"NOAH BEERY, JR.
PENTAGRAM PROFILES
by Blackie Seymour
He was a serial star, a naive country boy, an adventure hero, and a television character actor par excellence. Seemingly cut from the same cloth as Will Rogers, the famed homespun philosopher, he was in fact the son of a great actor, the nephew of another great star and the son-in-law of yet another great star. Though beloved by countless fans, not much was ever written about him. We'd like to make amends for that now.
Noah was born in New York City on August 10, 1913, the son of famed actor Noah Beery and nephew of the even more famous Wallace Beery. He made his screen debut at the age of seven by means of his father in Mark of Zorro, with the help of its star Douglas Fairbanks Sr. His early life was spent at Harvard Military Academy, making occasional stock company appearances with his father. He also appeared in such films as Penrod, Penrod and Sam, and Father and Son. He spent much of his time with ranch work, learning riding, roping and shooting from his dad, and western star Buck Jones.
At the age of 19, Noah approached the casting office at Universal Studios and, probably thanks to the skills he'd learned on the ranch, he was given top billing in their latest serial, Heroes of the West, with Onslow Stevens, in 1932. Although the film gave Stevens the most screen time, Noah, playing a scout, was featured in many scenes, as well as the all-important cliffhanger scenes. It was obvious from the pacing that Noah's scenes were inserted to build him up with some prime screen time and, although a little contrived, his scenes fit in fine. Noah Beery Jr. was on his way.
Living in the shadow of a prominent acting family has proven difficult, sometimes impossible, for some young actors. In Noah's case, what we see from the record is a long and steady list of credits carved out by a hard-working actor who wasn't above toiling in lower rungs of Hollywood. Of course, the studio wasn't sure yet just how to use him, so they tried him as second lead to Tom Tyler in their next serial, Jungle Mystery, which was a complete change of pace. It was still a serial though, and the public seemed to have no trouble accepting him as a serial personality.
They next tried him in a Tom Mix western, Rustlers Roundup, in 1933, but with meager results, so they loaned Noah out for a year. He wound up at Mascot Pictures where he again popped up in a serial, The Three Musketeers, a French Foreign Legion adventure starring Jack Mulhall and Raymond Hatton, with a young John Wayne, still struggling in his long climb to the top. Noah's part was small, but Mascot next gave him second lead to Johnny Mack Brown in another serial, Fighting With Kit Carson, as a young Indian. Then, Noah decided to follow John Wayne to Monogram for another western, The Trail Beyond.
Universal called the busy actor back for the role of Skeeter in Tailspin Tommy, with Maurice Murphy in the title role. This was part of the studio's new contract to produce serials based on popular comic strips and it was a big success. Grant Withers and Walter Miller backed them up and the production values were obviously high for a serial. The following year had him back in the same role in Tailspin Tommy and the Great Air Mystery, this time with Clark Williams as Tommy, and decorated nicely by Jean Rogers.
By this time, Noah had earned his wings and they gave him the lead in an outdoor epic, filmed entirely on location. In Stormy, beautiful Jean Rogers was again featured, but this time Noah was her romantic interest. Stormy is a horse story with Rex, King of the Wild Horses, but it was Beery who bore the name Stormy. Though the title caused a bit of confusion, his screen persona was clearly established. He came across as a lovable, naive country boy, with a big heart. His clumsiness and shyness seemed to go over well with the audience, so he was given another character of the same type, that of Jan, of the jungle, in another serial, Call of the Savage. In this one, Harry Woods was cast in a role, unusual for him, as the guardian of a princess (Dorothy Short), and menaced throughout by Walter Miller. The following year, Noah appeared in a small, but effective role in Parole, whose only distinction is that it contained the screen debut of Anthony Quinn.
Carl Laemmle was about to retire as head of Universal and producer Charles R. Rogers stepped into the captain's chair. Under his management, the studio took a drastic turn and, right after their million-dollar serial Flash Gordon, Rogers put Noah back into his flying togs once again for Ace Drummond. John King got the lead, but since he was being groomed as a singing star, they made the mistake of giving him a song, which he sang in several episodes, almost ruining the serial. Once again, Jean Rogers had the female lead and was the reigning serial queen at that time.
Then came the film that nearly ruined Universal. The Road Back, a lavish James Whale production, and sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, featured John "Dusty" King and Richard Cromwell along with a myriad of talented actors in support, including Noah. However, Whale went so far over budget, and took so long to film it that the studio couldn't recover its expenses.
Beery did another outdoor adventure, this time with a dog, Tuffie, in The Mighty Treve. Noah played the same type of character as he did in Stormy, only this time it fit the picture. He plays a boy brought up on a sheep ranch, living only with his father (Frank Reicher) and a ranch hand. He trains a dog from a pup to be a sheep dog and, when his father dies, he and the dog go out into the world. It's one of the most touching dog movies made, but practically unknown today. Barbara Read costarred with him.
Some Blondes Are Dangerous was next, which was a remake of Iron Man, with Noah in the Lew Ayres role as a boxer ruined by a scheming female, Dorothea Kent in the Jean Harlow part. William Gargan played his manager. After that, Trouble at Midnight had Noah owning a milk farm. The movie was really an excuse to promote Larry Blake, who the studio was putting in everything that year. Noah courts Catherine (Kay) Hughes during a war between ranchers and gangsters. Next, Forbidden Valley again had Noah on the plains, this time with Frances Robinson and trying to avoid the nasty deeds of Fred Kohler. Horses played a big part in the film once again.
Noah was then loaned out again, this time to Columbia, in Girl's School and Outside the Law, two entirely different plots, which were decidedly "B" movies, but he got to show a little versatility. Then came two major productions in which he had a supporting role, but they were impressive. One was Only Angels Have Wings, with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, in which Noah was the first of many ill-fated flyers. The next was Of Mice and Men, with Lon Chaney and Burgess Meredith, where he played a ranch hand, who as usual, was a likable character. Then, he went over to RKO for a good part in Bad Lands, a western remake of Lost Patrol, and then to MGM for Twenty Mule Team, with his uncle Wallace Beery.
It was about this time, that Noah's courtship of Buck Jones' daughter, Maxine, culminated in marriage. They eventually had three children, Muffet, Melissa and Bucklind (Buck).
Many minor films, most of them westerns, followed for a while. Then, Noah appeared in Universal's serial, Riders of Death Valley, which boasted the largest cast for a serial ever assembled, including his father-in-law Buck Jones. Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Lon Chaney, Charles Bickford and Glenn Strange were also headlined. Seeing they had something good, the studio followed this with Overland Mail, this time starring Lon Chaney, Don Terry, Noah and his father Noah, Sr.
Noah did some streamliners (films lasting 45 minutes, or so) for Hal Roach and United Artists. Titles included Tanks a Million, All-American Co-ed, Dudes Are Pretty People, Hay Foot, Calaboose and Prairie Chickens, playing a character named Pidge in all. Now, it was well known that Pidge was his nickname, but we're not sure if the name came from this role, or if it had an earlier origin.
In 1943, he returned to Universal for what was another stage in his career. He started in the all-star war drama, Gung Ho!, with Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, J. Carroll Naish and Rod Cameron, and the was with Scott again in Corvette K-225. That was followed by We've Never Been Licked, in which Noah was paired with Anne Gwynne, a teaming that the studio saw for potential. So they teamed them in supporting roles in Top Man, with Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan, and then in Frontier Badmen, with Robert Paige, Diana Barrymore and Lon Chaney.
They next put Noah in Weekend Pass, this time with Martha O'Driscoll, which was a surprise smash and gave him a great opportunity to really use his comedic talents. Universal saw another successful teaming and put Noah and Martha in Allergic to Love, followed by a remake of Love in a Bungalow called Hi, Beautiful. They were together again in Her Lucky Night, with the Andrews Sisters, and Under Western Skies, with Leo Carrillo and Leon Errol.
Noah played one of a trio of attorneys in Olsen & Johnson's See My Lawyer and, of course, made an appearance in the star studded production Follow the Boys (who didn't?). In The Beautiful Cheat, they needed a younger-looking actress to play a 21-year-old posing as a teenager, so they teamed him with Bonita Granville. This is an excellent example of the story of a highly educated, but totally naive, professor type who takes in a tough girl to rehabilitate her, and thereby learns all the things he's missed in life.
Crimson Canary was a most unusual film about a jazz quartet suspected of murder. The entire film was accompanied by an underlying jazz score. After that came The Daltons Ride Again, where Noah played Ben Dalton, with Alan Curtis, Lon Chaney and Kent Taylor filling the outlaw family tree.
His last film at Universal was The Cat Creeps and it was one of his personal dislikes. He was supposed to play a news photographer named "Flash" Laurie, but for some reason (after filming started) it was changed to "Pidge" Laurie. Apparently, the name change wasn't enough to make him like the film any better. His father died about this time and Noah disappeared from the screen for a year.
When he showed up again it was in the classic Red River, with John Wayne and a host of great character actors. From that point on, Noah appeared in many westerns, but one of his notable roles of this period was Rocketship XM at Lippert, where he was one of a crew to land on Mars. His shipmates were Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, Hugh O'Brian and John Emery.
Noah Played opposite William Elliott in The Savage Horde, as a young rancher plagued by Grant Withers and his henchmen Bob Steele, Roy Barcroft and Marshall Reed. He was a natural for his next role, playing Wiley Post the aviator friend of Will Rogers in The Will Rogers Story, with the son of the great common man, Will Rogers Jr., playing his own father. In an excellent western, Doolins of Oklahoma, Noah was in good company with Randolph Scott, John Ireland and Frank Fenton.
By this time, Noah and Maxine had acquired a 1,000-acre ranch in Tehachapi, California, where he raised cattle and even kept ten buffalo. They also had a house in Sherman Oaks, not far from Hollywood, and a beach house at Balboa.
Television seemed to want Noah for character roles and he played Joey, the clown on the Circus Boy series, and Bill Blake on Riverboat. He was Barney Weeks in Doc Elliott and Buffalo Baker in Hondo, where he almost carried that series. He showed up on many popular series as guest star, playing everything from a con man on Magnum, P.I. to a murder suspect on Murder She Wrote.
By the 1970s he had graduated into grandfather roles such as Grandpa Pusser in the big hit film Walking Tall (parts 1 & 2). This set the stage for perhaps his most famous role, that of Rocky, the father of Jim Rockford (James Garner) on the hugely successful Rockford Files TV series, which he continued until his death on November 1, 1994. The role capped an amazing career, so very different from the troubled and checkered careers of other famous acting family sons.
His marriage was, unfortunately, not as successful or as long as his career. Noah and his wife, Maxine, were divorced in 1966. However, he remained married to his new wife, Lisa, until his death.
It's difficult to say which period in his long career was the high point, because he certainly had several high points, as he successfully made every transition from juvenile, to male lead, to middle aged character, and finally to elderly roles. Whatever his age he projected a clear screen persona - that of a plain country boy, trying bravely to confront that "big world out there." With his common touch he could play a serial hero (usually in flying togs or riding a saddle), or an average man, hilariously harassed by designing females. Through it all, a sense of decency shined through, and it must have been a reflection of who he really was. We miss you, Pidge, and because of you, little guys everywhere could feel a bit more confident, and believe that a little common decency has some value in this world after all.