Hugh Beaumont (actor)

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Hugh Beaumont
Born	Eugene Hugh Beaumont February 16, 1909(1909-02-16) Lawrence, Kansas
Died	May 14, 1982 (aged 73) Munich, Germany
Occupation	Film, TV, radio actor
Spouse(s)	Kathryn Adams (1942-1974)

Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 — May 14, 1982) was an American actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach in the Methodist church. He is best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver, the husband of June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) and the father of Wally (Tony Dow) and Beaver (Jerry Mathers) on the television series, Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963).

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 Career 1.3 Retirement and death 2 Filmography 2.1 Motion pictures 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a little over three months after the couple married.^[1] After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Tennessee at 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 they had three children. They divorced in 1974.

[edit] Career

In 1931, Beaumont began his career in show business by performing in theaters, nightclubs and on the radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films (many roles not credited) before taking his best-known role as the archetypal philosophy-dispensing suburban dad 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.

Not only did Beaumont act in Leave It to Beaver, but he also wrote and directed several episodes, including the final, retrospective episode, "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 concluded original production and went into syndication in the fall of 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and did a few guest roles on TV shows, such as Mannix, The Virginian, Wagon Train and Petticoat Junction.

[edit] Retirement and death

Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Minnesota, his wife's home state. He was forced to slow down after suffering a stroke in 1972. A decade later, on May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychology professor, in Munich, Germany. He was 73.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Motion pictures

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1940	Phantom Raiders	Seaman
	The Secret Seven	Southern Racketeer
1941	South of Panama	Paul Martin
	The Cowboy and the Blonde	Sound Man
	Private Nurse	McDonald
	Unfinished Business	Groom
	Week-End in Havana	Officer
1942	Wake Island	Captain, Junior Officer
	Right to the Heart	Willie Donovan
	Young America	G-Man
	Canal Zone	Radio Operator
	To the Shores of Tripoli	Orderly
	The Wife Takes a Flyer	Officer
	Unseen Enemy	Narrator
	Flight Lieutenant	John McGinnis
1943	Northwest Rangers	the Mountie who finds Fowler's body
	The Fallen Sparrow	Otto Skaas
	Du Barry Was a Lady	Footman
	Flight for Freedom	Flight Instructor
	He Hired the Boss	Jordan
	Bombardier	Soldier
	Good Luck, Mr. Yates	Adjutant
	Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event	George Sharpe
	The Seventh Victim	Gregory Ward
	Salute to the Marines	Sergeant
	There's Something About a Soldier	Lt. Martin
1944	I Love a Soldier	John
	Practically Yours	Cutter
	The Racket Man	\"Irish\" Duffy
	They Live in Fear	the instructor
	The Story of Dr. Wassell	aide to Admiral Hart in Surabaya
	Mr. Winkle Goes to War	Ranger Officer
	The Seventh Cross	truck driver
	Strange Affair	Carey
1945	I'm a Civilian Here Myself	Interviewer
	Objective, Burma!	Capt. Hennessey	not credited
	Blood on the Sun	Johnny Clarke	not credited
	Counter-Attack	Russian Lieutenant
	The Lady Confesses	Larry Craig
	Blonde from Brooklyn	discharging Lieutenant	not credited
	You Came Along	Chaplain
	Apology for Murder	Kenny Blake
1946	Murder is My Business	Michael Shayne
	The Blue Dahlia	George Copeland
	Johnny Comes Flying Home	engineer
	Larceny in Her Heart	Michael Shayne
	Blonde for a Day	Michael Shayne
1947	The Guilt of Janet Ames	Frank Merino
	Three on a Ticket	Michael Shayne
	Too Many Winners	Michael Shayne
	Railroaded!	Mickey Ferguson
	Bury Me Dead	Michael Dunn
1948	Reaching from Heaven	Bill Starling
	Money Madness	Steve Clark (previously known as Freddie Howard
	The Counterfeiters	Phillip Drake
1949	Tokyo Joe	Major
1950	Second Chance	Dr. Emory
1951	The Flying Missile	Major Wilson
	Target Unknown	Colonel
	Danger Zone	Dennis O'Brien
	Home Town Story	man at airport
	Go for Broke!	Chaplain
	Roaring City	Denny O'Brien
	Pier 23	Dennis O'Brien
	The Last Outpost	Lt. Fenton
	Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell	Policeman
	Lost Continent	Robert Phillips
	Callaway Went Thataway	Mr. Adkins, Attorney
	Overland Telegraph	Brad Roberts
1952	Phone Call from a Stranger	Dr. Tim Brooks
	Bugles in the Afternoon	Lt. Cooke
	Wild Stallion	Capt. Wilmurt
	Washington Story	Chaplain
	Night Without Sleep	John Harkness
1953	The Mississippi Gambler	Kennerly
	The Member of the Wedding	Minister
1955	Indian American	actor
	Hell's Horizon	Al Trask
1956	The Mole People	Dr. Jud Bellamin
1957	Night Passage	Jeff Kurth
1965	The Human Duplicators	Austin Welles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hugh Beaumont at the Internet Movie Database
• Hugh Beaumont at Allmovie

Persondata
NAME	Beaumont, Hugh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	actor
DATE OF BIRTH	February 16, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH	May 14, 1982
PLACE OF DEATH	Munich, Germany