Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 - November 1, 1994), known professionally as Noah Beery Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his paternal uncle, Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery Jr., unlike his paternal uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Beery's father, Noah Nicholas Beery (known professionally as Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr.), enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as a major supporting actor.

Beery was best known for playing James Garner's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974-80).

Life and career

Beery was born in New York City, New York, where his father was working as a stage actor. He was given his nickname "Pidge" by George M. Cohan's sister Josie. The family moved to California in 1915 when his father began acting in motion pictures. After attending school in Los Angeles, they moved to a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, a style of living he would maintain for the rest of his life.

At the age of seven, he appeared with his father in The Mark of Zorro and like his father, who immediately began billing himself as "Noah Beery, Sr.," he went on to become a respected character actor. His paternal uncle, Oscar-winning actor Wallace Beery, became the world's highest-paid actor by 1932, and while neither Beery nor his father ever approached that level, both had long and memorable film careers. The three acting Beerys physically closely resembled each other, but Beery lacked the powerful voice his father and uncle possessed, which is ironic since both older Beerys made major careers in silent movies.

Beery appeared in dozens of films, including a large early role as John Wayne's action partner in 1934's The Trail Beyond (Wayne was 27 years old and Beery was 21), 20 Mule Team with his uncle Wallace Beery, and Red River, again with John Wayne.

Beery's early television work included a weekly stint as a clown in Circus Boy with Micky Dolenz in the mid-1950s. In 1960 Beery replaced Burt Reynolds in the co-starring role of Bill Blake in Riverboat, an NBC western series starring Darren McGavin. He appeared once on the religion anthology series Crossroads and on Walter Brennan's ABC sitcom, The Real McCoys. He guest-starred three times on the long-running NBC western series, The Virginian in the 1960s. In 1965, he made two guest appearances on Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr: he first played murderer Tony Claus in "The Case of the Golden Venom," then played defendant Lucas Tolliver in "The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner."

Beery portrayed the buckskin-clad recurring sidekick character "Buffalo Baker" in the 17-episode 1967 television series Hondo starring Ralph Taeger.

But Beery is best known for his role as Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, the father of Jim Rockford, James Garner's character on the popular television series The Rockford Files (1974-1980).

Death

Beery died in 1994 in Tehachapi, California, of a cerebral thrombosis and his remains were interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery with those of his father and mother, Margarite Lindsey. His uncle Wallace Beery's remains are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Beery Jr.'s first wife until 1966 was Maxine Jones, the only child of Western star Buck Jones. His second wife from 1968 until his death was Lisa Thorman. He was survived by his wife, Lisa; two daughters, Muffett and Melissa; a son, actor Bucklind Beery; and three step-children, Page, Sean, and Lorena. His television star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Partial filmography

• The Mark of Zorro (1920; uncredited) with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Noah Beery, Sr.
• Heroes of the West (1932)
• Fighting with Kit Carson (1933) with Noah Beery, Sr.
• The Three Musketeers (1933 serial) - Noah Stubbs with John Wayne
• The Trail Beyond - Wabi (1934) with John Wayne and Noah Beery, Sr.
• The cliff hanger series Ace Drummond (1936)
• Only Angels Have Wings (1939) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur
• Of Mice and Men (1939) with Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.
• 20 Mule Team (1940) with Wallace Beery and Anne Baxter
• Sergeant York - Buck Lipscomb (1941) with Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, and Joan Leslie
• Two in a Taxi (1941) with Anita Louise
• Overland Mail (1942) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Noah Beery Sr.
• Dudes are Pretty People - Pidge Crosby (1942)
• Calaboose - Pidge Crosby (1943) with Mary Brian
• Prairie Chickens - Pidge Crosby (1943) with Raymond Hatton
• We've Never Been Licked (1943) with Richard Quine, William Frawley and Robert Mitchum
• Frontier Badmen (1943) with Robert Paige, Anne Gwynne, Diana Barrymore and Lon Chaney Jr.
• Gung Ho: The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943) with Randolph Scott and Robert Mitchum
• Follow the Boys (1944) with George Raft, Orson Welles, and Marlene Dietrich
• Red River - Buster McGee (1948) with John Wayne and Montgomery Clift
• Rocketship X-M (1950) with Lloyd Bridges
• The Story of Will Rogers (1952) with Will Rogers Jr. and Jane Wyman
• The Cimarron Kid (1952) with Audie Murphy
• War Arrow (1953) with Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler
• White Feather (1955) with Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter
• Circus Boy (1956 ~ 1958) Uncle Joey ~ The Clown
• The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) Dink Wells ~ Bank Robber
• Jubal (1956) Sam Horgan with Ernest Borgnine and Glenn Ford
• Decision at Sundown (1957) with Randolph Scott
• Escort West - Lt. Jamison (1958)
• Inherit the Wind (1960) with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March
• Incident at Phantom Hill (1966) with Robert Fuller and Dan Duryea
• Journey to Shiloh (1968)
• Heaven with a Gun (1969) with Glenn Ford
• Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) with Robert Redford, Michael J. Pollard, and Lauren Hutton
• Walking Tall (1973) with Joe Don Baker and Elizabeth Hartman
• The Spikes Gang (1974) with Lee Marvin and Gary Grimes
• The Bastard (1978) with Andrew Stevens and Kim Cattrall
• The Big Stuffed Dog - TV special - Petey's Grandfather (1981)
• Beyond Witch Mountain (1982) with Eddie Albert
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) with Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton
• Waltz Across Texas (1982) with Anne Archer

Television

• Circus Boy (TV series) - series - Joey (1956-1957)
• Rawhide - Incident of the Chubasco - Arkansas (1959)
• The Real McCoys - episode - The Investors - Claude McCoy (1961)
• Wagon Train - episode - The Jonas Murdock Story - Jonas Murdock (1960)
• Wagon Train - episode—Path of the Serpent - Ruddy Blaine (1961)
• Wanted: Dead or Alive - episode - El Gato - El Gato (1961)
• Wanted: Dead or Alive - episode - Barney's Bounty - Barney Durant (1961)
• Gunsmoke (11th season)
• Route 66 - episode - 1800 Days to Justice - Emlyn Job (1962)
• Wagon Train - episode - The Kate Crawley Story - Stump Beasley (1964)
• Bonanza - episode - Lotherio Larkin - Lotherio Larkin (1965)
• Laredo - episode - A Taste of Money - Ezekiel Fry (1966)
• Hondo - 17 episodes -Buffalo Baker (1967)
• Bonanza - episode - The Crime of Johnny Mule - Johnny Mule (1968)
• Alias Smith and Jones - episode - Something to Get Hung About - Sheriff (1971)
• Police Story - episode - The Big Walk - Hecker (1973)
• The Six Million Dollar Man - episode - Run, Steve, Run - Tom Molson (1974)
• The Rockford Files - 121 episodes - Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (1974-1980)
• The Six Million Dollar Man - episode - The Bionic Badge - Officer Banner (1976)
• Ellery Queen - episode - The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario - Lionel Briggs (1976)
• Greatest Heroes of the Bible - episode - The Story of Esther - Mordechai (1979)
• Vega$ - episode - Sourdough Suite - Josiah Sparks (1981)
• Magnum P.I. - episode - All Roads Lead to Floyd - Floyd Lewellen (1981)
• Fantasy Island - High Off the Hog/Reprisal - Otis T. Boggs (1981)
• The Yellow Rose - 22 episodes - Luther Dillard (1983-1984)
• Murder, She Wrote - episode - Funeral at Fifty-Mile - Doc Wallace (1985)
• Trapper John, M.D. - episode - Buckaroo Bob Rides Again - Buckaroo Bob Morgan (1985)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]