Without Sleep | John Harkness | Baker !Roy Ward Baker | Bassler !Robert Bassler | 20th Century Fox | Linda Darnell | ||
Phone Call from a Stranger | Dr. Tim Brooks (uncredited) | Negulesco !Jean Negulesco | Johnson !Nunnally Johnson | 20th Century Fox | Shelley Winters | ||
Washington Story | Chaplain (uncredited) | Pirosh !Robert Pirosh | Schary !Dore Schary | MGM | Van Johnson | ||
Wild Stallion | Capt. Wilmurt | Collins !Lewis D. Collins | Mirisch !Walter Mirisch | Monogram | Ben Johnson | ||
1953 | Member !The Member of the Wedding | Minister (uncredited) | Zinnemann !Fred Zinnemann | Anhalt !Edward and Edna Anhalt | Columbia Pictures | Ethel Waters | |
Mississippi !The Mississippi Gambler | Kennerly (uncredited) | Mate !Rudolph Mate | Richmond !Ted Richmond | Universal Pictures | Tyrone Power | ||
1955 | Hell's Horizon | Al Trask | Gries !Tom Gries | Davis !Wray Davis | Columbia Pictures | John Ireland | |
Indian American | Sadio !Jan Sadio | Cathedral Films Inc. | Tom Selden, Michael Whalen | ||||
1956 | Mole !The Mole People | Dr. Jud Bellamin | Vogel !Virgil Vogel | Alland !William Alland | Universal Pictures | John Agar | |
Revolt !The Revolt of Mamie Stover | San Francisco Policeman (uncredited) | Walsh !Raoul Walsh | Adler !Buddy Adler | 20th Century Fox | Jane Russell | ||
1957 | Night Passage | Jeff Kurth | Neilson !James Neilson | Rosenberg !Aaron Rosenberg | Universal Pictures | Audie Murphy, James Stewart, Dan Duryea | |
1965 | Human !The Human Duplicators | Austin Welles | Grimaldi !Hugo Grimaldi | Grimaldi !Hugo Grimaldi | Hugo Grimaldi Productions | George Nader, Barbara Nichols |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Silver !The Silver Theatre | Harry Hamilton | Lady with Ideas | |
1951 | Bigelow !The Bigelow Theatre | Harry Hamilton | Lady with Ideas | |
1952 | Dangerous Assignment | Dean | The Piece of String Story | |
Dangerous Assignment | Saunders | The Manger Story | ||
Dangerous Assignment | Bill Kane | The Assassin Ring Story | ||
Hopalong Cassidy | Hank Scofield | The Feud | ||
1952-1953 | Racket Squad | Narrator | 33 episodes | |
1953 | Ford Theatre | Sheriff Burns | The Trestle | |
Letter to Loretta | Arthur Nicholls | The Bronte Story | ||
Big Town | Carl Kesten / Rodney Mitchell | The Eliminator | ||
Chevron Theatre | The Worthless Thing | |||
The Lone Ranger | Rev. Randy Roberts | The Godless Men | ||
Topper | Ed Merrill | The Spinster | ||
Adventures of Superman | Dan Grayson | The Big Squeeze | ||
Fireside Theatre | The Traitor | |||
Four Star Playhouse | No Identity | |||
Four Star Playhouse | Albert Woods | The Adolescent | ||
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | John Harris | Vacation for Ginny | ||
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Guardian of the Clock | |||
1954 | Fireside Theatre | Fight Night | ||
City Detective | Philip Merriam | The Blonde Orchid | ||
Waterfront | Roy Martin | Backwash | ||
Lineup !The Lineup | Charles Lanski | Cop Shooting | ||
Studio 57 | Charles Crane | Trap Mates | ||
Public !The Public Defender | Ed McGrath | Think No Evil | ||
Public !The Public Defender | Gil Bowman | Lost Cause | ||
Cavalcade of America | Lewis Graham | The Paper Sword | ||
Lux Video Theatre | George | Call Me Mrs. | ||
1955 | Letter to Loretta | Arnie | Man in the Ring | |
Letter to Loretta | Rev. Bell | Dateline: Korea | ||
Letter to Loretta | Henry Preston | The Refinement of 'Ab' | ||
Letter to Loretta | Editor of Manhattan Magazine | The Girl Who Knew | ||
Four Star Playhouse | Padre | The Firing Squad | ||
Four Star Playhouse | Dr. Lindell | The Frightened Woman | ||
Four Star Playhouse | Padre | The Firing Squa | ||
Public !The Public Defender | Ed McGrath | A Knowledge of Astronomy | ||
Medic | Col. Will Roberts | The World So High | ||
Crossroads | Rev. Clifton R. Pond | With All My Love | ||
Science Fiction Theatre | Dr. Guy Stanton | Conversation with an Ape | ||
Millionaire !The Millionaire | Dr. Porter | The Walter Carter Story | ||
Pepsi !The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Jeff | Stake My Life | ||
Touch !The Touch of Steel | Col. Lander | TV movie | ||
Cavalcade of America | Coach Jack Cody | A Time for Courage | ||
Climax! | The Leaf Out of the Book | |||
Lassie | Mr. Saunders | The Well | ||
1956 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Tom Sutton | Web of Circumstance | |
Climax! | Savage Portrait | |||
Four Star Playhouse | Doctor | Command | ||
Ford Theatre | Marshal Ferguson | The Silent Strangers | ||
Lux Video Theatre | Larry | The Unfaithful | ||
Cavalcade of America | Father Werr | The Boy Who Walked to America | ||
Letter to Loretta | Chris Palmer | Take Care of My Child | ||
Letter to Loretta | Jack | But for God's Grace | ||
My Friend Flicka | Simmons | One Man's Horse | ||
My Friend Flicka | Night Rider | |||
Alias Mike Hercules | Mike Hercules | Pilot | ||
Matinee Theatre | The 25th Hour | |||
Celebrity Playhouse | Home Is the Soldier | |||
1957 | Meet McGraw | Clay Farrell | Border City | |
Tales of Wells Fargo | Jesse James | Jesse James | ||
1957-1963 | Leave it to Beaver | Ward Cleaver | Run of the series | |
1964 | Wagon Train | Jed Halick | The Pearlie Garnet Story | |
1966 | Lassie | Jim / Mr. Saunders | Cradle of the Deep | |
Virginian !The Virginian | Maguire | Girl on the Glass Mountain | ||
Petticoat Junction | Ronnie Beckman | Every Bachelor Should Have a Family | ||
1967 | Petticoat Junction | Mr. Donald Elliott | With This Gown I Thee Wed | |
Petticoat Junction | Mr. Donald Elliott | Meet the In-Laws | ||
1968 | Virginian !The Virginian | Maj. James Carlton | Nora | |
Virginian !The Virginian | Charles Martin | With Help from Ulysses | ||
Mannix | Frank Abbott | To the Swiftest, Death | ||
1970 | Mannix | Hammond | The Mouse That Died | |
Mannix | Mr. Calder | War of Nerves | ||
Medical Center | Dr. Simpson | Death Grip | ||
Marcus Welby, M.D. | Jim Wagner | The "Merely" Syndrome (1970) | ||
1971 | Most !The Most Deadly Game | Dr. Dominick | The Classic Burial Position |
In the early 1980s, a Texas punk rock band combined this actor's name with the name of Jimi Hendrix's band to form The Hugh Beaumont Experience.
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