Ned Beatty ✝

These nominations stemmed from his performances in films and television series, such as Network (1976), Friendly Fire (1979), Hear My Song (1991), and Toy Story 3 (2010). He has had great commercial success in roles such as the executive Bobby Trippe in Deliverance (1972), Tennessee lawyer Delbert Reese in Nashville (1975), investigator Martin Dardis in All the President\'s Men (1976), undercover federal agent Bob Sweet in Silver Streak (1976), the priest, Father Edwards in Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), Lex Luthor\'s bumbling henchman Otis in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), as a millionaire\'s right-hand man in The Toy (1982), Pavel Borisov in The Fourth Protocol (1987), TV presenter Ernest Weller in Repossessed (1990), Rudy Ruettiger\'s father in Rudy (1993), attorney McNair in Just Cause (1995), Dexter Wilkins in Life (1999), the simple sheriff in Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), the corrupt Senator Charles F. Meachum in Shooter (2007), United States Congressman Doc Long in Charlie Wilson\'s War (2007) and in animated films as the voice of Lots-O\'-Huggin\' Bear in Toy Story 3 (2010), Tortoise John in Rango (2011).\n', ' Beatty was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Margaret (née Fortney; April 26, 1907 – January 29, 1991) and Charles William Beatty (August 8, 1907 – October 27, 1952). He has a sister, Mary Margaret. In 1947, young Ned began singing in gospel and barbershop quartets in St. Matthews, Kentucky, and at his local church. He received a scholarship to sing in the a cappella choir at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky; he attended but did not graduate.\n', ' In 1956, he made his stage debut at age 19, appearing in Wilderness Road, an outdoor-historical pageant located in Berea, Kentucky. During his first ten years of theater, he worked at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, the State Theatre of Virginia. Returning to Kentucky, he worked in the Louisville area through the mid-1960s, at the Clarksville Little Theater (Indiana) and the newly founded Actors Theater of Louisville. His time at the latter included a run as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1966.\n', '