Wallace Beery was an Academy Award winning American actor best known for his role in ‘The Champ.’ This biography of Wallace Beery provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.
Wallace Beery
@Actors, Timeline and Life
Apr 1, 1885
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: April 1, 1885
- Died on: April 15, 1949
- Nationality: American
- Famous: Film & Theater Personalities, Actors
- Spouses: Gloria Swanson
- Siblings: Noah Beery Sr., William C. Beery
- Known as: Wallace Fitzgerald Beery, Mr. Wallace Beery, Wally
Wallace Beery born at
Clay County
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Birth Place
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.
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Personal Life
His second marriage to Rita Gilman in 1924 also ended in divorce. Over the course of this marriage the couple adopted a girl.
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Personal Life
As a single father, he adopted a baby girl in 1939.
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Personal Life
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.
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Childhood & Early Life
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.
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Childhood & Early Life
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.
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Childhood & Early Life
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.
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Career
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.
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Career
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).
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Career
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.
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Career
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.
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Career
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.
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Major Works
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.
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Major Works