Robert Beatty

Robert Beatty, actor (born 19 October 1909 in Hamilton, ON; died 3 March 1992 in London, England). Robert Beatty, a rugged character actor and occasional lead, studied at the University of Toronto and after graduation joined the Hamilton Players' Guild. In 1936 he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, and made his debut on the English stage. During the World War II, Beatty achieved international fame through his eyewitness radio reports of the nightly bombing of London during the Blitz for the BBC's Overseas News Service.

In 1942, he appeared in 2 critically acclaimed war propaganda films by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 49th Parallel and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, and in 1949 he was in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Among his radio characters, Beatty voiced Irish detective Philip Odell for a BBC radio drama that was broadcast from 1947 to 1961. For television he played an RCMP officer assigned to New Scotland Yard in the BBC crime drama "Dial 999" (1958-59).

Robert Beatty played Dr Rolf Halvorsen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). For TV he was in the miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977) and in "The Martian Chronicles" (1980). His one Canadian film appearance was in The Amateur (1981), and he played US president Ronald Reagan in the 1987 PBS special "Breakthrough at Reykjavik." Robert Beatty's other film credits include Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Superman III (1983), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).