Carl Betz

Betz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1921, the eldest child of Carl W. and Mary Leona Betz. His siblings were Mary Louise, Leona Ruth, and William Harlow. [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRCS-RJD?i=26&cc=1810731 "The Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930"], digital copy of original enumeration page for "Crafton burough", Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1930. FamilySearch, an online genealogical database provided as a public service by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved June 23, 2017. His father was a native of Missouri; and according to the federal census of 1930, was then the chief chemist at a local laboratory and later, by 1940, for Allegheny County.[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ4J-Q5Y "The Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940"], digital copy of original enumeration page for Mt. Lebanon Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, April [17], 1940. FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved June 24, 2017.

Growing up in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Crafton and Mt. Lebanon,Remington, Fred (August 23, 1959). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/148058091/?clipping_id=36653349 "Pittsburgher in Hollywood"]. The Pittsburgh Press. p. TV7. Retrieved August 16, 2023. Betz began his amateur acting career at the age of 10, when he formed a theatrical company with six friends who performed plays in his grandmother's basement.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/729526895/?clipping_id=130103393 "Carl Betz Walked Long, Tough Road"]. The Calgary Albertan. September 5, 1959. p. 8. Retrieved August 16, 2023. After graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1939, he won a scholarship to Duquesne University.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19390622&id=oZljAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fWkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1737,2937730|title=Name Winner of Scholarship|date=June 22, 1939|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=13|access-date=May 27, 2014}} Beginning in 1942, Betz served three and a half years in the U.S. Army during World War II, seeing action in North Africa and Italy.

After the war, Betz returned to Carnegie Tech and earned a degree in drama. After graduation, he worked as a radio announcer and disk jockey before moving to New York City. Betz continued working in summer- and winter-stock companies and also worked for a while as a doorman at Radio City Music Hall.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19680411&id=vNhaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=emwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6864,1862403|title=No Wonder Carl Betz Agrees With the Bard|last=Cohen|first=Harold V.|date=April 11, 1968|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=26|access-date=May 26, 2014}}

File:Donna Reed Show Cast 1960.JPG as Donna Stone, Paul Petersen as Jeff Stone, Carl Betz as Dr. Alex Stone, Shelley Fabares as Mary Stone, The Donna Reed Show (1960)]]

Betz made his Broadway debut in 1952 in The Long Watch,{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19860514&id=YDFPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3AIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4864,6316070|title=Carl Betz: A Look Back|date=May 14, 1986|work=Toledo Blade|pages=P–2|access-date=May 26, 2014}} and toured with Veronica Lake in the summer-stock play, The Voice of the Turtle. He then appeared for 18 months as Collie Jordan on Love of Life. Prior to his eight-year run on The Donna Reed Show, Betz made guest appearances on such television series as Sheriff of Cochise, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke (as Nate Timble and Ned Glass, an outlaw trying to go straight under an assumed name in the 1957 episode “Gone Straight” - credited as “Carl Bentz”), The Millionaire, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

In 1958, Betz was cast as pediatrician Dr. Alex Stone in ABC sitcom The Donna Reed Show. The show revolves around the home and school problems of a middle-class American family in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Alex was often called upon to rescue wife Donna Stone (Reed) from awkward situations and to monitor the behavior of their children, Mary (Shelley Fabares) and Jeff (Paul Petersen). Jeff Stone introduced the sentimental hit song "My Dad" in a 1962 episode, specifically singing the tune to Betz. The series was a hit for ABC and aired for eight seasons from September 1958 to March 1966. During the run of the series, Betz continued acting in stage roles during the show's hiatus. In 1964, he appeared as Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon in a limited stage run of The Night of the Iguana, for which he earned excellent reviews.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19670916&id=kGwmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lP8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2575,4046096|title=Carl Betz Plays Lawyer In "Judd"|last=Thompson|first=Ruth|date=September 16, 1967|work=Gettysburg Times|page=1|access-date=May 27, 2014}}

After The Donna Reed Show was cancelled, Betz returned to television roles and stage work.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19780105&id=gJxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2523,458796|title=Actor Carl Betz Dying From Inoperable Cancer|date=January 5, 1978|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=11|access-date=May 27, 2014}} In 1967, producer Paul Monash offered Betz the role of defense lawyer Clinton Judd in the legal drama Judd, for the Defense. Monash had seen Betz's performance in Night of the Iguana in 1964 and was impressed with his acting. Betz initially thought the role was for a guest spot, but soon realized Monash had proposed that he star in a new series. Betz initially had misgivings, stating, "I did not want to do another series, you get bored", but eventually relented, because he liked the scripts. The series, which premiered on ABC in September 1967, was praised by critics, but struggled in the ratings. Shortly after ABC cancelled the series in 1969, Betz won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series for his work on the series.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19690609&id=Yhw_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qk8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=6009,5950632|title=Canceled TV Shows Garner Emmys|date=June 9, 1969|work=Lodi News-Sentinel|page=9|access-date=May 26, 2014}} He also made many guest appearances on a variety of popular television shows, such as Mission: Impossible, The Mod Squad, Love, American Style, and Starsky & Hutch. One of his last roles was as General Douglas MacArthur in the one-man stage play I Shall Return.

Betz was married twice and had one child. In June 1952, he married actress Lois Harmon with whom he had a son, Richard. The couple separated in May 1960 and divorced in 1961.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19611001&id=sxArAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7JsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6729,213265|title=Show Business Couple To Split|date=October 1, 1961|work=Reading Eagle|page=20|access-date=May 26, 2014}} In December 1963, Betz married Gloria Stone Martin, sister of actress Nita Talbot.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19640202&id=dkBIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=l4EMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6628,211474|title=Donna's 'Dr. Stone' Falls Off the Wagon|last=Humphrey|first=Hal|date=February 2, 1964|work=The Victoria Advocate|page=5|access-date=May 26, 2014}} Through his marriage to Martin, Betz had a stepdaughter, Rio. Gloria and he remained together for 15 years, until Carl's death.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19780119&id=RC0iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B3MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4046,2690112|title=TV actor Carl Betz loses bout with cancer|date=January 19, 1978|work=The Day|page=31|access-date=May 26, 2014}}

In 1977, Betz was diagnosed with terminal and inoperable lung cancer. He kept his diagnosis private in order to continue working. On November 29, 1977, Betz entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He died seven weeks later, on January 18, 1978, at age 56.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19780119&id=txkhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=91cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5886,726818|title=Carl Betz, City Native, Actor, Dies|date=January 19, 1978|work=The Pittsburgh Press|page=A-5|access-date=May 26, 2014}} His remains were cremated.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Portal|Biography}}

• {{IBDB name}}
• {{IMDb name|0079475}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Carl Betz

|list =

{{EmmyAward DramaLeadActor}}

{{Golden Globe Award Best Actor TV Drama}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betz, Carl}}

Category:1921 births

Category:1978 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male soap opera actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American radio DJs

Category:Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni

Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California

Category:Duquesne University alumni

Category:Golden Globe Award winners

Category:Male actors from Pittsburgh

Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania

Category:Military personnel from Pittsburgh

Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II