Jim Beaver

Jim Beaver
Jim Beaver in July 2011
Born	James Norman Beaver, Jr. (1950-08-12) August 12, 1950 Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Debbie Young (1973–1976) Cecily Adams (1989–2004; her death)

James Norman "Jim" Beaver, Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American stage, film, and television actor, playwright, screenwriter, director, and film historian. He is perhaps most familiar to worldwide audiences as the gruff but tenderhearted prospector Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood, a starring role which brought him acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Ensemble Acting after three decades of supporting work in films and TV. He portrays Bobby Singer in the CW television series Supernatural and Sheriff Shelby Parlow on the FX series Justified. His memoir Life's That Way was published in April 2009.

Early life

Beaver was born in Laramie, Wyoming, the son of Dorothy Adell (née Crawford) and James Norman Beaver, Sr. (1924–2004), a minister. His father was of French and English heritage (the family name was originally de Beauvoir, and Beaver is a distant cousin of author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir and Pennsylvania governor General James A. Beaver), and his mother is Scottish-German-Cherokee and a descendant of senator, governor, and three-time U.S. Attorney General John J. Crittenden. Although his parents' families had both been long in Texas, Beaver was born in Laramie while his father was doing graduate work in accounting at the University of Wyoming. Returning to Texas, Beaver Sr. worked as an accountant and as a minister for the Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas; Crowley, Texas; Dallas, Texas; and Grapevine, Texas. For most of Jim Beaver's youth, his family lived in Irving, Texas, even while his father preached in surrounding communities. He and his three younger sisters (Denise, Reneé, and Teddlie) all attended Irving High School (where he was a classmate of ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard), but he transferred in his senior year to Fort Worth Christian Academy, from which he graduated in 1968. He also took courses at Fort Worth Christian College. Despite having appeared in some elementary-school plays, he showed no particular interest in an acting career, but immersed himself in film history and expressed a desire for a career as a writer, publishing a few short stories in his high school anthology.

Military

Less than two months after his graduation from high school, Beaver followed several of his close friends into the United States Marine Corps. Following basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Beaver was trained there as a microwave radio relay technician. He served at the Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms and at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton before being transferred to the 1st Marine Division near Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1970. He served as a radio operator at an outlying detachment of the 1st Marine Regiment, then as supply chief for the division communications company. He returned to the U.S. in 1971 and was discharged as Corporal (E-4), though he remained active in the Marine Reserve until 1976.

Education

Upon his release from active duty in 1971, he returned to Irving, Texas, and worked briefly for Frito-Lay as a corn-chip dough mixer. He entered what is now Oklahoma Christian University, where he became interested in theatre. He made his true theatrical debut in a small part in The Miracle Worker. The following year, he transferred to Central State University (now known as the University of Central Oklahoma). He performed in numerous plays in college and supported himself as a cabdriver, a movie projectionist, a tennis-club maintenance man, and an amusement-park stuntman at Frontier City. He also worked as a newscaster and hosted jazz and classical music programs on radio station KCSC. During his college days, he also began to write, completing several plays and also his first book, on actor John Garfield, while still a student. Beaver graduated with a degree in Oral Communications in 1975. He briefly pursued graduate studies, but soon returned to Irving, Texas.

Career

Jim Beaver made his professional stage debut in October 1972, while still a college student, in Rain, by W. Somerset Maugham at the Oklahoma Theatre Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After returning to Texas, he did a great deal of local theatre in the Dallas area, supporting himself as a film cleaner at a 16 mm film rental firm and as a stagehand for the Dallas Ballet. He joined the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas in 1976, performing in numerous productions. In 1979, he was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville to write the first of three plays for that company (Spades, Sidekick, and Semper Fi), and was twice a finalist in the theatre's national Great American Play Contest (for Once Upon a Single Bound and Verdigris). Along with plays, he continued writing for film journals and for several years was a columnist, critic, and feature writer for the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures magazine Films in Review.

Moving to New York City in 1979, Beaver worked steadily onstage in stock and on tour, simultaneously writing plays and researching a biography of actor George Reeves (a project which he still pursues between acting jobs). He appeared in starring roles in such plays as The Hasty Heart and The Rainmaker in Birmingham, Alabama and The Lark in Manchester, New Hampshire, and toured the country as Macduff in Macbeth and in The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia. During this period, he ghostwrote the book Movie Blockbusters for critic Steven Scheuer.

In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles, California to continue research on his biography of George Reeves. He worked for a year as the film archivist for the Variety Arts Center. Following a reading of his play Verdigris, he was asked to join the prestigious Theatre West company in Hollywood, where he continues as an actor and playwright to this day. Verdigris was produced to very good reviews in 1985 and Beaver was signed by the powerful Triad Artists agency. He immediately began to work writing episodes of various television series, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (he received a 1987 CableACE Award nomination for his very first TV script, for this show), Tour of Duty, and Vietnam War Story. He also worked occasionally in small roles in films and television.

The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike fundamentally altered the freelance television writing market, and Beaver's TV writing career came to an abrupt halt. However, a chance meeting led to his being cast as the best friend of star Bruce Willis in Norman Jewison's drama about Vietnam veterans, In Country, and his acting career suddenly took up the slack where his TV writing career had faltered. (Beaver was the only actual Vietnam veteran among the principal cast of In Country.)

Subsequently he has appeared in many popular films, including Sister Act, Sliver, Bad Girls, Adaptation., Magnolia, and The Life of David Gale. He starred in the TV series Thunder Alley as the comic sidekick to Ed Asner, and as homicide cop Earl Gaddis on Reasonable Doubts. He was also French Stewart's sullen boss Happy Doug on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Jim Beaver dressed as his Whitney Ellsworth character in Deadwood.

In 2002, Beaver was cast as one of the stars of the ensemble Western drama Deadwood in the role of Whitney Ellsworth, a goldminer whom he often described as "Gabby Hayes with Tourette syndrome". Ellsworth went from being a filth-covered reprobate to marrying the richest woman in town and becoming a beloved and stalwart figure in the community. (Originally Ellsworth did not have a first name, but when it became necessary to provide one, Beaver requested he be named Whitney Ellsworth, after the producer of George Reeves's Adventures of Superman.) He continued his long research for the Reeves biography, and in 2005 served as the historical/biographical consultant on the theatrical feature film about Reeves's death, Hollywoodland.

Beaver in 2006 joined the cast of the HBO drama John from Cincinnati while simultaneously playing the recurring roles of Bobby Singer on Supernatural and Carter Reese on another HBO drama Big Love. He then took on the role of Sheriff Charlie Mills in the CBS drama Harper's Island. He has recurred as the gun dealer Lawson on Breaking Bad and currently plays Sheriff Shelby Parlow on FX's Justified.

His memoir of the year following his wife's 2003 diagnosis of lung cancer, entitled Life's That Way, was purchased in a preemptive bid by Putnam/Penguin publishers in the fall of 2007. Prior to publication in April, 2009, it was chosen for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program for 2009.

His performance in The Silence of Bees won him the Best Actor Award at the 2010 New York Film and Video Festival.

Beaver was nominated for Best Guest Performance in a Drama by the Broadcast Television Journalists' Association Critics' Choice Awards in 2013, for his performance as Sheriff Shelby Parlow on Justified. (He lost to Jane Fonda.) He was on many industry prediction lists for the 2013 Emmy for that performance, but was ultimately not nominated.

He wrote and directed the film Night Riders (2013), based upon his play of the same title.

Beaver studied acting with Clyde Ventura and Academy Award-winning actor Maximilian Schell.

Personal life

During college, Beaver married a fellow student, Debbie Young, in August 1973, but the couple separated four months later (though divorce did not occur until 1976). For several years after his move to California, Beaver shared a house with character actor Hank Worden, who had been a friend since Beaver's childhood. In 1989, following a four-year courtship, Beaver married actress/casting director Cecily Adams, daughter of Get Smart star Don Adams. Their daughter Madeline was born in 2001. Cecily Adams died of lung cancer March 3, 2004.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1977	Semi-Tough	B.E.A.T. Member	uncredited
1978	Desperado	Nathan	TV Film
	The Seniors	Client	uncredited
1979	Warnings	The Artist	Short film
	Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders	Cowboy player	TV Film
1981	Nighthawks	Subway Passenger	uncredited
1983	Girls of the White Orchid	Pedestrian	uncredited
	Silkwood	Plant Manager
1985	File 8022	Ben Crysler
1987	Sweet Revenge	Smuggler	uncredited
	Hollywood Shuffle	Postal Worker
1988	Two Idiots in Hollywood	Crying Man
	Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake	Motel Manager	TV Film
	Defense Play	FBI Agent
1989	Mergers & Acquisitions	Gabby Hayes	Short film
	Turner & Hooch	Plant Manager
	The Cherry	The Captain	Short film
	In Country	Earl Smith
	Mothers, Daughters and Lovers	Sheriff Jack Edzard	TV Film
1990	Follow Your Heart	Craig Hraboy	TV Film
	El Diablo	Spivey Irick
	The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson	Maj. Trimble
1991	little secrets	Liquor Store Cashier	Credited as Richard Muldoon
1992	Gunsmoke: To the Last Man	Deputy Willie Rudd	TV Film
	Sister Act	Detective Clarkson
1993	Sliver	Detective Ira
	Gunsmoke: The Long Ride	Traveling blacksmith	TV Film
	Geronimo: An American Legend	Proclamation officer
1994	Twogether	Oscar
	Blue Chips	Ricky's Father
	Children of the Dark	Roddy Gibbons	Deliberately uncredited
	Bad Girls	Pinkerton Detective Graves
1997	Wounded	Agent Eric Ashton
	Divided by Hate	Danny Leland	TV Film
1998	At Sachem Farm	Foreman
	Mr. Murder	Agent Jason Reiling	TV Film
1999	Impala	Sheriff Bert Davis	Short film
	Ah! Silenciosa	Ambrose Bierce	Short film
	Magnolia	Smiling Peanut Patron #1
2000	Fraud	Detective Mason	Short film
	Where the Heart Is	Clawhammer	Scenes deleted
2001	Warden of Red Rock	Jefferson Bent	TV Film
	Joy Ride	Sheriff Ritter
2002	Wheelmen	Agent Hammond
	Adaptation.	Ranger Tony
2003	The Life of David Gale	Duke Grover
	Wave Babes	Amos Nandy
	The Commission	Howard L. Brennan
2007	Next	Wisdom
	Cooties	The Man	Short film
2008	Reflections	Frank	Short film
	The Silence of Bees	Parker Lam	Short film
	In the A.M. of Dec. 26th at Mickey's (on the Corner of Cunningham & Kongosak in Barrow)	Radio D.J.	Short film
2009	Dark and Stormy Night	Jack Tugdon
2011	The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy	J. Wright Mooar
2013	Night Riders	Writer-Director-Executive Producer	Short film
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978–1979	Dallas	Diner/Julie's Gardener	"Black Market Baby", "The Red File: Part 1"
1986	Divorce Court	Wrench McCoy
1987	Jake and the Fatman	Defense Attorney	"Fatal Attraction"
1988	Matlock	Barney Sutler	"The Umpire"
	Paradise	Frank Foster	"The Holstered Gun"
1989	CBS Summer Playhouse	Wrong House Neighbor	"Elysian Fields"
	The Young Riders	Johnson	"The Kid"
1990	Midnight Caller	Tom Barlow	"Ryder on the Storm"
	Nasty Boys	Wetstone	"Desert Run"
	Father Dowling Mysteries	Drake	"The Murder Weekend Mystery"
1991–1993	Santa Barbara	Andy the Rapist/Motel man	"Episode #1.1740, 1741, 1746, 2037, 2113"
	Reasonable Doubts	Detective Earl Gaddis	13 episodes
1993	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Henry Barnes	"I'm Looking Through You"
	Thunder Alley	Leland DuParte	28 episodes
1995	Home Improvement	Duke Miller	"Doctor in the House"
	Unsolved Mysteries	Himself	"Who Killed Superman?"
1996–97	High Incident	Father in Wreck	"Women & Children First"
	Murder One	Donald Cleary	"Chapter Four, Year Two", "Chapter Fourteen, Year Two"
	Bone Chillers	Edgar Allan Poe	"Edgar Allan Poe-Session"
1996–2004	Days of Our Lives	Father Timothy Jansen	26 episodes
1997	NYPD Blue	Truck Driver / Jesus Christ	"Taillight's Last Gleaming"
	Moloney	Detective Ashton	"The Ripple Effect"
	Spy Game	Thornbush	"Lorne and Max Drop the Ball"
	Total Security	Detective McKissick	"Das Bootie"
1998–99	Melrose Place	Ranger Virgil	"Amanda's Back"
	Pensacola: Wings of Gold	Actor	"Power Play"
	E! Mysteries & Scandals	Himself	"George Reeves", "John Garfield"
	3rd Rock from the Sun	Happy Doug	7 episodes
	The X-Files	Coroner	"Field Trip"
2000	Biography	Himself	"George Reeves: The Perils of a Superhero"
	The Trouble with Normal	Gary	8 episodes
2001	That '70s Show	Tony	"Who Wants It More?"
	The Division	Fred Zito	"High on the Hog"
	Star Trek: Enterprise	Admiral Daniel Leonard	"Broken Bow: Part 1"
	The West Wing	Carl	"Manchester: Part 1"
	Philly	Nelson Vanderhoff	"Loving Sons"
2003	Andy Richter Controls the Universe	Craig	"Charity Begins in Cellblock D"
	Six Feet Under	Prison Officer	"Twilight"
	Tremors	Sheriff Sam Boggs	"Water Hazard"
	The Lyon's Den	Hank Ferris	"The Other Side of Caution"
2004–06	Monk	Sheriff Mathis	"Mr. Monk Gets Married"
	Crossing Jordan	Ranger Diggory	"Revealed"
	Deadwood	Whitney Ellsworth	36 episodes
	The Unit	Lloyd Cole	"Manhunt"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Stanley Tanner	"Fannysmackin'", "Post Mortem"
2006–Present	Supernatural	Bobby Singer	55 Episodes Recurring Guest Star: Seasons 2-7; 9- Special Guest Star: Seasons 1; 8
2007	Day Break	'Uncle' Nick Vukovic	5 episodes
	John from Cincinnati	Vietnam Joe	8 episodes
	Big Love	Carter Reese	3 episodes
	Criminal Minds	Sheriff Williams	"Identity"
2009	Harper's Island	Sheriff Charlie Mills	11 episodes
	Psych	Stinky Pete Dillingham	"High Noon-ish"
2010	Law & Order: Los Angeles	Frank Loomis	"Hollywood"
	The Mentalist	Cobb Holwell	"The Red Ponies"
	Lie to Me	Gus	"Veronica"
	Love Bites	Trucker	"Keep On Truckin'"
2011-2012	Breaking Bad	Lawson	"Thirty-Eight Snub", "Live Free or Die"
	Justified	Shelby Parlow	14 episodes
2012	Dexter	Clint McKay	"The Dark...Whatever"
2013	The Middle	Mr. Stokes	Episode: Dollar Days
	Mike & Molly	Dwight	Episodes: "School Recital" and "Windy City"
	Longmire	Lee Roskey	Natural Order
	Revolution	John Fry	One Riot, One Ranger

Literary works

Books

• John Garfield: His Life and Films (1978)
• Movie Blockbusters (with Steven Scheuer) (1982, revised edition 1983)
• Life's That Way: A Memoir (2009)

Fiction

• The Afternoon Blood Show, Alfred Hitchock's Mystery Magazine, April 29, 1981

Plays

• The Cop and the Anthem (adapted from the short story by O. Henry) (1973)
• Once Upon a Single Bound (1974)
• As You Like It, or Anything You Want To, Also Known as Rotterdam and Parmesan Are Dead (1975)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (adapted from the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark) (1978)
• Spades (1979)
• Sidekick (1981)
• Semper Fi (1984)
• Verdigris (1985)
• Truth, Justice, and the Texican Way (1986)
• Pressing Engagements (1990)
• Mockingbird (2003)
• Night Riders (2006)
• The American Way (2011)
• Whigs, Pigs, and Greyhounds (2011)
• Lettering (2013)

Magazine articles

• "John Wayne", Films in Review, May 1977
• "George Raft", Films in Review, April 1978
• "John Carradine", Films in Review, October 1979
• "James Stewart", Films in Review, October 1980
• "Steve McQueen", Films in Review, August–September 1981
• "Frank Perry", Films in Review, November 1981
• "Strother Martin", Films in Review, November 1982
• "Ad Glib" (regular column). Films in Review, November 1981 – December 1983

External links

• Jim Beaver at IMDb
• Jim Beaver at AllMovie
• Bio at HBO.com
• Jim Beaver at Memory Alpha
• Life's That Way
• Interview Jim Beaver with www.mycoven.com Jan. 2011