Vincent Beck
Vincent Beck inThe Wild, Wild West 1968
Born	(1924-08-15)August 15, 1924 Manhattan,New York City,New York, U.S.
Died	July 24, 1984(1984-07-24) (aged 59) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1946–1982

Vincent Beck (August 15, 1924 – July 24, 1984) was an American character actor who began his career as on stage. He was also a prolific film and television actor who acted in films such asSanta Claus Conquers the Martians (1964),The Spy in the Green Hat (1967),The Scorpio Letters (1967),The Pink Jungle (1968),The Bamboo Saucer (1968) andVigilante (1983). He also appeared in numerous television shows includingThe Monkees,Get Smart,Daniel Boone,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Bonanza,The Time Tunnel, andLost in Space.

A prolific actor, he became recognized for his roles in on film early in his career.^[1] A portion of the television roles in his career consisted of villains, aliens and other interesting characters.^[2][3] From 1982, he was third vice president ofActors Equity. He was also president of the New York branch of theScreen Actors Guild, having held that position since 1983.^[4]

In 1946, he appeared on Broadway inA Flag Is Born on Broadway which marked his stage debut. Other stage roles includedThe World of Sholom Aleichem,The Merchant of Venice,Oliver,Irma la Douce,Gypsy andBells Are Ringing.^[5]

In 1950, Beck was appearing as The Young Covey in theSean O'Casey play,The Plough and the Stars which had been playing at the Hudson Guild Theater since Jan 30th. Along with Sy Travers and Osna Palmer, Beck was noted byThe Billboard reviewer Dennis McDonald for his fine performance.^[6] In April, he appeared in James Barrie'sPeter Pan which had been playing at the Imperial Theater in New York since the 24th of that month. Beck was playing the part of Whibbles.^[7] In April 1951, he was playing the part of Teddy in theClifford Odets comedy,Night Music, which had been playing at the ANTA Playhouse.Rod Steiger was also in the play.^[8]

In 1955, he appeared in the musical,Almost Crazy, which played at the Longacre Theater from June 20, 1955 to July 2.^[9][10]

In early 1965, Beck was playing the part of the evil Bill Sikes in the stage productionOliver. The reviewer inThe Des Moines Register said he was "properly menacing as the all-time bad guy Sikes".^[11][12]

Becks earliest film role was that of the evil Martian leader Voldar in the 1964 filmSanta Claus Conquers the Martians which was directed byNicholas Webster.^[13][14] In 1965 he appeared onGilligan's Island (S2/EP9 - as Russian cosmonaut Igor), in theAnybody Got a Zebra? episode ofMister Ed as Krona.^[15] He played the part of Benjamin Luger inThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. filmThe Spy in the Green Hat which was released in 1967.^[16] He played the part of Zagorsky in the Frank Telford directed sci-fi filmThe Bamboo Saucer which was released in 1968.^[17]

Beck appeared as Kevin Archer in an episode ofMannix in which Joe Mannix is targeted by a crime boss who thinks he knows too much about a missing corpse. The episode aired on January 30, 1971.^[18][19] Later that year Beck appeared in another episode ofMannix as Frankie West inCatspaw.^[20] The following year, he was inMission Impossible as Bolt in theDouble Dead episode which aired on 12 February 1972.^[21] The following year he was inThe Magician, a series that starredBill Bixby. The episode he appeared in wasThe Manhunters in which played the part of Stanley Owens. It aired on October 2, 1973.^[22] He appeared inThe F.B.I. in theDeadly Ambition episode which aired in 1974 and another episode ofMannix,Hardball which aired the following year in 1975.^[23] He played the part of Trilling in theMichael Winner directed 1979 film,Firepower which starredSophia Loren andJames Coburn.^[24]

His last acting role was that of the corrupt Judge Sinclair in theWilliam Lustig directedVigilante, a film about an average man who becomes a vigilante after his wife and young son are murdered by a street gang. It also starredFred Williamson,Robert Forster,Joe Spinell andWoody Strode. It was released in 1983.^[25][26] Judge Sinclair obviously got a share in the bribe-money which lawyer Einsberg (played by Joe Spinell) received from the gang and the killers basically walk free.^[27][28] Lustig later recalled that, as a representative ofScreen Actors Guild, Beck «made his life miserable» on set by checking him up for rules and regulations and that Lustig used to «curse his name every day».^[29]

Beck died at age 59 of cancer at his Manhattan home in July 1984.^[30]

^[32]

• Imdb: Vincent Beck
• Ibdb: Vincent Beck
• Broadway World: Vincent Beck
• The Scott Rollins Film and TV Trivia: Vincent Beck

• 1924 births
• 1984 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• Deaths from cancer in New York (state)

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