Though known today primarily for his wonderful portrayal of James Garner’s father on the long running and popular TV show “The Rockford Files”, Noah Beery, Jr. (nicknamed Pidge), a second generation actor, started acting right after graduating from military school. His early work was primarily in serials, where he was generally cast as the hero’s easy going and cheerful sidekick. Though usually stationed at Universal, Berry made two serials for Mascot; “Fighting With Kit Carson” (1933), where he appeared opposite his father Noah Beery, Sr. as the villain, and “The Three Musketeers” (1933) which starred up and comer John Wayne. His miniscule role as affable airplane mechanic Stubbs would be prophetic when settled in at Universal.

Berry really came into his own in serials at Universal, starting with “Heroes of the West” (1932) as the brother of the heroine. Two years later he cemented his image as the heroes sidekick playing airplane mechanic Skeeter in the first comic strip adaptation ever put on live action film, “Tailspin Tommy” (1934). He would reprise the role the following year in “Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery” (1935). That same year he had his only starring role in a serial as the Tarzan inspired Jan of the Jungle in “The Call of the Savage” (1935). Then it was back to playing the bucolic mechanic, this time named Jerry, in “Ace Drummond” (1936).

Then Beery stopped appearing in serials for a while as he made several feature films like “Only Angels Have Wings” (1939) and “Of Mice and Men” (1939). But as the forties dawned he would return to the genre for two more serials. Beery was one of the “Riders of Death Valley” (1941) along with Dick Foran, Buck Jones, Leo Carrillo, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams, and Glenn Strange. His final serial had him and hero Lon Chaney, Jr. facing off against his father Beery, Sr. in “Overland Mail” (1942).

This was not the end for Beery though, as he would continue to have a long, long career in film and TV. His film work included “Gung Ho!” (1943), “The Cat Creeps” (1946), “Red River” (1948), “Rocketship X-M” (1950), “War Arrow” (1953), “Fastest Gun Alive” (1956), “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” (1963), “Walking Tall” (1973), “Walking Tall, Part 2” (1975), and “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982).

As if that wasn’t enough, besides the aforementioned “Rockford Files”, he was also a regular on several TV series. The most prominent was “Circus Boy” which starred future Monkee Mickey Dolenz, using the name Braddock at the time, and fellow serial alumnus Robert Lowery. Beery was Joey the Clown. Other series included “Houseboat”, “Hondo”, and the short lived shows “Doc Elliot” starring James Franciscus, “Quest” and “The Yellow Rose”.