John Beck (actor)

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John Beck (born 28 January 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American actor. He grew up in Joliet, Illinois. A talented performer in his own right, he has been highly commended as one of the United States' strongest support actors since making his very first television appearance in a 1965 episode of "I Dream of Jeannie" (entitled 'Russian Roulette') at the age of 21. His many credits as a support actor over the years include guest slots in such series as the Perry Mason TVMs of 1985 to 1993, "Diagnosis Murder", "Baywatch" (Beck is a good friend of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff), "Tales From The Crypt" and "Matlock", among numerous others.In the movie film "The Other Side of Midnight", he played the male lead.

After over 15 years of being cast in support roles and bit-parts in various American drama and comedy series and low-budget films, he finally landed his first major starring role playing Sam Curtis in the early 1980s television soap opera Flamingo Road, followed by the role of Mark Graison on Dallas (his best-known role) from 1983 to 1986. His other credits as a leading performer include Santa Barbara and, more recently, Walker: Texas Ranger.

He was also the voice of the Punisher in Spider-Man: The Animated Series before Thomas Jane assumed the role in the live action films - although by his own admission he did not enjoy this role as he felt too restricted by being limited to voice-acting, with on-screen live action performances being his forte, and therefore his full talent did not come to the forefront. Beck also guest-starred as the character Raymond Boone in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine extended episode "Tribunal" in 1994 to great acclaim.

Still a favourite of US critics, Beck's last appearance on screen to date was in the 2005 TV movie "Crash Landing".

To date, the now 64-year-old Beck has over 200 TV/film appearances to his name, in an acting career spanning more than four decades; however, he still remains something of an enigma, rarely talking to the media and keeping his personal life private.