Ed Begley Jr.
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Begley once served as Environmental Affairs Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles.
He drives an electric car.
Biography
Actor and activist Ed Begley, Jr. was a constant presence in films and television for an astonishing 40 years. While he is most widely recognized from his six-year run as Dr. Victor Ehrlich in beloved 80's TV drama "St. Elsewhere" (1982-1988), Begley Jr. has acted in over 200 films and television series in the past four decades, and is one of Hollywood's most prominent advocates of clean energy and environmental responsibility. In 2000, after a decade of low-key roles in short-lived television series and mainstream comedies, Begley Jr. appeared in Christopher Guest's improvisational hit "Best in Show," which breathed new life into his career. He has managed to keep quite busy ever since, playing sweetly zonked-out characters in hip comedies like "Arrested Development" (2005-2006) and "Veronica Mars"(2004-2007) while continuing to extol the virtues of a simple, ecologically sound existence. In 2007, he finally found a way to combine his careers as entertainer and advocate with "Living With Ed" (2007-), a popular reality series that starred Begley Jr, his wife, Rachelle Carson, their solar-powered house, and their frequently frazzled friends and neighbors. Amiable and always funny, Begley Jr. has deftly balanced his career and environmental concerns with such agility that the man and the cause have become one and the same.
Ed Begley Jr. was born on September 16th, 1949 in Los Angeles. The son of Academy Award winning actor Ed Begley and actress Allene Jeanne Sanders, Begley Jr spent his formative years in the sleepy town of Merrick, Long Island, before the family moved back to California in 1962. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and Los Angeles Valley College in Hollywood. Inspired by his father's storied career, Begley Jr. began his acting career while still a teen, appearing in sitcoms like "My Three Sons" (1960-1972) and "Room 222" (1969-1972). He also spent eight years performing around Los Angeles as a stand-up comedian, and served as a crew member on several B-movie productions in the early 1970's. His first substantial television role came in 1979, when he portrayed Flight Sargeant Greenbeen in sci-fi series "Battlestar Gallactica" (1978-1979). Although the show only lasted a year, it was a cult hit, and the exposure pushed Begley Jr. into the public eye. In 1982, he joined the cast of "St Elsewhere" (1982-1988), a wildly popular Boston-based hospital drama that launched the careers of several then up and coming actors, including Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, and Howie Mandel. Begley Jr portrayed conflicted doctor Victor Ehrlich for the show's entire 127 episode run. "St. Elsewhere" made Begley Jr a household name and a star, and he used his celebrity to advocate for the environment, a novel concept in the 1980's.
Begley Jr's acting career post "Elsewhere" has been a hodge-podge of one-off television appearances, voice acting, and off-kilter film appearances, usually in the role of the slightly clueless, uptight straight man. In 1990, he starred in "Parenthood" (1990), a short-lived television spin-off of the popular Steve Martin film, notable as one of future "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon's first writing projects. In 1992, he performed as the voice of super villain 'Germs' in "Batman the Animated Series" (1992-1995), and in 1995 appeared in "Batman Forever." In 2000, Begley Jr. joined the improvisational cast of Christopher Guest's "Best in Show" as a sympathetic hotel clerk. The film, and Guest's troupe of off-the-cuff actors, was a huge hit. From that point Begley's acting hit a new plateau. He began evenly dividing his time between more mainstream roles in television series like the Christian-themed "7th Heaven" (1993-2002) and "The West Wing" (1999-2006), and looser, more improvisational comedies like cult hit "Arrested Development" (2005-2006) and Guest's "Best in Show" follow-ups, "A Mighty Wind" (2003) and "For Your Consideration" (2006). At the same time, his interest in ecological concerns deepened, and he became as well known for his acting as his environmentalism, often appearing on talk shows and at political events advocating for, among other concerns, electric cars, global warming awareness, and energy conservation.
In 2007, Begley Jr. finally found the perfect vehicle to deliver his message about living an environmentally responsible life. "Living With Ed" (2007-) debuted in 2007 on the HGTV channel. A reality series that followed the day to day activities of Ed and his long-suffering wife Rachelle as they worked towards making their modest 1,500 square foot home more energy efficient, the show provided as many laughs as it did helpful hints. One memorable show found Begley Jr. timing his exasperated wife's shower with a stopwatch, to gauge how much water she wasted. "Living With Ed" also featured other like-minded celebrities on the show, including Jackson Browne, Cheryl Tiegs, Jay Leno,
Larry Hagman, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Begley Jr. often visited with regular people as well, to see how ordinary citizens discovered unique ways to conserve energy and reduce their carbon footprint. The show was a modest hit, and was renewed for a second season on the Planet Green Channel.
Although he will always be known foremost as a comedic actor, and has continued to appear in dozens of films and television shows each year, Ed Begley Jr. has made environmentalism his life's work. In 2007, he received the Thomas Alva Edison award for his tireless ecological advocacy, and he is affiliated with a host of prominent environmental organizations, including The American Oceans Campaign, which fights to clean pollution from US waters, Friends of the Earth, the world's largest grassroots environmental organization, and the League of Conservation voters, which advocates for environmental policies. In 2007, he also introduced a line of eco-friendly cleaning products, 'Begley's Best'. In 2008, aside from his advocacy work and "Living With Ed," Begley Jr. somehow found the time to become a regular on CBS sitcom "Gary Unmarried" (2008-) and make small-but-memorable appearances on everything from Fox's cult-hit "King of the Hill"(Fox, 1997- 2008) to smash stoner-comedy "Pineapple Express." Through it all, he has remained remarkably humble and down-to-Earth. The ultimate green celebrity, Ed Begley Jr. has remained that rare commodity: an actor more concerned with living responsibly than with fame or fortune. "Live simply," he has often said, "so that others may simply live."
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cinematography (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1967
Made screen-acting debut at age 17 on the CBS sitcom "My Three Sons"
1972
Made film-acting debut in "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"
1972
Appeared in TV movie "Family Flight" (ABC)
1973
Made series debut as regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom "Roll Out!"
1976
Had a recurring roles on the syndicated series "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"
1977
Appeared in a recurring role on CBS' "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman"
1978
Played Lt. Greenbean on "Battlestar Galactica" (ABC), reprised role in the feature film version
1982
Breakthrough role as intern Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere"; received six consecutive Emmy Award nominations
1988
Cast as one of William Hurt's siblings in Lawrence Kasdan's "The Accidental Tourist"
1989
Played the straying husband in "She-Devil" opposite Meryl Streep and Roseanne
1990
Starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom "Parenthood"
1990
Co-starred with Stockard Channing in "Meet the Applegates"
1994
Appeared on the short-lived NBC primetime soap "Winnetka Road"
1995
Co-starred in the off-Broadway production of David Mamet's "The Cryptogram"
1997
Returned to series TV with the CBS sitcom "Meego"
1999
Cast in the recurring role of Dr. Hank Hastings on The WB's "7th Heaven"
2000
Played a hotel manager in the mockumentary "Best in Show"; co-starring and directed by Christopher Guest
2001
Played the recurring role of Hiram Gunderson on HBO's "Six Feet Under"
2003
Re-teamed with director Christopher Guest for the pseudo-documentary about folk music "A Mighty Wind"
2004
Played hospital administrator Dr. Jesse James in Stephen King's thirteen-episode miniseries "Kingdom Hospital" (ABC)
2005
Guest starred on several episodes of Fox's "Arrested Development"
2006
Appeared in the comedy "For Your Consideration"; directed by Guest
2006
Had a recurring guest role in season three of "Veronica Mars" (UPN)
2007
Appeared with wife Rachelle Carson in the reality television series "Living With Ed" (aired on the Home & Garden Television channel and Discovery's Planet Green channel)
2007
Had a recurring role on "CSI: Miami"
2008
Appeared in the HBO movie "Recount," which profiled the 2000 Presidential Election
2009
Co-starred with Joan Allen in the Lifetime biographical drama "Georgia O'Keeffe"
2009
Co-starred in Woody Allen's New York-based comedy "Whatever Works"
2011
Cast opposite Anna Faris in the romantic comedy "What's Your Number?"
2011
Played Dr. T. Pike on "Rizzoli & Isles"
2012
Appeared on several episodes of hit IFC series "Portlandia"
2013
Played Murch on short-lived Silicon Valley-themed comedy "Betas"
2013
Featured in another reality show about his family, "On Begley Street"
2016
Played Joel on short-lived comedy series "Lady Dynamite"
2016
Cat as Clifford Main on "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul"
2017
Appeared in sci-fi drama "Amelia 2.0"
2017
Joined the cast of John Carroll Lynch's directorial debut, "Lucky"
Videos
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Begley once served as Environmental Affairs Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles.
He drives an electric car.
