Omaha actor John Beasley dies Tuesday at age of 79
Omaha actor John Beasley died Tuesday at the age of 79.
His son Mike, posted on Facebook that he has lost his best friend.
"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," Mike wrote on Facebook.
KETV NewsWatch 7 spoke with Beasley earlier this year as he talked about being a mentor at Night Fox Entertainment. He was passionate about helping new generations of talent.
Andre McGraw took a trip to California years ago.
The constant commercials for acting auditions had him curious upon his return home to Omaha, could he do it?
A chance meeting of John Beasley by a friend and a phone call to Beasley would confirm he could.
“He was just opening up the John Beasley theater and I was cast for the very first show that got theater off the ground,” said McGraw.
Tim Christian owns Night Fox Entertainment.
He too said Beasley is responsible for his success just by believing in him.
"He's really one of the first people who really believed in what I wanted to do in the film world. He always supported me. He always was kind and would give advice you know, and never wanted anything in return, which you don't find that from a lot of people,” Christian said.
Beasley's known for giving hope to those looking to break into the industry.
"You don't see a lot of people, number one, that are in Omaha that are looking to be in the business that we're in and there's not really examples. There's not a lot of role models,” Christian said.
Much of Beasley’s legacy, now living on, in those who he offered a helping hand.
“He started off to me more as a mentor, but then over the years, you know, he just kind of just kind of gravitated into like a big brother type, you know, and, you know, worked for years together, taught me everything I know about performing arts,” McGraw said.
His love of his hometown shone through too: Beasley could often be found at a street renaming, a celebration of life or at the former John Beasley theatre mentoring youth.
"John is synonymous with Omaha. You just don't see a lot of people spend that kind of time with people in their community the way John did,” Christian said.
McGraw’s working in Chicago as an actor.
Christian's successful in his entertainment business.
Both said they hope to live life the way Beasley did: humbly, but knowing it's never too late to do what you love.
"You see that so much today. Everybody is self-promoting. I'm the greatest. I'm the best. John would let his work speak for itself. And you can see that in the number of tv shows, movies that he did, the roles he did,” Christian said.
Especially as the 79 year old geared up for his role in the notebook on Broadway in New York, which was meant to begin in the coming weeks.
"One thing that he told me was that, Andre, for this at this stage of my career, for me to be able to go to Broadway, he was like, man, that's the icing on the cake for my career,” McGraw said.
Beasley waited until he was in his 40s to become an actor himself.
Before that, he worked for the Union Pacific railroad.
Beasley has around 60 television and film credits, including appearances in "Rudy," "The General's Daughter" and "Walking Tall."
He also founded the John Beasley Theater and Workshop in Omaha.
No cause of death has been announced.
