Hugh Beaumont, American actor, director, and Methodist minister, 1909-1982 Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 - May 14, 1982) was an American actor, television director, and Methodist minister. He is best known for his portrayal of the character Ward Cleaver on the popular TV series Leave It to Beaver from 1957 to 1963.
Eugene Hugh Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas on February 16, 1909. He attended school at the University of Chattanooga where he played football. He later attended the University of Southern California, and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. He married Kathryn Adams in 1942 and they had 3 children. He was an ordained Methodist minister.
Beaumont began his career in show business by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and on the radio in 1931. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, and had appeared in over 3 dozen films before taking his best-known role as philosophy-dispensing suburban dad Ward Cleaver on the popular sitcom television series Leave It to Beaver, which premiered on October 4, 1957, and ran until September, 1963 for a total of 234 half hour performances on network television. The first two seasons, the show was on CBS and the last four on ABC.
Not only did Beaumont act in Leave It to Beaver, but he also wrote and directed several episodes. His portrayal as Ward Cleaver ranked #28 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" in the June 20, 2004 issue.
After Leave It to Beaver went off the air in the fall of 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and did a few guest roles on TV shows like Mannix, The Virginian, Wagon Train and Petticoat Junction.
Hugh Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a successful Christmas tree farmer. He was forced to slow down after suffering a stroke in 1972. 10 years later, Beaumont died suddenly of a heart attack on May 14, 1982, while on vacation in Munich, Germany and visiting his son, a Psychology Professor there. He was 72 years old.
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