Actor John Beasley’s star rose in the ’90s. The Everwood actor has passed away at the age of 79.
Mourning the loss of a film and series star: Actor John Beasley died on Tuesday at the age of 79 after his health took an “unexpected turn for the worse”. In the hospital in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, a liver test is said to have been the harbinger, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The news of Beasley’s death first became known on Facebook: his son Mike said goodbye to his “best friend” and “hero” with a touching photo. Family and colleagues are now mourning the loss of Beasley, best known for his roles in Everwood and The Soul Man. “Man… You know it’s a part of life… But that doesn’t make it any easier,” his son continues. “They say you should never meet your heroes because they don’t turn out to be who you thought they were. This is so wrong. My hero was my father.”
“I knew these things were coming”
Before Beasley’s film career took off, the actor was at home in the theater. His passion for this profession crystallized very early on, as he once said in an interview with American Theater: “I knew these things were coming when I was in college,” he recalled of the beginning . “I dropped out of college because I felt like I didn’t really need a college degree to pursue what I wanted to do in life. Bottom line, I just worked.”
His breakthrough in Hollywood came with a role in the Oprah Winfrey series “Brewster Place” (1990), followed by well-known productions such as “Mighty Ducks – Das Superteam” (1992), “Mad in Alabama” (1997) and ” Defenseless – The General’s Daughter” (1999). However, the actor should be known to most for his role in the television series “Everwood” (2002-2006). In it he played Irv Harper, the husband of Debra Mooney’s character Edna Harper, for several years. In 2012, he starred opposite Cedric the Entertainer as Barton Ballentine in the series The Soul Man.
“Being a working artist is my highest calling and I appreciate where it takes me,” he told American Theater. He looked back on his professional career with satisfaction: “If I had never gotten to Broadway, I still feel like I’ve had a pretty successful career.” He impersonated his last TV role last year in the science fiction drama Thriller “Firestarter”. As recently as October 2022, Beasley appeared on stage in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater musical adaptation of The Notebook. The American is survived by his wife Judy Beasley, two sons and six grandchildren.
