Born August 10, 1913 (some sources say 1916), in New York, NY; died from complications of internal bleeding, November 1, 1994, in Tehachapi, CA. Actor. Noah Beery, Jr., was best known for his character parts, especially the role ofRocky, James Garner's genial father in the television series The Rockford Files. That role was only one in a long career of sidekick, father, and best- friend roles. Beery was the son of Noah Beery, Sr., a portrayer of villains inearly Hollywood, and his first screen role was with his father and Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 silent version of The Mark of Zorro. He later found steady work in adventure films--Westerns and science-fiction serials--during the1940s and 50s. Beery appeared as Gary Cooper's doughboy friend in Cooper's Academy Award-winning performance in Sergeant York in 1941 and opposite Burt Reynolds in the 1983 film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He also had significant roles in Of Mice and Men (1940), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), and Inherit the Wind (1960). Beery began working in television in the1950s and was featured as Joey the Clown--father of a young Mickey Dolenz ofMonkees fame--in Circus Boy (1956-57) and as Bill Blake in Riverboat (1960-61).
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