John Beasley, Veteran Character Actor In Diverse Films Such As 'The Purge: Anarchy', 'Walking Tall', And 'Rudy', Dead At 79
Image Source: TV Fanatic
John Beasley, an actor known for his roles as the bus driver in Everwood and the assistant coach in Rudy passed away from an unexpected illness last week at the age of 79. Beasley was born on June 26, 1943, in Omaha, Nebraska. Despite his fame as an actor, Beasley spent much of his life in the working class. He started as a railroad man working for Union Pacific before the acting bug hit him in the 1980s.
Beasley commented in an interview last year that being a working artist was a high calling. The actor’s late arrival to show business didn’t prevent him from playing a variety of roles in films and television spanning every genre. Beasly played roles in the movies V.I. Warshawski, The Mighty Ducks, Rudy, The Purge: Anarchy, Walking Tall, Untamed Heart, and Little Big League and the TV shows Brewster Place, Lucky Day, and Laurel Avenue. He also appeared in the pilot of The Mandalorian.
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Beasley is survived by his wife of 58 years Judy, his two sons Micheal and Tyrone, and six grandchildren including Los Angeles Laker Malik Beasley. His son Michael shared a touching tribute on social media,
“Man…you know this is a part of life…but that doesn’t make it any easier. I lost my best friend today. They say you shouldn’t ever meet your heroes because they don’t turn out to be who you thought they were. That is so wrong. My hero was my father. Thank you for everything. I hope I made you proud. Love you more.”
As fans come together to mourn the loss and celebrate the actor’s life, the Star Wars Holocron Twitter chose to honor the man with a farewell tweet.
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