Film

Beymer made his feature-film debut in Vittorio De Sica's Stazione Termini, released in 1953. He played in So Big (1953) and Johnny Tremain (1957), and achieved success in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and West Side Story (1961) before sharing a 1962 Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor with Bobby Darin and Warren Beatty. He had a significant role in the film The Longest Day (1962).

Television

In 1949 Beymer began acting in television in the TV series Sandy Dreams. In 1957 he appeared on the syndicated American Civil War drama Gray Ghost in the episode "An Eye for an Eye". In 1958 he was cast as Joe Belden in the episode "Man Hunt" of the western aviation series, Sky King. He appeared in many guest roles in television series. These include three appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Li Nalas in the episodes "The Homecoming", "The Circle", and "The Siege". In 1984 he played David Fenton, the husband of Mimi Rogers's character on the short-lived show Paper Dolls.

He had a featured role in the television series Twin Peaks in 1990, playing Ben Horne. He later played Dr. Matthew Sheridan in the 1996 made-for-TV movie The Face. In 2014, Beymer announced he would reprise his role as Ben Horne in the third season of Twin Peaks, scheduled for a 2017 release.

Filmmaking

Beymer enrolled in New York's Actors Studio in 1963, but in 1964 became involved in Freedom Summer in Mississippi. During this time, he filmed the award-winning documentary A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer, documenting the efforts of volunteers registering African Americans to vote.

The avant-garde film The Innerview, which he directed, produced, wrote the screenplay for and edited, won the Josef von Sternberg Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival in 1974. His 2010 film, The Passing of a Saint, chronicles the funeral rites of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In April 2014 his film of a trip to India with David Lynch, It’s a Beautiful World, was released.

Books

In 2007 Beymer completed his first book, a self-published novel, Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?, a semi-autobiographical account of a young actor's struggle to find himself.

As visual artist

Beymer's photographs of Twin Peaks cast and crew were featured in the gallery of behind the scenes photos on the Definitive Gold Box Edition for Twin Peaks, released on October 30, 2007. He is also a painter and sculptor.

Personal life

Beymer was born in Avoca, Iowa to Eunice (née Goss) and George Richard Beymer, a printer. He and his family moved in 1940 to Los Angeles, California. In 1961, he began a brief relationship with Sharon Tate, who was working as an extra on a film he was starring in, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. Beymer encouraged her to pursue an acting career, and after she was introduced to his agent, Tate signed a contract with Filmways.

He took a summer away from Hollywood to volunteer in Mississippi for Freedom Summer canvassing for voter registration. He assisted Barney Frank in rescuing Freedom Democrat forms in a rental truck that had been confiscated from arrested Freedom volunteers in Canton, Mississippi on Freedom Day (July 16, 1964).

As of 2010 Beymer resided in Fairfield, Iowa, where he continued to make films and to write, sculpt, and paint. He practices Transcendental Meditation, to "cool out".

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Selected filmography

• Fourteen Hours (1951) - (uncredited)
• Terminal Station (1953) - Paul Stevens
• So Big (1953) - Roelf, Age 12-16
• Johnny Tremain (1957) - Rab Silsbee
• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) - Peter Van Daan
• High Time (1960) - Bob Bannerman
• West Side Story (1961) - Tony
• Bachelor Flat (1961) - Mike Pulaski
• Five Finger Exercise (1962) - Philip Harrington
• Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) - Nick Adams
• The Longest Day (1962) - Pvt. Dutch Schultz
• The Stripper (1963) - Kenny Baird
• Scream Free! (1969) - Dean
• The Innerview (1973)
• Cross Country (1983) - Evan Bley
• Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989) - Dr. Newbury
• Blackbelt (1992) - Eddie Deangelo
• Danger Island (1992) - Ben
• Under Investigation (1993) - Dr. Jerry Parsons
• My Girl 2 (1994) - Peter Webb
• The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996) - Chad Leary
• A Face to Die For (1996) - Dr. Matthew Sheridan
• Foxfire' (1996) - Mr. Parks
• Playing Patti (1998)
• Home the Horror Story (2000) - Bob Parkinson

[ Source: Wikipedia ]