

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

George Richard Beymer (born 20 February 1938; age 82) is an actor from Avoca, Iowa, who played Li Nalas in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episodes "The Homecoming", "The Circle" and "The Siege". A jacket worn by him in the episode "The Homecoming" was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1]

Beymer is perhaps best known for his starring role as Tony in the multiple Academy Award-winning 1961 film version of West Side Story. The film was co-directed and produced by Robert Wise, who later directed the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For his performance in West Side Story, Beymer was nominated for a Golden Globe as "Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy" and he also won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Male Newcomer.

In addition, Beymer is recognized for his role as Benjamin Horne in David Lynch's cult mystery series, Twin Peaks. Beymer worked with several other Star Trek performers on this show, most notably Mädchen Amick and Ray Wise, who were also regular cast members. The Soap Opera Digest Awards nominated Beymer as Outstanding Villain for his work on this series.

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Other films

Beymer made his film debut with an uncredited appearance in the 1951 noir thriller Fourteen Hours. This film also featured Star Trek: The Original Series guest actor Jeff Corey and the original lead actor of Star Trek, Jeffrey Hunter. In addition, Beymer's fellow Deep Space Nine guest actor Brian Keith was an uncredited extra on the film.

Beymer's first credited film was the 1953 drama Terminal Station (later re-edited and re-released as Indiscretion of an American Wife). That same year, he was seen in the romantic drama So Big, which marked the first time he worked with West Side Story and Star Trek: The Motion Picture director Robert Wise.

In 1957, Beymer worked alongside Whit Bissell in the Revolutionary War film Johnny Tremain. Beymer then portrayed Peter Van Daan in the Academy Award-winning 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank. In 1960, Beymer performed in the Blake Edwards musical comedy High Time along with Yvonne Craig.

Following the success of West Side Story in 1961, Beymer was seen in four films released the following year. He was the male lead in the comedy Bachelor Flat, the second male lead in the drama Five Finger Exercise, and the lead role in Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. In the latter, he worked alongside TOS guest actors Ricardo Montalban and Michael J. Pollard. Beymer's fourth film of 1962 was the Academy Award-winning World War II epic The Longest Day, which marked his second film with Jeffrey Hunter.

Beymer's next film was 1963's The Stripper, which co-starred the aforementioned Michael J. Pollard. This was followed by the independent action-drama Scream Free! in 1969, which paired Beymer with his West Side Story co-star, Russ Tamblyn. Beymer then wrote, directed, produced, photographed, edited, and starred in The Innerview, a 90-minute avant-garde feature for which Beymer received the Josef von Sternberg Award from the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival.

Beymer returned to films in 1983 with the starring role in Cross Country, a thriller directed by Paul Lynch. Beymer later starred in the direct-to-video horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!, which co-starred Elizabeth Hoffman.

His most notable film credits during the 1990s were My Girl 2 in 1994 (with Gerrit Graham and Keone Young) and Foxfire in 1996 (with Fran Bennett). He also worked with Ed Lauter in the 1993 direct-to-video thriller Under Investigation, with Guy Siner in the 1996 comedy The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson, and with Hal Landon, Jr. in the 1996 crime thriller The Little Death.

Beymer also participated with Raymond Cruz and Brad Dourif in the 1998 documentary-comedy Playing Patti. More recently, Beymer starred in the 2000 horror-comedy Home the Horror Story.

Other television work

In the late 1950s, Beymer made two appearances on the comedy series Make Room for Daddy, which starred TOS guest actress Sherry Jackson. Beymer was subsequently seen on such shows as Whirlybirds (with Whit Bissell and Kenneth Tobey), Kraft Suspense Theatre (directed by Ralph Senensky), and Playhouse 90.

Beymer was seen in two episodes of The Virginian, one in 1965 and another in 1966. The latter reunited him with Sherry Jackson and also had him working with Leonard Nimoy as well as TOS guest actors John Harmon, Rex Holman, and Ken Lynch.

In 1966, Beymer guest-starred in a three-episode arc on Dr. Kildare. This was followed in 1968 with an appearance on Death Valley Days with Mariette Hartley and Paul Winfield. He returned to television in 1980 as a director, cinematographer and occasional actor on the long-running religious anthology series Insight. The series also featured directors Marc Daniels, John Meredyth Lucas (also as a writer and producer), Ralph Senensky, Robert Butler, John Newland and Harvey Hart, and writers John D.F. Black and John T. Dugan.

In 1984, Beymer was a regular cast member on the short-lived ABC soap opera Paper Dolls. Two of his cast mates on this show were Terry Farrell and Jonathan Frakes, who later starred on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: The Next Generation, respectively. This series also featured direction by Senensky.

Throughout the late 1980s, Beymer was seen on such series as Moonlighting (with Brad Dourif and cinematography by Jerry Finnerman), Dallas (with Leigh Taylor-Young), and The Bronx Zoo (with Benito Martinez and Tracey Walter). Between 1987 and 1996, Beymer guest-starred in six episodes of the mystery drama series Murder, She Wrote, each time playing a different character. While working on this show, he acted alongside such performers as Theodore Bikel, Len Cariou, Meg Foster, Robert Knepper, Richard Libertini, Brian McNamara, Tracy Middendorf, Lawrence Pressman, Jay Robinson, Mitch Ryan, Rick Scarry, Ray Walston, and William Windom.

Beymer was one of several Star Trek performers to appear in the 1992 NBC movie Danger Island. His co-stars in this production included Lisa Banes, Nikki Cox, Gary Graham, Christopher Pettiet, and Beth Toussaint. Beymer also appeared in the 1994 HBO movie State of Emergency with Robert Beltran and Paul Dooley. Beymer's other TV movie credits include A Face to Die For (with Ian Abercrombie and Mitch Ryan) and Elvis Meets Nixon (with Bob Gunton).

Beymer was a guest star in the 1996 "Sanguinarium" episode of The X-Files, which was directed by Kim Manners and executive-produced by John Shiban. He then guest-starred on such shows as Profiler and Family Law, working with Christopher McDonald and Salli Elise Richardson on the latter.