Beery appeared in 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. For his contributions to the film industry, Beery was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Beery played a variety of roles, including cowboys, sailors, soldiers, European nobles, Native American warriors, hustlers and criminals. He appeared in melodramas, westerns, dramas, historical films, musicals and many comedies. His frequent film persona in later years was that of the uncouth, loud scoundrel with the heart of gold.
In his personal life, Beery was married three times and had one adopted child. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr. Many of Beery's co-workers in the film industry described Beery as being antagonistic and perennially unprepared for scenes. Beery died of a heart attack in 1949.
Early life
Wallace Beery was born on April 1, 1885, in Clay County, Missouri, to Noah Webster Beery and Frances Margaret "Marguerite" Fitzgerald. He was the youngest of three boys. His brothers included Noah Beery and William Beery, both of whom had careers as film actors. The Beery family moved from Clay County in the 1890s to Kansas City, Missouri, where his father Noah worked as a police officer.
Beery attended the Chase School in Kansas City and took piano lessons as well. He showed no interest in school. He ran away from home as a young boy, then returned home after a short while. After coming home, Berry dropped out of school and started working in the Kansas City train yards as an engine wiper. Beery ran away from home a second time in 1902 at age 16. He joined the Ringling Brothers Circus, working as an assistant elephant trainer. Beery left the circus in 1904 after being clawed by a leopard.
Career
Early career in New York
After leaving the circus, Beery moved to New York City to join his brother, who was working there in vaudeville shows. Wallace Beery soon found work in comic opera as a baritone singer He appeared in productions on Broadway and in summer stock theatre. One of his first theater credits was the musical comedy The Belle of the West in 1905, which ran for only eight performances at the Grand Opera House.
In 1907, Berry was cast as the understudy for Raymond Hitchcock, who was playing a war correspondent in the musical comedy The Yankee Tourist at the Astor Theater. However, Hitchcock disappeared one day after being indicted in Manhattan for sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl. In full dress, Beery waited at the stage door for Hitchcock to arrive, then finally entered the play. It was supposed to close after a couple of weeks, but Hitchcock finally showed up. Beery later played the role with the road company.
In 1915, Beery started appearing in comedy feature films. He played "Popova" a tutor, in the Essanay film The Slim Princess (1915), with Francis X. Bushman. Beery also appeared with Swanson in the comedy The Broken Pledge (1915). This was Beery's final film with Essanay, which was bought out that year.
In 1919, Beery transitioned into a series of roles as movie villain in dramas and action films. By 1923, the New York Times was calling Beery the most popular villain in Hollywood among the studios.
The Mollycoddle, an action film for United Artists (UA) with Douglas Fairbanks, directed by Victor Fleming. A film highlight was a fight between Fairbanks and Beery as they tumbled down a steep mountainside.
By 1922, Beery was able to find a more diverse selection of supporting roles. He played "King Richard I" in the UA film historical drama Robin Hood (1922), starring Fairbanks as Robin Hood.
Beery had an important unbilled cameo for Goldwyn Pictures as "the Ape-Man" in the horror film A Blind Bargain (1922) starring Lon Chaney. Some of the film posters show Beery crouching in ape-man make-up in the background.
For the first time, Beery was cast as a leading man in the action-melodrama, Stormswept (1923) for FBO Pictures Corp with Virginia Brown Faire and his brother Noah.. The tagline on the movie's posters was "Wallace and Noah Beery – The Two Greatest Character Actors on the American Screen."
Beery played a supporting role for First National Pictures as the aristocratic Duc de Tours, in the historical drama, Ashes of Vengeance (1923). The New York Times film critic described Beery's character.
"Wallace Beery portrays the Duc de Tours, a cowardly brute. The coward has the legs of a hero and the head of a villain."
Beery was cast as supporting actor as a opium trafficker in the drama Drifting (1923), directed by Browning for Universal. Beery had the lead role as a violent Russian revolutionary in the drama Bavu (1923), released by Universal. He co-starred with Buster Keaton in the comedy Three Ages (1923) for Metro.
Beery played a supporting role as the villain in the Metro drama The Eternal Struggle (1923), a Mountie drama produced by Louis B. Mayer. Over the coming years, Mayer would be instrumental in the progress of Beery's career. He was reunited with Dean and Browning in the crime film White Tiger (1923)
Beery had the title role in the baseball movie Casey at the Bat (1927). While at bat during one day of shooting, he was knocked unconscious by a pitch. However, Beery returned to work the next day. He was reunited with Hatton in Fireman, Save My Child (1927) and Now We're in the Air (1927). The latter also featured Louise Brooks, who was Beery's costar in Beggars of Life (1928), directed by William Wellman, which was Paramount's first part-talkie movie.
He made a fourth comedy with Hatton, Wife Savers (1929), then Beery starred in Chinatown Nights (1929) for Wellman, produced by a young David O. Selznick. This film was shot silent with the voices dubbed in by the actors afterward, which worked spectacularly well with Beery's resonant voice, although the technique was not used again during the silent era for another full-length feature. Beery then played in Stairs of Sand (1929), a Western also starring Jean Arthur. That same year, with talkie films dominating, Paramount fired Beery as part of its purge of silent film stars.
During the stock market crash of 1929, Beery reportedly lost $165,000 due to the failure of three banks that he used. That same year, a plane he owned crashed, killing his mechanic and two passengers.
The picture that established Beery as one of the foremost film stars in the United States was the comedy Min and Bill (1930) with Marie Dressler. Directed by George W. Hill, the film was a sensational success. Beery made a third film with Hill, The Secret Six (1931), a gangster film with Jean Harlow and a young Clark Gable in key supporting roles.
One of Beery's most significant films was The Champ, which Beery made with child actor Jackie Cooper for director King Vidor. The film, especially written for Beery, was a box-office sensation. Beery shared the Best ActorOscar for The Champ with Fredric March. Though March received one vote more than Beery, Academy rules at the time defined results within one vote of each other as "ties." One story was that MGM head Louis B. Mayer storming backstage at the Oscars ceremony, demanding that March and Beery share the award since the vote was so close. Beery was reportedly jealous of the attention that Cooper gained in The Champ. Beery amended his contract with MGM to prohibit close-up shots for child actors in any of his future films.
Beery's career went from strength to strength. Hell Divers (1932), a naval airplane epic with Gable billed under Beery, was a big hit. Another hit was the all-star drama Grand Hotel (1932), in which Beery was billed fourth, under Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, and Joan Crawford. This was one of the very few times he would not be top billed for the rest of his career. In 1932, Beery's contract with MGM stipulated that he be paid a dollar more than any other contract player at the studio, making him the world's highest-paid actor.
Beery played a German wrestler in Flesh (1932), a hit directed by John Ford. Next Beery was in another all-star ensemble blockbuster, Dinner at Eight (1933), with Jean Harlow as Beery's comically bickering wife. This time, Beery was billed third, under Marie Dressler and Barrymore.
Back at MGM, he played the title role of "Pancho Villa" in Viva Villa! (1933) and was reunited with Dressler in Tugboat Annie (1933), a massive hit. He played"Long John Silver" in Treasure Island (1934). The film was shot on Santa Catalina Island; Beery flew his own plane there every day from the mainland for his scenes. Treasure Island became MGM's third-largest hit of the season, and remains currently viewed as featuring one of Beery's iconic performances.
Beery returned to 20th Century Productions for The Mighty Barnum (1934), reprising his role as "P. T. Barnum". Back at MGM, he portrayed a kindly sergeant in West Point of the Air (1935) and was in an all-star spectacular, China Seas (1935), this time billed beneath Clark Gable. O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935) reunited Beery and Jackie Cooper. Beery had the lead as the drunken uncle in MGM's adaptation of Ah, Wilderness! (1936), an adaptation of the Eugene O'Neil play. Berry went back to 20th Century – now 20th Century Fox – for the spy film A Message to Garcia (1936) with Barbara Stanwyck.
At MGM, he was in Old Hutch (1936) and The Good Old Soak (1937), then he was back at Fox for Slave Ship (1937), taking second billing under Warner Baxter. One scene in the filming of Slave Ship called for Beery to slap his ten-year-old co-star Mickey Rooney. Instead of faking the slap, Beery hit Rooney so hard that he fell to the floor, outraging the film crew. Director Tay Garnett privately advised Beery that if something like this incident happened again, he might find a stage light falling on his head.
Beery was cast in The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937) with Dennis O'Keefe and Noah Beery in a cameo role as a bartender. While filming it, Beery accidentally shot a blank cartridge into his knee with a prop gun, causing a bloody wound. He later remarked that riding the ambulance to the hospital was scarier than being shot.
Final films
Beery in The Bad Man (1941)Beery in 20 Mule Team (1940)
Beery in 1945 appeared in his last war film This Man's Navy as "Chief Aviation Pilot Ned Trumpet".Beery's next film, Bad Bascomb (1946), was a huge hit, helped primarily by the casting of Margaret O'Brien, then a child actor. Beery played "Roy "Slag" McGurk", a bar bouncer, in The Mighty McGurk (1947) with Dean Stockwell, also a child star. Alias a Gentleman (1947) was a romantic comedy in which Beery portrayed a former convict. It was the first of Beery's films to lose money over the past two decades. Beery received top billing for the hit A Date with Judy (1949), a popular musical featuring 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor.
Beery's last film was the western Big Jack (1949), in which he played "Big Jack Horner". It also lost money. Beery died three days after the film's premiere.
According to Louis Meyer biographer, Scott Eyman, Beery was not a popular man. Many of his colleagues at MGM considered him misanthropic and difficult to work with. The actor Robert Young described Beery as a "shitty person". Beery often neglected to learn his lines. While filming, he tried to steal other actor's lines, then get defensive when he was caught. When prompting for another actor's close-up, Beery would read the wrong lines, making it harder for his co-stars to meet their marks. Beery was "loathed by everybody, and happily oblivious."
Swanson reportedly said that Beery had been invited to every fashionable home in Beverly Hills - once!
Mickey Rooney was one of Beery's few MGM co-star to praise him. In his memoir, Rooney described Beery as
"... a lovable, shambling kind of guy who never seemed to know that his shirttail belonged inside his pants, but always knew when a little kid actor needed a smile and a wink or a word of encouragement."
Rooney did concede that "not everyone loved [Beery] as much as I did." Rooney noted that Howard Strickling, MGM's head of publicity, once went to Louis B. Mayer to complain that Beery was stealing props from the studio's sets. "And that wasn't all", Rooney continued.
"He [Strickling] went on for some minutes about the trouble that Beery was always causing him ... Mayer sighed and said, 'Yes, Howard, Beery's a son of a bitch. But he's our son of a bitch.' Strickling got the point. A family has to be tolerant of its black sheep, particularly if they brought a lot of money into the family fold, which Beery certainly did."
Jackie Cooper, who made several films with Beery as a child actor, called him "a big disappointment." Cooper accused Beery of upstaging him and making other attempts to undermine his performances, presumably out of jealousy. After filming one heartfelt scene, Cooper impulsively threw his arms around Beery after one especially heartfelt scene. Beery reacted by gruffly pushing him away.After Beery's death, Cooper reportedly said, "They couldn't find eight guys to carry his casket."
Margaret O'Brien, who co-starred with Beery at age nine in Bad Bascomb (1946), stated that she got along with him. However, she claimed that crew members had to stop Beery from constantly pinching her.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Gloria Swanson (1922)
First marriage
On March 27, 1916, at age 30, Beery married 17-year-old actress Gloria Swanson in Los Angeles. The two had co-starred in Sweedie Goes to College. According to Swanson's autobiography, Beery raped her on their wedding night. Although Beery had enjoyed popularity with his Sweedie shorts, he was forced during this time to rely on Swanson as the main breadwinner. After learning she was pregnant, Beery allegedly tricked her into swallowing an abortifacient, causing her to abort the fetus. Swanson filed for divorce in 1917 and it was finalized in 1918.
Second marriage and adoption
On August 4, 1924, Beery married actress Rita Gilman (née Mary Areta Gilman; 1898–1986) in Los Angeles. The couple adopted Carol Ann Priester (1930–2013), the daughter of Rita's aunt, Juanita Priester. After 14 years of marriage to Beery, Gilman filed for divorce in May 1939, in Carson City, Nevada. Within 20 minutes of filing for divorce, she won the decree. Gilman remarried 15 days later.
Second adoption
According to Time Magazine, Beery in 1939 adopted a seven-month-old girl, Phyllis Ann Beery. Phyllis appeared in MGM publicity photos when adopted, but was never mentioned again. Beery told the press he had assumed care of the girl in from a single mother who was recently divorced, but he had filed no official adoption papers.
Lawsuits
Schumm paternity suit
On February 13, 1948, actress Gloria Schumm filed a paternity suit against Beery. Beery had known Schumm for about 15 years; she had played minor roles in six of his films. In the lawsuit, Schumm said that she and Beery had sexual relations on one occasion in May 1947. At the time, Beery was still married to Rita Gilman,. After learning she was pregnant, Schumm met with Beery at his home. He gave her contact information of a physician to examine her. She asked Beery to marry her to "legitimatize the expected child" (her words), but he refused. In August 1947, in an oral agreement Beery agreed to provide at least $25,000 for the child after he was born.
Schumm gave birth in February 1948, to Johan Richard Wallace Schumm However, Beery's lawyer only offered Gloria Schumm a $6,000 financial settlement. Schumm refused the settlement and went to court. The paternity suit was heard in court after Beery's 1949 death. Schumm's attorneys demanded $104,135 from Beery's $2,220,000 estate. In February 1952, Judge Newcomb Condee approved a $26,750 financial settlement for Schumm.
Whitney lawsuit
In 1941, Beery was sued for $600,000 for false arrest by 28-year-old Allan Whitney. When the plaintiff was 15, Beery brought him to live in his home as a possible adoption. However, Beery later ordered Whitney to leave the premises. Whitney claimed that Beery in 1941 falsely called the police to have him arrested. However, Noah Berry testified that he called the police because Whitney was loitering around the Wallace home. The case was ultimately dismissed.
Montanya lawsuit
In 1927, 19-year-old film actress Juanita Montanya sued Beery for $1 million. She claimed that he had raped her while she was staying with Beery and his wife Rita. Montanya also claimed that he was the father of her child. Beery denied the charges.
Ted Healy altercation
Ted Healy (1937)
In December 1937, comedic actor and Three Stooges founder Ted Healy was involved in a drunken altercation at Cafe Trocadero on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. E. J. Fleming, in his 2005 book, The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine, asserts that Healy was attacked by three men: future James Bond producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, local mob figure Pat DiCicco and Beery. Fleming claims that this beating caused Healy's death several days later.
Contemporaneous news reports do not confirm that either Beery or DiCicco was present that night at the Trocadero. Broccoli did admit that he and Healy got into in a fistfight. The official autopsy names Healy's cause of death as acute toxic nephritis secondary to acute and chronic alcoholism.
Hobbies
Beery owned and flew his own planes, including a Howard DGA-11. On April 15, 1933, he was commissioned a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy Reserve at NRAB Long Beach. One of his proudest achievements was catching the largest giant black sea bass in the world — 515 pounds (234kg) — off Santa Catalina Island in 1916, a record that stood for 35 years.
During the filming of Old Ironsides off the California coast in 1926, Beery purchased a 40 feet (12m) yacht to sail to the shooting location every day. On one occasion he was in a rowboat that capsized in rough seas. Beery climbed onto the hull and waiting for rescue. When another boat appeared and the occupants asked if he had capsized, Beery replied, "Naw, the boat was a little dirty and I'm washing it."
Politics and activism
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating Jackson Hole National Monument to protect the land adjoining the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. Local ranchers, outraged at the loss of grazing lands, compared Roosevelt's action to Adolf Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938. Led by an aging Beery, the ranchers protested by herding 500 cattle across the monument lands without a permit.
Beery gravesite, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Beery suffered a heart attack in November 1948 and was admitted to California Lutheran Hospital in Los Angeles. He told reporters that he first noticed heart problems six months earlier when he was trying to crank a cold motor at his cabin in Wyoming.
On April 15, 1949, Beery dined alone at Romanoff's, a popular restaurant in Beverly Hills for the movie industry. After returning home, he was reading the paper when he collapsed around 10:00 pm. A doctor was called to the house; he pronounced Beery deceased due to cardiac arrest. The funeral service was held at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Over 2,000 people attended the service and Louis B. Mayer was one of his pallbearers.
Beery body was interred at Forest Lawn. The inscription on his grave reads, "No man is indispensable, but some are irreplaceable."When Joe Yule, the actor father of Mickey Rooney, died a few months later, Rooney had him buried next to Beery, his old friend. "I thought it was fitting that these two comedians should rest in peace, side by side," Rooney wrote.
Beery is mentioned in an episode of the TV comedy The Golden Girls (1985 to 1992). Estelle Getty, playing "Sofia",compares Beery with Adolphe Menjou, a film star of the same era.
Beery is mentioned in the comedy film Barton Fink (1991). The lead character is hired to write a wrestling screenplay starring Beery. It is called "a Wallace Beery wrestling picture".
In the HBO dramatic series The Sopranos (1999 to 2007), episode "House Arrest" (S2 EP11), mobster Richie Aprile makes a disparaging comment about mob boss Tony Soprano to his uncle, Junior Soprano. Aprile says "You should see him [Tony] in the golf outfit, he looked like Wallace Beery".
In the HBO dramatic series Boardwalk Empire (2010 to 2014) season 5, episode 4 ("Cuanto"), New York mobster Lucky Luciano mocks Chicago gangster Al Capone, calling him the "Italian Wallace Beery". The insult triggers a fit of violent rage in Capone.
The film Hail, Caesar! (2016) features a mockingly named "Wallace Beery Conference Room" in a Hollywood studio.
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