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Thomas Beck is a Actor American born on 29 december 1909 at New York City (USA)
Thomas Beck (December 29, 1909 – September 23, 1995) was an American actor during the mid to late 1930s, who first attracted attention playing juvenile leads in several Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto films.
Born in New York City, Beck entered college with the intention of becoming a doctor but abandoned that for engineering. His first professional work was in a stock company and he later played on Broadway. His work interested film executives who sent him to Hollywood. Beck was featured in 28 films in his career, with notable roles in several Charlie Chan films: Charlie Chan in Paris (1935), Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936), and Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936). He also worked opposite Will Rogers in Life Begins at Forty (1935), in which he played the spoiled son of a landowner; appeared as a French legionnaire in Under Two Flags (1936), played Pastor Schultz, the village priest, in Shirley Temple's 1937 film Heidi; and appeared opposite Temple's counterpart Jane Withers in Can This Be Dixie? (1936). He was seen to good advantage in two 1936 Fox motion pictures, in which he had leading roles: as a pilot in Peter Lorre's first American film, the espionage thriller Crack-Up and as a rich socialite in Champagne Charlie.
He also worked to promote the Screen Actors Guild to improve working conditions for actors, and when his career seemed ready to take off he suddenly left movie work in 1939 after the studio tried to reduce his wages
Beck died after battling Alzheimer's disease and heart conditions in Miami Shores, Florida on September 23, 1995. He is buried in Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.
Source : Wikidata
Thomas Beck
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Nationality USA
Birth 29 december 1909 at New York City (USA)
Death 23 september 1995 (at 85 years) at Miami Shores (USA)
Birth 29 december 1909 at New York City (USA)
Death 23 september 1995 (at 85 years) at Miami Shores (USA)
Born in New York City, Beck entered college with the intention of becoming a doctor but abandoned that for engineering. His first professional work was in a stock company and he later played on Broadway. His work interested film executives who sent him to Hollywood. Beck was featured in 28 films in his career, with notable roles in several Charlie Chan films: Charlie Chan in Paris (1935), Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936), and Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936). He also worked opposite Will Rogers in Life Begins at Forty (1935), in which he played the spoiled son of a landowner; appeared as a French legionnaire in Under Two Flags (1936), played Pastor Schultz, the village priest, in Shirley Temple's 1937 film Heidi; and appeared opposite Temple's counterpart Jane Withers in Can This Be Dixie? (1936). He was seen to good advantage in two 1936 Fox motion pictures, in which he had leading roles: as a pilot in Peter Lorre's first American film, the espionage thriller Crack-Up and as a rich socialite in Champagne Charlie.
He also worked to promote the Screen Actors Guild to improve working conditions for actors, and when his career seemed ready to take off he suddenly left movie work in 1939 after the studio tried to reduce his wages
Beck died after battling Alzheimer's disease and heart conditions in Miami Shores, Florida on September 23, 1995. He is buried in Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.
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Filmography of Thomas Beck (23 films)
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Walking Down Broadway (1938)
Directed by Norman Foster
Genres Drama
Actors Claire Trevor, Phyllis Brooks, Dixie Dunbar, Lynn Bari, Joseph Kenneth Shovlin, Thomas Beck
Roles Tom Douglas
Rating59%
Road Demon (1938)
, 1h5Directed by Otto Brower
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Joan Valerie, Henry Armetta, Thomas Beck, Jonathan Hale, Bill Robinson, Lon Chaney, Jr.
Roles Ted Rogers (as Tom Beck)
Rating55%
I Stand Accused (1938)
, 1h3Directed by John H. Auer
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Robert Cummings, Helen Mack, Lyle Talbot, Thomas Beck, Gordon Jones, Robert Paige
Roles Paul V. Reynolds
Rating55%
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1937)
, 1h8Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, Keye Luke, William Demarest, Gregory Gaye, Frank Conroy
Roles Phil Childers
Rating70%
Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) gets to watch a performance that's to die for. For seven years, opera star Gravelle (Boris Karloff) has been locked in an insane asylum, his identity a mystery - even to himself. But when his memory unexpectedly returns, he begins to recall that his wife and her lover tried to murder him - and now he's determined to make them face the music. Gravelle escapes from the asylum and makes his way to the San Marco opera house and begins hiding out in the various rooms and passageways. Soon, members of the opera company are being murdered one by one.
Seventh Heaven (1937)
, 1h42Directed by Henry King, Robert D. Webb
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Simone Simon, James Stewart, Jean Hersholt, Gale Sondergaard, Gregory Ratoff, J. Edward Bromberg
Roles Brissac
Rating69%
In a 1914 lower class district of Paris, content sewer worker named Chico (James Stewart) is criticized by his fellow citizens for being an atheist. One day, he witnesses a young woman (Simone Simon) being brutally beaten by her sister (Gale Sondergaard) for not entertaining a senior wealthy man in her sleazy bar. He sympathizes with the girl, Diane, and stops the fight. Later, Father Chevillon (Jean Hersholt), who is worried about Chico's lack of faith, offers him a deal: he will grant him a street washer job if he takes in Diane and opens his mind about believing in God. Chico agrees, and he prevents Diane's sister from turning her in to the police by claiming that she is his wife.
Heidi (1937)
, 1h28Directed by Allan Dwan
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Mary Nash, Marcia Mae Jones, Sidney Blackmer
Roles Pastor Schultz
Rating71%
Adelheid, called Heidi (Shirley Temple), is an eight-year-old Swiss orphan who is given by her aunt to her mountain-dwelling grandfather (Jean Hersholt). She is then stolen back by her aunt from her grandfather to live in the wealthy Sesemann household in Frankfurt, Germany as a companion to Klara (Marcia Mae Jones), a sheltered, disabled girl in a wheelchair.
Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
, 1h9Directed by Norman Foster
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Actors Peter Lorre, Thomas Beck, Pauline Frederick, Sidney Blackmer, Sig Ruman, John Carradine
Roles Tom Nelson
Rating68%
A caravan settles for the night in the Gobi Desert. A man sneaks into a tent to steal a scroll, but adventurer and soldier of fortune Kentaro Moto (Peter Lorre) is only pretending to be asleep and kills him. When the caravan reaches Peiping, Moto is searched by the police. The scroll is found, but Moto grabs it and escapes.
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
, 1h6Directed by Norman Foster
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Actors Peter Lorre, Thomas Beck, Virginia Field, Lee Phelps, Sig Ruman, Murray Kinnell
Roles Robert 'Bob' Hitchings, Jr.
Rating66%
The film opens with Mr. Moto in disguise as a street salesmen and selling goods to passers-by. He sees a man leaving a shop with a tattoo of the British Flag on his arm. Moto enters the shop to sell a rare diamond to the owner. However, Moto sees a body stuffed into a wicker basket in the store, and using his mastery of judo takes down the shopkeeper. Later, he reserves a berth on a freighter headed for Shanghai. Also on the freighter is Bob Hitchings Jr., son of the owner of the freighter. Before leaving, Hitchings Sr. gives his son a confidential letter for the head of the Shanghai branch of the company. Hitchings and Moto become friends (Moto notices the letter), and Moto helps Hitchings cure a hangover. Hitchings complains to Moto that he has not met any beautiful women on board. After a stop in Honolulu, a beautiful woman named Gloria Danton boards the ship, and she and Hitchings fall in love. But Gloria is a spy for Nicolas Marloff, who runs a smuggling operation out of Shanghai. She periodically sends him notes and leaves without saying goodbye to Hitchings. Moto finds a steward looking for Hitchings’s letter, and confronts him, knowing he was the person who killed the man in the wicker basket, as he wears the tattoo. Moto throws the man overboard and takes the letter.
The Thirteenth Chair (1937)
, 1h6Directed by George B. Seitz
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors May Whitty, Lewis Stone, Madge Evans, Thomas Beck, Elissa Landi, Charles Trowbridge
Roles Dick Crosby
Rating62%
45 Fathers (1937)
, 1h10Directed by James Tinling
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Jane Withers, Thomas Beck, Louise Henry, Richard Carle, Nella Walker, Andrew Tombes
Roles Roger Farragut
Rating57%
The Great Hospital Mystery (1937)
, 58minutesDirected by James Tinling
Origin USA
Themes Medical-themed films
Actors Jane Darwell, Sig Ruman, Sally Blane, Thomas Beck, Joan Davis, William Demarest
Roles Dr. David McKerry
Rating60%
Woman-Wise (1937)
, 1h2Directed by Allan Dwan
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Rochelle Hudson, Joseph Kenneth Shovlin, Thomas Beck, Alan Dinehart, Sr., Douglas Fowley, George Hassell
Roles Clint De Witt
Rating63%
Under Two Flags (1936)
, 1h52Directed by Otto Brower, Frank Lloyd
Origin USA
Genres Adventure, Romance
Themes French war films, Children's films
Actors Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor McLaglen, Rosalind Russell, Nigel Bruce, Gregory Ratoff
Roles Pierre
Rating63%
Victor (Ronald Colman) has taken the blame for his younger brother's crime and joins the French Foreign Legion to escape his past, taking with him his valet, Rake (Herbert Mundin). His commander is the ruthless Major Doyle (Victor McLaglen), who becomes jealous when Cigarette (Claudette Colbert), a cafe singer, sets her sights on Victor. He, however, is more interested in a refined Englishwoman, Lady Venetia (Rosalind Russell), and he eventually dumps Cigarette for her. Then, Doyle sends Victor off on a suicidal mission to get rid of his rival.
, 1h10Directed by Aaron Rosenberg, H. Bruce Humberstone
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Children's films, Horse sports in film
Actors Warner Oland, Keye Luke, Thomas Beck, Helen Wood, Alan Dinehart, Sr., Gavin Muir
Roles Bruce Rogers
Rating69%
When a prominent racehorse owner winds up dead-allegedly kicked to death by his prized stallion, Charlie Chan is called in to investigate. But when the indomitable detective discovers evidence of foul play, he's soon hot on the hooves of an international gambling ring with an evil plot to turn the racetracks of the world into a trifecta of terror!
Can This Be Dixie? (1936)
, 1h10Directed by George Marshall
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Actors Jane Withers, Slim Summerville, Helen Wood, Thomas Beck, Sara Haden, Claude Gillingwater
Roles Ulysses S. Sherman
Rating69%