Eugene Hugh Beaumont

 Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 – May 14, 1982)

Beaumont was an actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach by the Methodist church. Beaumont is best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver, originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963. He had earlier played the role of the private detective Michael Shayne in a series of films in the 1940s. After graduating from Baylor School, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of those roles were bit parts and minor roles and were not credited. He often worked with the actor William Bendix. In 1946–47, Beaumont starred in five films as the private detective Michael Shayne, taking over the role from Lloyd Nolan. In 1950 he also narrated a short film, A Date with Your Family. After Leave It to Beaver ended production and went into syndication in the fall of 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and played a few guest roles on such television series as Mannix, The Virginian, Wagon Train, and Petticoat Junction.

In February 1966, 11 years after his first appearance on Lassie, he was again a guest star on that popular series, performing in the episode "Cradle of the Deep". Beaumont retired from show business in the late 1960s, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He was forced to retire in 1972 after suffering a stroke from which he never fully recovered. On May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychologist working in Munich, Germany. He was 73 years old.