  edward james "ed" begley, sr. (march 25, 1901&nbsp;&ndash; april 28, 1970) was an american actor of theatre, radio, film, and television.obituary variety, may 6, 1970. ==life and career== begley was born in hartford, connecticut, the son of hannah (nÃ©e clifford) and michael joseph begley, irish immigrants.http://www.tonic.com/post/ed-begley-jr-hollywoods-go-to-green-guru/ begley began his career as a broadway and radio actor while in his teens. he appeared in the hit musical going up on broadway in 1917 and in london the next year. he later acted in roles as sgt. o'hara in the radio show the fat man. his radio work included a period as charlie chan and stroke of fate amongst other roles. he also starred in the 1950s radio program richard diamond, private detective, playing lieutenant walter levinson, head of homicide at the 5th precinct, manhattan. in the late 1940s, he began appearing regularly in supporting film roles. elected a member of the lambs (www.the-lambs.org) in 1943. in the 1952-1953 television season, begley co-starred with eddie albert in the cbs sitcom leave it to larry. begley, though only five years older than albert, played the father-in-law and employer of albert's character, larry tucker, a shoe salesman, who with his young family lives with begley. in 1954 begley starred in the nbc television show called big boy. he starred as joe grant, an engineer for the union pacific railroad living in cheyenne, wyoming, who worked on the famous union pacific big boy steam locomotives. the show is about how begley's character copes with the transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives in the 1950s. [[file:monte markham ed begley 1969.jpg|thumb|left|begley 
1901_births 1970_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors American_male_film_actors American_male_radio_actors American_male_stage_actors American_male_television_actors Best_Supporting_Actor_Academy_Award_winners Burials_at_San_Fernando_Mission_Cemetery Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Donaldson_Award_winners Male_actors_from_Hartford,_Connecticut Tony_Award_winners