Hugh Beaumont (actor)

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Hugh Beamount

Birth name	Eugene Hugh Beaumont
Born	February 16, 1909 Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Died	May 14, 1982 (aged 73) Munich, Germany
Notable roles	Ward Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver

Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 — May 14, 1982) was an American actor, television director, and Methodist minister. He is best known for his portrayal of the character Ward Cleaver on the popular TV series Leave It to Beaver from 1957 to 1963. He was also an ordained Methodist Church minister.

Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont.^[1] After graduating from high school he attended the University of Chattanooga where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California, and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. He married Kathryn Adams in 1942 and they had three children.

Beaumont began his career in show business by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and on the radio in 1931. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, and had appeared in over three dozen films (many roles not credited) before taking his best-known role as philosophy-dispensing suburban dad Ward Cleaver on the popular sitcom television series Leave It to Beaver.

A precursor to his role as the kindly father figure came in Adventures of Superman. In a 1953 episode called The Big Squeeze, he played an ex-convict with a wife and son whose trust he must win back after an apparent return to his criminal past.

Not only did Beaumont act in Leave It to Beaver, but he also wrote and directed several episodes. His portrayal as head of the Cleaver household ranked #28 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" in the June 20, 2004 issue.

After Leave It to Beaver went off the air in the fall of 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and did a few guest roles on TV shows such as Mannix, The Virginian, Wagon Train and Petticoat Junction.

Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer. He was forced to slow down after suffering a stroke in 1972. A decade later, on May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychology professor, in Munich, Germany. He was 73.

1 Filmography
- 1.1 Motion pictures
2 Footnotes
3 External links

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Motion pictures

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1965	The Human Duplicators	Austin Welles
1957	Night Passage	Jeff Kurth
1956	The Mole People	Dr. Jud Bellamin
1955	Hell's Horizon	Al Trask
1955	Indian American	actor
1953	The Member of the Wedding	Minister
1953	The Mississippi Gambler	Kennerly
1952	Night Without Sleep	John Harkness
	Washington Story	Chaplain
	Wild Stallion	Capt. Wilmurt
	Bugles in the Afternoon	Lt. Cooke
	Phone Call from a Stranger	Dr. Tim Brooks
1951	Overland Telegraph	Brad Roberts
	Callaway Went Thataway	Mr. Adkins, Attorney
	Lost Continent	Robert Phillips
	Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell	Policeman
	The Last Outpost	Lt. Fenton
	Pier 23	Dennis O'Brien
	Roaring City	Denny O'Brien
	Go for Broke!	Chaplain
	Home Town Story	man at airport
	Danger Zone	Dennis O'Brien
	Target Unknown	Colonel
	The Flying Missile	Major Wilson
1950	Second Chance	Dr. Emory
1949	Tokyo Joe	Major
1948	The Counterfeiters	Phillip Drake
	Money Madness	Steve Clark (previously known as Freddie Howard
	Reaching from Heaven	Bill Starling
1947	Bury Me Dead	Michael Dunn
	Railroaded!	Mickey Ferguson
	Too Many Winners	Michael Shayne
	Three on a Ticket	Michael Shayne
	The Guilt of Janet Ames	Frank Merino
1946	Blonde for a Day	Michael Shayne
	Larceny in Her Heart	Michael Shayne
	Johnny Comes Flying Home	engineer
	The Blue Dahlia	George Copeland
	Murder is My Business	Michael Shayne
1945	Apology for Murder	Kenny Blake
	You Came Along	Chaplain
	Blonde from Brooklyn	discharging Lieutenant	not credited
	The Lady Confesses	Larry Craig
	Counter-Attack	Russian Lieutenant
	Blood on the Sun	Johnny Clarke	not credited
	Objective, Burma!	Capt. Hennessey	not credited
	I'm a Civilian Here Myself	Interviewer
1944	Strange Affair	Carey
	The Seventh Cross	truck driver
	Mr. Winkle Goes to War	Ranger Officer
	The Story of Dr. Wassell	aide to Admiral Hart in Surabaya
	They Live in Fear	the instructor
	The Racket Man	"Irish" Duffy
	Practically Yours	Cutter
	I Love a Soldier	John
1943	There's Something About a Soldier	Lt. Martin
	Salute to the Marines	Sergeant
	The Seventh Victim	Gregory Ward
	Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event	George Sharpe
	Good Luck, Mr. Yates	Adjutant
	Bombardier	Soldier
	He Hired the Boss	Jordan
	Flight for Freedom	Flight Instructor
	Du Barry Was a Lady	Footman
	The Fallen Sparrow	Otto Skaas
	Northwest Rangers	the Mountie who finds Fowler's body
1942	Flight Lieutenant	John McGinnis
	Unseen Enemy	Narrator
	The Wife Takes a Flyer	Officer
	To the Shores of Tripoli	Orderly
	Canal Zone	Radio Operator
	Young America	G-Man
	Right to the Heart	Willie Donovan
	Wake Island	Captain, Junior Officer
1941	Week-End in Havana	Officer
	Unfinished Business	Groom
	Private Nurse	McDonald
	The Cowboy and the Blonde	Sound Man
	South of Panama	Paul Martin
1940	The Secret Seven	Southern Racketeer
1940	Phantom Raiders	Seaman