Birthday: 1937-07-06

Place of Birth: Louisville, Kentucky USA

Height: 5' 7" (1.70 m)

Wiki Biography: By: firehouse44 Mini Biography Once hailed by Daily Variety as the "busiest actor in Hollywood," Ned Beatty grew up in Kentucky, fishing and working on farms. St. Matthews, Kentucky, is hardly the environment to encourage a career in the entertainment industry, though, so when asked, "How did you get into show business?" Beatty responds, "By hanging out with the wrong crowd." That "crowd" includes some of the industry's most prominent names, such as John Huston, Steven Spielberg, Robert Altman, Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando, and Robert Redford. Accomplished in film, stage, and television, Beatty has garnered praise from both critics and peers as a dedicated actor's actor. He started as a professional performer at age ten when he earned pocket money singing in gospel quartets and a barber shop. The big city and bright lights did not come easy, though. The first ten years of Beatty's career were spent at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia. He then moved on to the Erie Playhouse in Pennsylvania, the Playhouse Theater in Houston, Texas, and the prestigious Arena Stage Company in Washington, DC. He was also a member of Shakespeare in Central Park, Louisville, Kentucky. Later, he appeared in the Broadway production of "The Great White Hope." At the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, he won rave reviews when he starred in "The Accidental Death of an Anarchist." In 1971, Beatty was chosen by director John Boorman for the role of Bobby Trippe in the hit film Deliverance (1972). This marked the beginning of his prolific movie career, with films including Silver Streak (1976), W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), Network (1976) -- for which he received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor -- Nashville (1975), Superman (1978), and Superman II (1980), The Toy (1982), All the President's Men (1976), Wise Blood (1979), Rudy (1993), The Big Easy (1986), Spring Forward (1999), Hear My Song (1991) -- for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor -- Prelude to a Kiss (1992), Just Cause (1995), He Got Game (1998), and Cookie's Fortune (1999). Beatty's numerous television credits include three years on the NBC series "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993), Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV), "Streets of Laredo" (1995), "The Boys" (1993), "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1984) with Laurence Olivier. Beatty received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Friendly Fire (1979) (TV) opposite Carol Burnett, and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Family Channel's Last Train Home (1990) (TV). Other notable credits include The Wool Cap (2004) (TV), The Execution of Private Slovik (1974) (TV), A Woman Called Golda (1982) (TV), Pray TV (1982) (TV), the miniseries "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985), Lockerbie: A Night Remembered (1998) (TV), and T Bone N Weasel (1992) (TV). He also had a recurring role on "Roseanne" (1988) and performed musically on television specials for Dolly Parton and The Smothers Brothers. In 2001, Beatty returned to his theatrical roots starring in London's West End revival production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," with Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the production on Broadway in 2003/2004 with Jason Patric and Ashley Judd. In 2006, Beatty completed three features to be released next year: The Walker (2007); a Paul Schrader film also starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Lily Tomlin; Paramount's Shooter (2007/I) starring Mark Wahlberg; and Charlie Wilson's War (2007), a Mike Nichols film with Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts. Blessed with eight children, Beatty enjoys golf and playing the bass guitar. He gives himself until the age of 70 to become proficient at both.