On June 13 veteran character actor Ned Beatty died at the age of 83. I've always been a fan and wondered if any of his work had an Alabama connection. So I checked his Wikipedia and IMDB entries and found one in his long list of film and television credits. More about that in a moment.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and by the age of 19 began appearing in theatrical productions in that state. His first film was Deliverance, and he started his career with a memorable role. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about; if not, I won't spoil it.
Beatty appeared in a television role in that same year and continued to act frequently in both media until 2013. If you are not familiar with him, I urge you to seek out some of his appearances. I especially urge you to watch him in the 1976 film Network. If you've seen it, go watch it again. I watched it last year [probably for the fourth or so time], and the entire movie just gets better and better.
Network focuses on a low-rated tv network and its attempt to raise ratings by turning the news division into entertainment. The film is a perfect storm of great personnel and casting. Sidney Lumet directed, Paddy Chayefsky wrote the script, and the stars include William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall and Beatrice Straight. Dunaway won a Best Actress Oscar, Straight a Best Supporting Actress one and Chayefsky won for Best Original Screenplay. Peter Finch received a well-deserved posthumous Oscar as Best Actor, playing newscaster Howard Beale.
Beatty was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Jason Robards in All the Presidents Men, another stellar performance. Beatty's nomination was somewhat unusual; he has only one scene in the movie, which lasts about five minutes. He appears as Arthur Jensen, the CEO of the corporation that owns the network, and who summons Howard Beale to lecture him on how the economic forces of nature work. In his five minute speech, Beatty proves to be a force of nature himself. His delivery has been described as one of the best, and one of the most terrifying speeches in American cinema. Watch and you will understand.
When it was first released, Network was viewed as a well-done but way over the top satire of television and its news business. Watch it today and it seems like a documentary....
Wait, I was supposed to discuss an Alabama connection, right? Two years before Network, Beatty played the priest Father Stafford in a television movie, The Execution of Private Slovik, first broadcast on March 13, 1974. Martin Sheen in the title role plays the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. The film is based on the non-fiction book by William Bradford Huie, a journalist and author with strong state connections. I've written a bit about his life and work here.
This piece is the 700th blog post I've done since March 2014. Sheesh...
