Vincent Beck (August 15, 1924 – July 24, 1984) was an American character actor who began his career as on stage. He was also a prolific film and television actor who acted in films such as ''

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' is a 1964 American Christmas science fiction comedy film. It was directed by Nicholas Webster, produced and written by Paul L. Jacobson, and based on a story by Glenville Mareth. John Call stars as Santa C ...

'' (1964), '' The Spy in the Green Hat '' (1967), '' The Scorpio Letters'' (1967), '' The Pink Jungle'' (1968), '' The Bamboo Saucer'' (1968) and ''

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

'' (1983). He also appeared in numerous television shows including ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

'', ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'', ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

'', '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science-fiction television series written around a theme of time travel adventure; it starred James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction televisi ...

'', and ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...

''.

Background

A prolific actor, he became recognized for his roles in on film early in his career. A portion of the television roles in his career consisted of villains, aliens and other interesting characters. From 1982, he was third vice president of

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

. He was also president of the New York branch of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, having held that position since 1983.

Stage

In 1946, he appeared on Broadway in ''A Flag Is Born on Broadway'' which marked his stage debut. Other stage roles included ''The World of Sholom Aleichem'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''Oliver'', ''Irma la Douce'', ''Gypsy'' and ''Bells Are Ringing''. In 1950, Beck was appearing as The Young Covey in the Sean O'Casey play, ''

The Plough and the Stars ''The Plough and the Stars'' is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Sta ...

'' which had been playing at the Hudson Guild Theater since Jan 30th. Along with Sy Travers and Osna Palmer, Beck was noted by '' The Billboard'' reviewer Dennis McDonald for his fine performance. In April, he appeared in James Barrie's ''Peter Pan'' which had been playing at the Imperial Theater in New York since the 24th of that month. Beck was playing the part of Whibbles. In April 1951, he was playing the part of Teddy in the

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize–winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withd ...

comedy, ''Night Music'', which had been playing at the ANTA Playhouse.

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

was also in the play. In 1955, he appeared in the musical, ''Almost Crazy'', which played at the Longacre Theater from June 20, 1955 to July 2. In early 1965, Beck was playing the part of the evil Bill Sikes in the stage production ''Oliver''. The reviewer in ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' said he was "properly menacing as the all-time bad guy Sikes".

Film and television career

1960s

Becks earliest film role was that of the evil Martian leader Voldar in the 1964 film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' which was directed by Nicholas Webster. In 1965 he appeared on ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' (S2/EP9 - as Russian cosmonaut Igor), in the ''Anybody Got a Zebra?'' episode of ''

Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...

'' as Krona. He played the part of Benjamin Luger in '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' film '' The Spy in the Green Hat'' which was released in 1967. He played the part of Zagorsky in the Frank Telford directed sci-fi film '' The Bamboo Saucer'' which was released in 1968.

1970s to 1980s

Beck appeared as Kevin Archer in an episode of ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...

'' in which Joe Mannix is targeted by a crime boss who thinks he knows too much about a missing corpse. The episode aired on January 30, 1971. Later that year Beck appeared in another episode of ''Mannix'' as Frankie West in ''Catspaw''. The following year, he was in '' Mission Impossible'' as Bolt in the ''Double Dead'' episode which aired on 12 February 1972. The following year he was in '' The Magician'', a series that starred

Bill Bixby Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American actor and television director. His career spanned more than three decades, including appearances on stage, in films, and on television series. He is known ...

. The episode he appeared in was ''The Manhunters'' in which played the part of Stanley Owens. It aired on October 2, 1973. He appeared in ''The F.B.I.'' in the ''Deadly Ambition'' episode which aired in 1974 and another episode of ''Mannix'', ''Hardball'' which aired the following year in 1975. He played the part of Trilling in the

Michael Winner Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

directed 1979 film, ''

Firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. It involves the whole range of potential weapons. The concept is generally taught as one of the three key principles of modern warfare wherein the enemy forces are destroyed or ...

'' which starred

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

and

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

. His last acting role was that of the corrupt Judge Sinclair in the

William Lustig William "Bill" Lustig (born February 1, 1955, in The Bronx, New York) is an American film director and producer who has worked primarily in the horror film genre. He is the nephew of former middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. Film career As ...

directed

, a film about an average man who becomes a vigilante after his wife and young son are murdered by a street gang. It also starred

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former American football player, a defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a ...

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

Joe Spinell Joe Spinell (born Joseph Spagnuolo; October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in films in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as various stage productions on and off Broadway. He played supporting roles in film ...

and

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete, actor, and author. He was a decathlon, decathlete and American football, football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National ...

. It was released in 1983. Judge Sinclair obviously got a share in the bribe-money which lawyer Einsberg (played by Joe Spinell) received from the gang and the killers basically walk free. Lustig later recalled that, as a representative of

, Beck «made his life miserable» on set by checking him up for rules and regulations and that Lustig used to «curse his name every day».

Death

Beck died at age 59 of cancer at his Manhattan home in July 1984.

Filmography

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Vincent Beck, Filmography
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References

External links

Imdb: Vincet Beck

Ibdb: Vincent Beck

Broadway World: Vincent Beck

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Vincent 1924 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors Deaths from cancer in New York (state)