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Actor · Director

1949-09-16 · Los Angeles, California, USA · Male

103 series in the catalog

Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmentalist who has appeared in hundreds of films, series, and plays.

The son of Academy Award-winning actor Ed Begley, he came to prominence for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series St. Elsewhere (1982–1988), which earned him six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also co-hosted, along with his wife Rachelle Carson, the green living reality show Living with Ed (2007–2010), and had recurring roles as Clifford Main in Better Call Saul (2016–2022) and Dr. Grant Linkletter in Young Sheldon (2019–2024).

Begley's film appearances include Blue Collar (1978), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Transylvania 6-5000 (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), She-Devil (1989), Batman Forever (1995), and Pineapple Express (2008). He is a recurring cast member in the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, including Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016). He and his wife Rachelle appear in the mockumentary Reboot Camp (2020).

Early life

Edward James Begley Jr. was born in Los Angeles on September 16, 1949, the son of Allene Jeanne Sanders and actor Ed Begley (1901–1970). His paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants. At the time of his birth, his father was still married to Amanda Huff, who died of cancer when Begley Jr. was seven. Until he was 16, he believed Amanda was his biological mother; he only later became acquainted with his biological mother, with whom his father was having an affair.

Begley grew up in Merrick, New York, where he attended the private Catholic school Curé of Ars from kindergarten to seventh grade. He had moved to Merrick with his family when his father appeared on Broadway. When he was 13, the family moved back to California, where he graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1967. He also attended Los Angeles Valley College.

Career

Begley has had numerous roles in television and film. He appeared as a guest actor on Maude and had guest appearances in the 1970s series Room 222. He had recurring roles on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, 7th Heaven, Arrested Development, Meego, and Six Feet Under and starring roles in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, St. Elsewhere, and Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central). He was in one episode of My Three Sons, playing a tall classmate of Chip's. Begley also had a short-lived improv act with Michael Richards.

He has played significant roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and Mascots. Additionally, Begley played Viper pilot Greenbean on the original Battlestar Galactica TV series, Boba Fett in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi, and Seth Gillette, a fictional Democratic U.S. senator from North Dakota on The West Wing.

From 2000 to 2016, Begley was a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1996, he appeared in a TV movie called The Late Shift, where he portrayed CBS executive Rod Perth. He has guest-starred on shows such as Scrubs, Boston Legal, and Star Trek: Voyager. He had a recurring guest role in season three of Veronica Mars. He appeared in the 2008 HBO film Recount, which profiled the 2000 presidential election and its aftermath, which was decided by Florida's electoral votes after the United States Supreme Court halted the counting of the state's popular vote. Begley also made appearances on the third season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as a spokesman for Cinco.

In 2003, Begley wrote and directed the musical Cesar and Ruben. It was performed at the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles and was revived in 2007. Begley played Dr. Walter Krandall, the protagonist's former marriage counselor and fiancé of his ex-wife in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried. Since 2008 he has been in a series of DirecTV commercials as a "Cable Corp Inc." executive. In 2013, he appeared on the reality television show Beverly Hills Pawn. In 2016, he began appearing in the Breaking Bad prequel and spinoff Better Call Saul as Clifford Main, senior partner at the Davis & Main law firm. Beginning in 2019, he appeared in Bless This Mess for the duration of the two seasons that the show ran.

Personal life

According to a feature on the series Celebrity Close Calls and the podcast

Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Begley nearly died in 1972 after being stabbed multiple times in California. He and his roommate had taken a bus ride headed to Gardena, a city in Los Angeles County, California, to play cards. On the way, the bus driver informed them that his route did not stop in Gardena and the two young men ended up being dropped off in a rough neighborhood. Begley and his roommate were then confronted by at least two dozen gang members. Begley, who was around twenty two, suffered a collapsed lung in the midst of being attacked.

Begley was married to Ingrid Taylor from 1976 to 1989. They had a son and a daughter together. In 2000, he married actress Rachelle Carson, with whom he has a daughter.

Begley was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2016.

Environmental

Begley has been an environmentalist since 1970, beginning with his first electric vehicle (a Taylor-Dunn golf cart-like vehicle), recycling, and becoming a vegan. He is noted for riding bicycles, using public transportation, and driving a 2003 electric Toyota RAV4 EV. In 2023 and 2024, he made headlines by taking public transit to the Academy Awards.

Begley's former home in Southern California is 1,585 square feet (147.3 m2) in size and uses solar power, wind power (via a PacWind vertical-axis wind turbine), an air conditioning unit made by Greenway Design Group, and an electricity-generating bicycle used to power his toaster. In 2008, he stated that his electricity bills amounted to around $300 per year. Noting that a typical suburban lawn is environmentally unsustainable, especially in Southern California due to water shortages, Begley converted his own garden into a drought-tolerant garden composed of native California plants.

Begley's hybrid electric bicycle was often featured on his television show Living With Ed. He parodied his environmentalism on The Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max" in 1999; he voiced himself as he showcased his "nonpolluting go-kart" powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction". He also poked fun at himself on an episode of Dharma and Greg. In 2000, the Futurama episode "The Honking" featured a joke in which Begley's electric motor is referred to as "the most evil propulsion system ever conceived". He again voiced himself in The Simpsons episode "Gone Maggie Gone" in 2009; during the episode, a solar eclipse causes his solar-powered car to break down on train tracks as a train approaches, but the train also stops because it is an Ed Begley Jr. Solar Powered Train.

Begley and friend Bill Nye are in a friendly competition to see who can have the lowest carbon footprint.

In 2009, Begley appeared on an Earth Day edition of The Price Is Right. He announced the final showcase, which included an electric bicycle, a solar-powered golf cart and a Toyota Prius.

Begley was featured on the Green Car Challenge of The Jay Leno Show. Various celebrities drove an electric Ford Focus automobile and tried to set records on an outdoor track. During the second lap, cutouts of Begley and Al Gore would pop out; if the celebrity hit either of them, one second was added to their time.

Begley wrote the books Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life (2008) and Ed Begley Jr.'s Guide to Sustainable Living: Learning to Conserve Resources and Manage an Eco-Conscious Life (2009), both published by Random House. He also co-wrote A Vegan Survival Guide for the Holidays (2014) with Jerry James Stone.

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