John Beasley, whose nearly 70 onscreen acting credits included prominent roles on the series “Everwood” and “The Soul Man,” has died at age 79, his family confirmed.
A cause of death was not released, but his son told The Hollywood Reporter the actor was having testing done on his liver. He died at an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital.
Beasley, who was born in Omaha in 1943, made his acting debut more than four decades later with a small role in the 1989 movie “Rapid Fire.” He made a series of TV and movie appearances in the early 1990s, including playing a father in Disney’s youth hockey classic “The Mighty Ducks” and an assistant coach in the feel-good football film “Rudy.”
He was better known for his performances as the bus driver Irv Harper on “Everwood,” which aired on the WB from 2002-06, and as the retired minister Barton Moses Ballentine on “The Soul Man,” which ran from 2012-16 on TV Land.
Beasley appeared last year in a Chicago stage adaptation of “The Notebook,” portraying the older version of the central character Noah. Beasley planned to workshop the musical in New York this summer before it opens on Broadway, according to THR.
“To be a working artist is the highest calling, and I appreciate wherever it takes me,” Beasley told the American Theatre magazine last September. “If I never got to Broadway, I would still feel I’ve had a pretty successful career.”
Beasley was the grandfather of Los Angeles forward Malik Beasley, who has also played for the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz.
In recent years, the actor had appeared on the live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” and in films including “The Purge Anarchy” and “Firestarter.”