Robert Beatty (Wikipedia).
Robert Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
Beatty joined the Players’ Guild of Hamilton after graduation from the University of Toronto. He went to London, England, in 1936 and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. It was with the RADA that he made his English stage debut.[4]
Beatty’s film credits include: San Demetrio London (1943), Another Shore (1948), “Against the Wind” (1948),Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951), The Square Ring (1953), The Amorous Prawn (1962), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Superman III (1983), Minder on the Orient Express (1985) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).[1]
Beatty appeared in two “critically acclaimed war propaganda films” in 1942 – 49th Parallel and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing.
He appeared in British television shows such as Dial 999 (a co-production between Britain’s ABCand the US company Ziv), Doctor Who (“The Tenth Planet” as General Cutler), Blake’s 7 (“The Way Back” as Bran Foster), The Gathering Storm, The New Avengers, and Minder. He was in Franco Zeffirelli‘s TV mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and the American series of Ray Bradbury‘s The Martian Chronicles.[6][4] He portrayed Ronald Reagan in Breakthrough at Reykjavik (Granada Television UK 1987).[7] Also well known for “Saturday Night Out (BBC)
Beatty reported descriptions of the Blitz from London to North America via the BBC during World War II.[8] He played Philip Odell, a fictional Irish detective created by Lester Powell, between 1947 and 1961. The series debuted on BBC radio with the story “Lady in a Fog” in October 1947.[9] The series was made available to overseas broadcasters by the BBC Transcription Services. His other radio credits included Shadow of Sumuru on the BBC Home Programme in 1945–46, Shadow Man on Radio Luxembourg in 1955, Destination – Fire!Stories of a Fire Investigator on the BBC Light Programme (1962-1966), General Sternwood in a BBC version of Raymond Chandler‘s The Big Sleep (1977), Pay Any Price (BBC 1982), The Mystery of the Blue Train (BBC 1985/1986), and as Henry Hickslaughter in Elizabeth Troop’s Sony Award winning adaptation of Graham Greene‘s short story Cheap In August (1993).
Beatty died March 3, 1992, in London and was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium.
The Canadian Encyclopedia:
Robert Beatty, actor (born 19 October 1909 in Hamilton, ON; died 3 March 1992 in London, England). Robert Beatty, a rugged character actor and occasional lead, studied at the University of Toronto and after graduation joined the Hamilton Players’ Guild.
Robert Beatty, actor (born 19 October 1909 in Hamilton, ON; died 3 March 1992 in London, England). Robert Beatty, a rugged character actor and occasional lead, studied at the University of Toronto and after graduation joined the Hamilton Players’ Guild. In 1936 he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, and made his debut on the English stage. During the World War II, Beatty achieved international fame through his eyewitness radio reports of the nightly bombing of London during the Blitz for the BBC’s Overseas News Service.
In 1942, he appeared in 2 critically acclaimed war propaganda films by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 49th Parallel and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, and in 1949 he was in Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out. Among his radio characters, Beatty voiced Irish detective Philip Odell for a BBC radio drama that was broadcast from 1947 to 1961. For television he played an RCMP officer assigned to New Scotland Yard in the BBC crime drama “Dial 999” (1958-59).
Robert Beatty played Dr Rolf Halvorsen in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968). For TV he was in the miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977) and in “The Martian Chronicles” (1980). His one Canadian film appearance was in The Amateur (1981), and he played US president Ronald Reagan in the 1987 PBS special “Breakthrough at Reykjavik.” Robert Beatty’s other film credits include Captain Horatio Hornblower(1951), Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Superman III(1983), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987
