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George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story, Peter van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and Benjamin Horne on the television series Twin Peaks.
Beymer made his feature-film debut in Vittorio De Sica's Stazione Termini (1953).
He was under contract to David O. Selznick for a year.
The contract with Selznick lasted for one year. Beymer was in much demand on television: Cavalcade of America (1954) and Johnny Tremain (1957). He guest starred in 26 Men, Zane Grey Theatre, Make Room for Daddy, The Gray Ghost, Navy Log, Whirlybirds, Sky King, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, and Schlitz Playhouse.
Beymer was put under contract to 20th Century Fox and started to be regarded as an exciting future star. Producer William Perlberg later said "It's a thing that periodically happens out here. Somebody comes along and talk starts and agents and studios keep talking and talking. Like an avalanche, the talk gathers speed. Ultimately that 'somebody' turns out to be a big name in Hollywood only."
After appearing in Playhouse 90, he had a supporting role in High Time (1960), a comedy with Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld at 20th Century Fox. "I wanted to be a very good actor," said Beymer later. "I wanted to work and let the work stand for something."
In June 1960, Beymer was cast in the lead role of Tony in West Side Story (1961), a huge hit. His singing was dubbed by Jimmy Bryant. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor.
Beymer later said he "was miserable in West Side Story. I didn't know enough at the time because I lacked certain knowledge in acting...I came out ridiculous. I didn't stand up for what I should have and I didn't know enough. The blame should be on me."
Beymer was reunited with Weld in the Fox comedy Bachelor Flat (1961). At Columbia, he played the son of Rosalind Russell and Jack Hawkins in Five Finger Exercise (1962). Beymer later said he was "terrible" in it.
Beymer was given the role of Nick Adams in Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) for Fox, with an all-star supporting cast. Producer Jerry Wald says he and director Martin Ritt agreed that Beymer was "the young actor I think stands the best chance of being the next Gary Cooper." During filming, Beymer met Sharon Tate, and he encouraged her to get into acting. The film was a big flop.
Beymer had a significant role in the film The Longest Day (1962), which was successful, but he was unhappy with his acting in the film. "They tried to make me the nice kid next door," he said. "That's just not me. They said just play you - but I am not the all-American boy."
Beymer started attending daily classes at the Actors Studio. "I just want to learn and be as professional as I can," he said.
Producer Wald and director Franklin Schaffner cast Beymer in The Stripper (1963) with Joanne Woodward, which was critically acclaimed but not a big hit. Beymer returned to New York. "I got sick of the whole thing and I left," he said.
He assisted Barney Frank in rescuing Freedom Democrat forms in a rental truck that had been confiscated from arrested Freedom volunteers in Canton, Mississippi on Freedom Day (July 16, 1964). During this time, he filmed the award-winning documentary A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer (1964), portraying the efforts of volunteers registering African-Americans to vote. Profile, University of Southern Mississippi Libraries; accessed June 28, 2014.
In February 1964, he said all the films he had done except The Longest Day "should have been classroom work and never should have been shown publicly...I'm not a leading man. I'm a character actor. That is, I'm not a stereotyped leading man type. I'm kind of a schlepp at times...I don't care about billing and being a star. Being myself is the first thing."
Beymer guest-starred in episodes of Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Virginian, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Death Valley Days. He acted in The Country Girl on stage.
He starred in, wrote and directed episodes of the television series Insight. He lived for two years in a commune and worked in Switzerland.
"I never left the movies," Beymer said. "I just made different kinds of movies."
He appeared in Cross Country (1983). He had roles in Paper Dolls (1984), playing the husband of Mimi Rogers, and Generation (1985). His television appearances at the time include Moonlighting, Dallas, The Bronx Zoo and Buck James, and co-starred in the film (1989).
Beymer was widely seen in Twin Peaks (1990–1991) playing Ben Horne. He followed it in Blackbelt (1992) and The Presence (1993).
He made three appearances on as Li Nalas in the episodes "The Homecoming", "The Circle", and "The Siege".
Beymer was seen in Under Investigation (1993), My Girl 2 (1994), State of Emergency (1994), The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996), several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, A Face to Die For (1996), The Little Death (1996), Foxfire (1996), Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) and Home: the Horror Story. He was in episodes of Flipper, The X-Files, Vengeance Unlimited, Profiler, and Family Law.
Beymer reprised his role as Ben Horne in the third season of Twin Peaks in 2017.
In 2019, Beymer visited the set of Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story. In December 2021, Rachel Zegler, the film's star, released two photos on her Instagram page: One of Beymer sitting next to Spielberg; another of Beymer hugging Zegler while screenwriter Tony Kushner looked on. According to Zegler, Beymer said "Te adoro María" to her "over and over again" as they embraced.
He was in Sadie's Waltz (2008), then focused on directing documentaries: The Passing of a Saint (2010), It's a Beautiful World (2014), Richard Beymer's Before...the Big Bang (2016), I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun (2017), and Behind the Red Curtain (2017).
The avant-garde film The Innerview, which he directed, produced, wrote the screenplay, and edited, won the Josef von Sternberg Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival in 1974. His 2010 film The Passing of a Saint chronicles the funeral rites of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In April 2014, It's a Beautiful World, his film of a trip to India with David Lynch, was released.
As of 2010, Beymer resided in Fairfield, Iowa, where he continued to make films and to write, sculpt, and paint. He practices Transcendental Meditation, to "cool out".
| 1951 | Fourteen Hours | uncredited | |
| 1953 | Terminal Station | Paul Stevens | |
| 1953 | So Big | Roelf (Age 12–16) | |
| 1957 | Johnny Tremain | Rab Silsbee | |
| 1959 | The Diary of Anne Frank | Peter Van Daan | |
| 1960 | High Time | Bob Bannerman | |
| 1961 | West Side Story | Tony | Nominated —Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor |
| 1961 | Bachelor Flat | Mike Pulaski | |
| 1962 | Five Finger Exercise | Philip Harrington | |
| 1962 | Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man | Nick Adams | |
| 1962 | The Longest Day | Pvt. Dutch Schultz | |
| 1963 | The Stripper | Kenny Baird | |
| 1964 | A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer | documentary short; director and writer | |
| 1969 | Scream Free! | Dean | |
| 1973 | The Innerview | also director, writer, producer, editor and cinematographer | |
| 1983 | Cross Country | Evan Bley | |
| 1989 | Dr. Newbury | direct-to-video | |
| 1992 | Blackbelt | Eddie Deangelo | |
| 1993 | Under Investigation | Dr. Jerry Parsons | |
| 1994 | My Girl 2 | Peter Webb | |
| 1996 | The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson | Chad Leary | |
| 1996 | Foxfire | Mr. Parks | |
| 1998 | Playing Patti | ||
| 2000 | Home the Horror Story | Bob Parkinson | |
| 2002 | Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer? | documentary; director, editor and cinematographer | |
| 2008 | Sadie's Waltz | Garvus | short film |
| 2010 | The Passing of a Saint | documentary; director, editor and cinematographer | |
| 2014 | It's a Beautiful World | Documentary; director, editor and cinematographer | |
| 2016 | Richard Beymer's Before the Big Bang | documentary; director, editor and cinematographer | |
| 2017 | I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun | documentary short; director, editor and cinematographer | |
| 2017 | Behind the Red Curtain | documentary short; director, editor and cinematographer |
| 1954 | Cavalcade of America | episode: "Gentle Conqueror" | |
| 1956–1957 | Make Room for Daddy | The Boyfriend / Freddie Baxter | 2 episodes |
| 1957 | The Gray Ghost | Luke Burnette | episode: "An Eye for an Eye" |
| 1957 | 26 Men | Tod Devers | episode: "Dead Man in Tucson" |
| 1957 | Zane Grey Theatre | Shep Jolland | episode: "The Bitter Land" |
| 1958 | Navy Log | Ennis Thompson | episode: "The Soapbox Kid" |
| 1958 | Whirlybirds | John Thompson | episode: "The Brothers" |
| 1958 | Sky King | Joe Belden | episode: "Man Hunt" |
| 1958 | Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre | Mark | episode: "On the Brink" |
| 1958, 1968 | Death Valley Days | John Owens / Zeb Fallon | 2 episodes |
| 1959 | Schlitz Playhouse | episode: "On the Brink" | |
| 1959 | Playhouse 90 | LeRoy Cadman | episode: "Dark December" |
| 1965 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Werner Schiff | episode: "The East Breach" |
| 1965 | The Virginian | Mark Shannon / Frank Colter | 2 episodes |
| 1966 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Ralph Belmonte | episode: "Guilty or Not Guilty" |
| 1966 | Dr. Kildare | Reverend Jack Elder | 3 episodes |
| 1967 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Harry Williams | episode: "The Survival School Affair" |
| 1975, 1980 | Insight | Train Conductor / Josh / God | 3 episodes |
| 1981 | The Girl on the Edge of Town | television film; cinematographer | |
| 1982 | The Juggler of Notre Dame | television film; cinematographer | |
| 1984 | Paper Dolls | David Fenton | 13 episodes |
| 1985 | Generation | Allan Breed | television film |
| 1986 | Moonlighting | Ray Adamson | episode: "All Creatures Great...and Not So Great" |
| 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996 | Murder, She Wrote | Various roles | 6 episodes |
| 1987–1988 | Buck James | Max | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Dallas | Jeff Larkin | episode: "Bedtime Stories" |
| 1988 | The Bronx Zoo | Mr. Locke | episode: "The Gospel Truth" |
| 1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | Benjamin Horne | 30 episodes |
| 1992 | Danger Island | Ben | television film |
| 1993 | Li Nalas | 3 episodes | |
| 1994 | State of Emergency | Dr. Ronald Frames | television film |
| 1996 | A Face to Die For | Dr. Matthew Sheridan | television film |
| 1996 | Flipper | Andrew Cantrell | episode: "Sharks" |
| 1996 | The X-Files | Dr. Jack Franklin | episode: "Sanguinarium" |
| 1997 | Elvis Meets Nixon | Bob Haldeman | television film |
| 1998 | Vengeance Unlimited | Douglas Bradford | episode: "Noir" |
| 1999 | Profiler | Martin Fizer | episode: "Ceremony of Innocence" |
| 2001 | Family Law | Richard Collins | episode: "Against All Odds" |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Benjamin Horne | 6 episodes |
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