Ned Beatty, Prolific ‘Superman’ and ‘Network’ Character

Beloved character actor Ned Beatty, who made his movie debut in 1972’s “Deliverance” and delivered memorable performances in classics like 1976’s “Network” and 1978’s “Superman,” died on Sunday at age 83.

“Ned passed away from natural causes Sunday morning, surrounded by his family and loved ones,” Beatty’s supervisor, Deborah Miller, stated in a press release offered to TheWrap. “His family has decided to keep details private at this time. Ned was an iconic, legendary talent, as well as a dear friend, and he will be missed by us all.”

Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937, Beatty acquired his begin as an actor in regional theater within the South within the 1960s earlier than making his movie debut in John Boorman’s 1972 movie “Deliverance” as an Atlanta businessman on a canoe journey with three buddies who will get humiliated — and raped — by two Georgia mountainmen.

That memorable debut reverse Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight put Beatty on the map in Hollywood. He went on to seem in scores of movies and TV exhibits in his 50-plus years as an actor, proving the significance of supporting solid and that character actors might additionally steal the scene.

Two years later, he earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting position in 1976’s “Network,” the place he had a quick however memorable position as a TV community government who offers an impassioned five-minute speech to Peter Finch’s more and more unhinged on-air information host, Howard Beale, and tries to argue that company management of humanity can be a superb factor.

Two yr’s later, Beatty performed the bumbling the sidekick to DC Comics villain Lex Luthor within the 1978 “Superman” film reverse Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve. As Luthor’s minion Otis, Beatty gave a subtly humorous and memorable efficiency that at instances turned the superhero drama into virtually a comedy.

Throughout his profession, Beatty’s trademark turned enjoying or voicing villains that had been equal mixes of charismatic and bumbling but additionally able to being believably scary.

Other notable big-screen credit embrace “Toy Story 3,” through which he voiced the evil bear Lotso; reporter Dardis in “All the President’s Men,” Senator Charles Meachum in “Shooter,” and the sheriff within the 2003 movie adaptation of “Where the Red Fern Grows.”

In addition to his 160-plus movie roles, he additionally had a wholesome profession on TV and the theater, together with a two-season run within the mid-’90s on “Homicide: Life on the Street” as a Baltimore police detective. He additionally performed the daddy of John Goodman’s Dan Conner in six episodes of the sitcom “Roseanne.”

He earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a miniseries (for 1979’s “Friendly Fire”) and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a miniseries (for 1990’s “Last Train Home”). He additionally earned a Drama Desk Award in 2004 for his position as Big Daddy in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Beatty was additionally nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for “Hear My Song,” launched in 1991.