Carl Betz
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Carl Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American film and television actor best known for the role of Dr. Alex Stone (Donna Reed's TV husband) on ABC's The Donna Reed Show from 1958 to 1966.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Betz began his acting career unofficially in grammar school when he formed a theatrical company with friends, performing plays in his grandmother's basement. He later took part in a Pittsburgh summer stock company, working for $45 a week along with room and board.
Serving in the military during World War II in both Italy and North Africa, Betz returned to Pittsburgh to finish work on a degree at Carnegie Tech. From there, he worked as a radio announcer and disk jockey before moving to New York and again working in summer and winter stock companies.
Betz made his Broadway debut in 1952's The Long Watch, then was spotted by talent scouts while touring with Veronica Lake in the summer stock play, Voice of the Turtle. That led to a spot as Collie Jordan on the television soap opera Love of Life, spending 18 months in that role while also making guest appearances in a number of movies and other television programs.
In 1958, Betz garnered the role of a pediatrician whose home office copes with his wife's (played by Reed) day-to-day events. Betz stayed for all eight years of the show's run, but eventually grew weary of the monotony of the role. His other costars were Shelley Fabares, Paul Petersen, and Patty Petersen. Paul Petersen's sentimental hit song My Dad (1962) was sung to Betz on The Donna Reed Show.
Betz returned to the stage, earning excellent reviews for his performance in The Night of the Iguana. That role was a key to his return to television, just one year after the Reed show had left the air. He returned to ABC in 1967 to begin the first of two seasons playing defense lawyer Clinton Judd in the legal drama Judd, for the Defense. The show's cancellation was softened somewhat when Betz won an Emmy Award in 1969 for his performance.
One of Betz's last roles came in a one-man play about Gen. Douglas MacArthur entitled, I Shall Return. In 1977, Betz developed lung cancer and entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on November 28. Aware that his illness was terminal, he kept quiet about his situation and died seven weeks later.
[edit] External links
- Carl Betz at the Internet Movie Database
- Carl Betz at Allmovie
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