Actor John Beasley dies at 79
The actor John Beasley, who is best known for starring in the TV series Everwood as well as co-starring in Walking Tall in 2004 alongside Dwayne Johnson, passed away on Tuesday, 30th May, at the age of 79. No cause of death was revealed by Beasley’s son Michael when he announced the news.
Michael Beasley wrote on Facebook: “Man…you know this is a part of life…but that doesn’t make it any easier. I lost my best friend today. They say you shouldn’t ever meet your heroes because they don’t turn out to be who you thought they were. That is so wrong. My hero was my father. Thank you for everything. I hope I made you proud. Love you more”.
Beasley came to the acting game late in life and didn’t turn professional until he was in his 40s. He once told WOWT why it took him so long to consider acting as a serious profession.
“I was raising my family. I have two sons that I’m very proud of, and I thought that being a father and watching these kids grow up was more important,” he said in 2020.
His other credits include the sports films Little Big League, Rudy and The Mighty Ducks. But it was arguably his performance in 1997’s The Apostle that brought about Beasley’s big break, where he played a preacher alongside Robert Duvall, and together they opened a new church.
In real life, Beasley opened the John Beasley Theater & Workshop in his native Omaha, Nebraska. Most recently, he’d played in The Purge: Anarchy as well as starring in a theatre production of The Notebook in Chicago.
The Empowerment Network’s African-American Leadership Conference honoured the actor as a legend, to which he replied, “I don’t consider myself a legend. I’m honoured that there are those that think of me in that way.”
Beasley leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Judy, two sons, Mike and Tyrone and a basketball-playing grandson, Malik.
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