“I’ve been in movies with Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson – but I was on ‘The Simpsons,’ and finally, in the eyes of my children, I was a star.” – Ed Begley Jr.
Ed Begley Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California, to Allene Jeanne Sanders and Oscar-winning film actor Ed Begley. At the time of Begley’s birth, Begley Sr. was married to Amanda Huff. Huff died when Begley was 7 years old. He believed she was his biological mother until he was 16. Later, he met Allene Sanders.
The Begley family lived at 14936 Valerio Street when the 1950 census was completed. Edward Sr. was listed as a character actor. He was 49. His wife Amanda was 53, his daughter Allene was 1, and Ed Jr. was 8 months old.
There was one Irish immigrant on the page, a few Californians, and many people from around the United States. There were many more “not at home” than you usually see on a census.
The neighbors were carpenters, draftsmen, industrial waste inspectors, and another character actor – Thomas B. Fermer. I checked on him to see if he had success as an actor. The first thing I found was that the census had his name wrong. It’s Farmer, not Fermer. Checking IMDB, I found an actor named Tom B. Forman. Forman had the same birthdate, birthplace, death date, and death location as the information I found in Ancestry on Thomas Farmer. Forman must be his stage name.
Forman started out in silent pictures and appeared in 34 films between 1924 and 1950, mostly uncredited or unnamed parts such as Henchman or Dope Runner, mostly Westerns. He died in 1951. Back to Ed Begley Jr.
Later life
I’m going to post this link to his Wikipedia page for anyone interested in his varied and interesting entertainment career. Since I try to make these biographies short, I’d like to concentrate on his personal life and environmental activism.
He bought his first electric vehicle in 1970. “‘I bought my first electric car in 1970. Its top speed was 15 mph and it had just a 15-mile range – it was essentially a golf cart with a windshield wiper and a horn.” He owns a Prius, an all-electric Rav-4, a Tesla, and an electric bicycle. He laughed at himself as a guest on a Simpson’s Homer to the Max episode by showing himself using a nonpolluting go-kart that is powered by his “own sense of self-satisfaction” and again in the Gone Maggie Gone episode when his solar-powered car stops on the railroad tracks due to a solar eclipse. A train is approaching but that stops too because it is an Ed Begley Jr. Solar Powered Train.
His home runs on solar power, wind power, and an electricity-generating bicycle which powers the toaster. His lawn is a drought-tolerant garden composed of native California plants. He advocates public transit and took transit to the 2023 Academy Awards. He competes with Bill Nye to see who can generate the lowest carbon footprint.
He stated that he was nearly killed in 1972 when he was mugged by a street gang and stabbed multiple times.
His father died in 1970 just as Ed Jr’s career was getting started, so they never had the chance to work together.
Begley was married to Ingrid Taylor from 1976 to 1989. They had two children, a son and a daughter. He’s been married to actress Rachelle Carson since 2000. They have one daughter.
Begley was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2016.
Other happenings on September 16, 1949:
- The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a voter re-registration law aimed at suppressing the black vote. The court ruled that since the law made no mention of race or discrimination, it was legal until it could be proved that someone was discriminated against under the law.
- A Gallup Poll listed Bob Hope as America’s most popular comedian. Milton Berle finished second while Jack Benny, Red Skelton, and Fibber McGee and Molly rounded out the top five.
- Born: Chrisye, pop singer and songwriter, in Jakarta, Indonesia (d. 2007).
Tomorrow – A member of the highest court in the land
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Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 