Ed Begley Jr (Actor)

Ed Begley Jr. at Jim Ladd's star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)

About Ed Begley Jr

This tall, fair-haired son of Oscar-winner actor Ed Begley began his professional career in the 1960s with a guest appearance on "My Three Sons" and went on to achieve fame for his subsequent small screen work. Ed Begley Jr earned six successive Emmy nominations for his role as the bumbling but earnest Dr Victor Ehrlich on TV's "St. Elsewhere" (NBC, 1982-1988). Prior to his incarnation of the esteemed yet inane doctor, the actor had amassed credits in recurring roles on such shows like "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (syndicated, 1976) and "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman" (CBS, 1977). Begley played Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Showtime, 1986), an episode of "Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends". The Crane icon seems emblematic of Begley's persona: an uptight, somewhat goofy purveyor of cracker slapstick, but with hidden reservoirs of empathy and Ichabod-style gangly looks. He failed to find a subsequent successful small screen vehicle, striking out with the NBC sitcom version of "Parenthood" (1990) and the more dramatic primetime soap "Winnetka Road" (NBC, 1994). Begley returned to series work as the clueless father of three who hires an alien as a nanny in the absurd CBS sitcom "Meego" (1997).

Begley's film career has been somewhat less fruitful than his TV work, although he seems to have found a niche as the white straight man in every other kitsch film of the 80s and 90s. He has appeared in two Paul Bartel-helmed camp classics, "Eating Raoul" (1982) and "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills" (1989) and starred as a lustful husband of the "She-Devil" (1989). He had his first leading role as the bug-turned-human in "Meet the Applegates" (1991), co-starring Stockard Channing. Begley can also be found in "This is Spinal Tap" (1984), as the drummer who dies from a bizarre gardening accident, Lawrence Kasdan's "The Accidental Tourist" (1988), as William Hurt's brother, "Greedy" (1994), as one of the relatives after Kirk Douglas's money, Gus Van Sant's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (1994) and Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever" (1995).

Notes

Begley is a part of the 9/11 Truth Movement and on Sept. 11, 2004 he hosted a forum in NYC called Confronting the Evidence: 911 and the Search for Truth in New York City.