Richard Beymer

Beymer acted on television in Los Angeles for three years in a show called Sandy Dreams,{{Citation |title=Sandy Dreams |type=Family, Fantasy |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326487/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_t_66 |access-date=2024-12-30 |others=Rose Marie Iannone, Arlene Gray, Patricia Iannone |publisher=KTLA}} rehearsing after school during the week and recording it on Saturdays. The show ended when he was 13.{{cite news| title=The DICK BEYMER STORY: He Thanks Bing Crosby for His First Big Break, but He Won a Starring Role in 'West Side Story' Thru His Own Talent| last=Hopper| first=Hedda| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=August 21, 1960| page=B26}}

Beymer made his feature-film debut in Vittorio De Sica's Stazione Termini (1953).{{cite news| last=Brennan| first=Sandra| title=Full Biography| url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/6046/Richard-Beymer/biography| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232556/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/6046/Richard-Beymer/biography| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 25, 2014| department=Movies & TV Dept.| work=The New York Times| date=2014| access-date=May 24, 2014}}

He was under contract to David O. Selznick for a year.

The contract with Selznick lasted for one year. Beymer was in much demand on television: Cavalcade of America (1954) and Johnny Tremain (1957). He guest starred in 26 Men, Zane Grey Theatre, Make Room for Daddy, The Gray Ghost, Navy Log, Whirlybirds, Sky King, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, and Schlitz Playhouse.

George Stevens cast Beymer in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), playing Peter Van Daan.

Beymer was put under contract to 20th Century Fox and started to be regarded as an exciting future star.{{cite news| title=MOVIES: Richard Beymer Never Was 'The Soft Young Man'| last=Rosenfield| first=Paul| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=December 26, 1982| page=M27}} Producer William Perlberg later said "It's a thing that periodically happens out here. Somebody comes along and talk starts and agents and studios keep talking and talking. Like an avalanche, the talk gathers speed. Ultimately that 'somebody' turns out to be a big name in Hollywood only."

After appearing in Playhouse 90, he had a supporting role in High Time (1960), a comedy with Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld at 20th Century Fox. "I wanted to be a very good actor," said Beymer later. "I wanted to work and let the work stand for something."

In June 1960, Beymer was cast in the lead role of Tony in West Side Story (1961), a huge hit. His singing was dubbed by Jimmy Bryant. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor.{{cite news| title=Beymer Gets Film Role| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/06/08/archives/beymer-gets-film-role.html| newspaper=The New York Times| date=June 8, 1960| page=45| url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web |title=Richard Beymer |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/richard-beymer/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}

Beymer later said he "was miserable in West Side Story. I didn't know enough at the time because I lacked certain knowledge in acting...I came out ridiculous. I didn't stand up for what I should have and I didn't know enough. The blame should be on me."{{cite news| title=Actors 'Come Out Ridiculous' in Films; Richard Beymer Tells Why| last=Alpert| first=Don| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=February 23, 1964| page=C4}}

Beymer was reunited with Weld in the Fox comedy Bachelor Flat (1961). At Columbia, he played the son of Rosalind Russell and Jack Hawkins in Five Finger Exercise (1962). Beymer later said he was "terrible" in it.{{cite news| title=A YOUNG EX-ACTOR RETURNS TO FILMS: Richard Beymer Writes and Produces Documentary| first=Peter| last=Bart| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/09/archives/a-young-exactor-returns-to-films-richard-beymer-writes-and-produces.html| date=September 9, 1964| page=48| url-access=subscription| access-date=April 21, 2020}}

Beymer was given the role of Nick Adams in Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) for Fox, with an all-star supporting cast. Producer Jerry Wald says he and director Martin Ritt agreed that Beymer was "the young actor I think stands the best chance of being the next Gary Cooper."{{cite news| first=Louella| last=Parsons| date=August 2, 1961| title=Ernest Hemingway's 'young man' film to honor Gary Cooper| newspaper=The Washington Post}} During filming, Beymer met Sharon Tate, and he encouraged her to get into acting.{{cite news| title=Miss Tate: Old, New Hollywood| last=Thomas| first=Kevin| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=January 18, 1966| page=C11}} The film was a big flop.

Beymer had a significant role in the film The Longest Day (1962), which was successful, but he was unhappy with his acting in the film. "They tried to make me the nice kid next door," he said. "That's just not me. They said just play you - but I am not the all-American boy."

Beymer started attending daily classes at the Actors Studio. "I just want to learn and be as professional as I can," he said.{{cite news| title=Richard Beymer Is Daily Student at Actors' Studio| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=March 22, 1963| page=D12}}

Producer Wald and director Franklin Schaffner cast Beymer in The Stripper (1963) with Joanne Woodward, which was critically acclaimed but not a big hit. Beymer returned to New York. "I got sick of the whole thing and I left," he said.

In 1964, Beymer became involved in Freedom Summer in Mississippi. "You get tired of being a complainer, passive," he said.{{cite news| title=Richard Beymer's South Side Story| first=Art| last=Seidenbaum| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=October 5, 1964| page=D1}}

He assisted Barney Frank in rescuing Freedom Democrat forms in a rental truck that had been confiscated from arrested Freedom volunteers in Canton, Mississippi on Freedom Day (July 16, 1964).{{cite book| title=Freedom Summer| last=Watson| first=Bruce| publisher=Penguin| year=2010| isbn=978-1-101-19018-0| location=New York| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ4bX0aNX9YC&q=barney| page=328}} During this time, he filmed the award-winning documentary A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer (1964), portraying the efforts of volunteers registering African-Americans to vote.[http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/archives/beymer.htm Profile], University of Southern Mississippi Libraries; accessed June 28, 2014. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526011454/http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/archives/beymer.htm |date=May 26, 2014 }}

In February 1964, he said all the films he had done except The Longest Day "should have been classroom work and never should have been shown publicly...I'm not a leading man. I'm a character actor. That is, I'm not a stereotyped leading man type. I'm kind of a schlepp at times...I don't care about billing and being a star. Being myself is the first thing."

Beymer guest-starred in episodes of Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Virginian, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Death Valley Days.{{cite news| title=Katherine Crawford in Suspense Segment| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=March 11, 1965| page=D9}} He acted in The Country Girl on stage.{{cite news| title=2 Revivals Do Little to Inspire| last=Smith| first=Cecil| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=October 17, 1966| page=C25}}

Beymer turned to filmmaking with The Innerview (1973), which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred.{{cite news| title=MOVIE REVIEW: Beymer Goes Avant-Garde| last=Thomas| first=Kevin| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=June 29, 1973| page=H16}}

He starred in, wrote and directed episodes of the television series Insight. He lived for two years in a commune and worked in Switzerland.

"I never left the movies," Beymer said. "I just made different kinds of movies."{{cite news| title=Twin Peaks' Stars Tamblyn, Beymer Share Twin Experience: Television: Actors at work on ABC series share a common bond...their roles in 'West Side Story' almost 30 years ago| last=Wheelock| first=Julie| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=April 6, 1990| page=F23}}

Beymer returned to Los Angeles in 1982 to restart his career.

He appeared in Cross Country (1983). He had roles in Paper Dolls (1984), playing the husband of Mimi Rogers, and Generation (1985). His television appearances at the time include Moonlighting, Dallas, The Bronx Zoo and Buck James, and co-starred in the film Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989).

Beymer was widely seen in Twin Peaks (1990–1991) playing Ben Horne. He followed it in Blackbelt (1992) and The Presence (1993).

He made three appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Li Nalas in the episodes "The Homecoming", "The Circle", and "The Siege".

Beymer was seen in Under Investigation (1993), My Girl 2 (1994), State of Emergency (1994), The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996), several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, A Face to Die For (1996), The Little Death (1996), Foxfire (1996), Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) and Home: the Horror Story. He was in episodes of Flipper, The X-Files, Vengeance Unlimited, Profiler, and Family Law.{{cite news| title=Beymer's Career Karma He Used a Knife for Ill in West Side, for Good in 'A Face to Die For'| newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News| date=March 10, 1996| page=L3}}

Beymer reprised his role as Ben Horne in the third season of Twin Peaks in 2017.{{cite news| url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2014/10/13/richard-beymer-twin-peaks-fairfield-david-lynch-maharishi/17234681| title=Richard Beymer another 'Twin Peaks' angle in Fairfield| last=Munson| first=Kyle| newspaper=The Des Moines Register| date=October 13, 2014| access-date=April 21, 2020}}

In 2019, Beymer visited the set of Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story. In December 2021, Rachel Zegler, the film's star, released two photos on her Instagram page: One of Beymer sitting next to Spielberg; another of Beymer hugging Zegler while screenwriter Tony Kushner looked on. According to Zegler, Beymer said "Te adoro María" to her "over and over again" as they embraced.{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CXSazQesBn1/ | title=Rachel zegler on Instagram: "we made a movie. It's out tonight. I loved living in this beautiful environment in the summer of 2019, and i have loved revisiting it through the lens of my dear friend and director steven spielberg. Our film is so special— it's one for the ages. So, for context— (1) on our last day on set, steven directs the balcony scene. (2) steven converses with richard beymer, the original tony from the 1961 film. (3) laughing my head off during i feel pretty with my favorite woman on the planet, miss jeanine tesori. (4) hugging richard beymer as he says "te adoro maría" to me over and over again, while our brilliant tony kushner watches on. (5) a loving sister moment with my sweet ariana debose, our anita for the modern age, yet timeless as ever. (6) hugging my beautiful josh andrés rivera on his last day of shooting, which didn't end up being his last day of shooting. He just kept coming back to set. I'm so glad he did. West side story is only in theaters 12/10/2021. Please consider seeing it with those you love most. It's the missing piece. Xo - r." }}

In the early 2000s, Beymer was making documentaries. One titled Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?, which chronicled his obsession with photography throughout his life, was screened at the 2002 Twin Peaks Festival in Seattle.{{ cite web | url=https://www.twinpeaksfest.com/lynch-movie-night-history | title= Lynch Movie Night History | website=Twin Peaks Festival }}

He was in Sadie's Waltz (2008), then focused on directing documentaries: The Passing of a Saint (2010), It's a Beautiful World (2014), Richard Beymer's Before...the Big Bang (2016), I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun (2017), and Behind the Red Curtain (2017).{{cite news| title=Right Out of Hollywood, A Witness to History| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/arts/television/right-out-of-hollywood-a-witness-to-history.html| last=Lee| first=Felicia R.| newspaper=The New York Times| date=June 22, 2014| page=AR10| url-access=subscription}}

The avant-garde film The Innerview, which he directed, produced, wrote the screenplay, and edited, won the Josef von Sternberg Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival in 1974. His 2010 film The Passing of a Saint chronicles the funeral rites of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In April 2014, It's a Beautiful World, his film of a trip to India with David Lynch, was released.

In 2007 Beymer completed Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?, his first book, a self-published novel and a semi-autobiographical account of a young actor's struggle to find himself.{{cite book| first=Richard| last=Beymer| title=Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYbkJAAACAAJ| publisher=Richard Beymer| year=2007| isbn=978-0615175515| access-date=April 21, 2020}}

Beymer's photographs of Twin Peaks cast and crew were featured in the gallery of behind the scenes photos on the Definitive Gold Box Edition for Twin Peaks, released on October 30, 2007. He is also a painter and sculptor.

An active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, Beymer participated in Freedom Summer in Valley View, Mississippi.{{cite book |last=Pickett |first=Charles O. |title=Remembering Mississippi Freedom Summer |publisher=Wordrunner Press |year=2015 |location=Petaluma, California |url=https://a.co/d/hP1ycm8 |access-date=25 September 2024}}

As of 2010, Beymer resided in Fairfield, Iowa, where he continued to make films and to write, sculpt, and paint.{{cite news| last=Moore| first=James| title=Richard Beymer's Tribute to Maharishi – The Passing of a Saint| url=http://www.iowasource.com/movies/2010_03_maharishi.html| access-date=March 13, 2013| newspaper=The Iowa Source| date=March 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314201440/http://www.iowasource.com/movies/2010_03_maharishi.html| archive-date=March 14, 2012}} He practises Transcendental Meditation, to "cool out".{{cite web| title=Richard Beymer talks "It's a Beautiful World" and more| url=http://braddstudios.com/2014/04/25/richard-beymer-talks-its-a-beautiful-world-and-more| website=Brad D Studios| access-date=May 24, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525200738/http://braddstudios.com/2014/04/25/richard-beymer-talks-its-a-beautiful-world-and-more/| archive-date=May 25, 2014| quote=There is a TM center here in Fairfield, Iowa, so I would come here for two or three weeks and cool out.| url-status=dead}}

{{Portal|Iowa|California|Film|Television}}

{{reflist}}

• Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 18.

{{commons category}}

• [http://gallery.mac.com/richardbeymer Richard Beymer's Twin Peaks Photos]
• {{IMDb name|937}}
• [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;type=simple;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;q1=Richard%20Beymer;view=reslist;subview=detail;sort=freq;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a Richard Beymer] at the University of Wisconsin's [https://web.archive.org/web/20121106225845/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a;focusrgn=summaryinfo;cc=wiarchives;byte=50771135 Actors Studio audio collection]
• [https://specialcollections.usm.edu/repositories/3/resources/887 Richard Beymer Freedom Summer Collections], [https://lib.usm.edu/spcol Special Collections] at The University of Southern Mississippi (Historical Manuscripts)

{{Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year Actor}}

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Category:1938 births

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American documentary film directors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Film directors from Iowa

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Iowa

Category:People from Jefferson County, Iowa

Category:People from Avoca, Iowa