Wallace Beery

Wallace Beery was known to be an ill-tempered and difficult man in real-life as opposed to the lovable characters he played on-screen. He married Gloria Swanson in 1916. She later claimed that he raped her on the wedding night and made her swallow an abortifacient when she became pregnant. The marriage ended in 1919.

His second marriage to Rita Gilman in 1924 also ended in divorce. Over the course of this marriage the couple adopted a girl.

As a single father, he adopted a baby girl in 1939.

Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was born on April 1, 1885, in Clay County, Missouri, U.S. to Noah Webster Beery and Frances Margaret Fitzgerald. He had two elder brothers. His father was a police officer.

He attended the Chase School in Kansas City. Interested in music, he took piano lessons as well. From a young age he displayed no inclination towards academics and dreamed of a life in show business.

He ran away from home at the age of 16 and started working as an assistant elephant trainer in the Ringling Brothers Circus. He worked there for two years but left after he was clawed by a leopard.

Blessed with a pleasant voice, Wallace Beery moved to New York City in 1904 to pursue a singing career. He found work in comic opera as a baritone and began to appear on Broadway as well. One of his early roles was in ‘The Yankee Tourist’ in 1907.

He eventually moved to Chicago to work for Essanay Studios in 1913. He was cast as Sweedie, the Swedish Maid, a masculine character in drag, which became one of his notable early roles.

His career flourished during the 1920s. He appeared in several silent films like ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ (1920), ‘Old Ironsides’ (1926), ‘Now We're in the Air’ (1927), and ‘Beggars of Life’ (1928).

In 1930, he was offered the role of Butch, a violent career criminal, in the movie ‘The Big House’ which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and launched his career to newer heights.

Wallace Beery became one of Hollywood's Top 10 box office stars in the 1930s, primarily due to his role as Andy "Champ" Purcell, a washed-up alcoholic boxer, in the film ‘The Champ.’ His performance won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Wallace Beery played the role of Andy "Champ" Purcell, an alcoholic former world heavyweight champion in the drama ‘The Champ.’ The film was a critical as well as commercial success which catapulted Beery to the status of one of the top stars in Hollywood.

His portrayal of Long John Silver, a cunning and opportunistic pirate in the film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel ‘Treasure Island’ is another one of his memorable roles.