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George Richard Beymer, Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor known for playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story and Ben Horne on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks. Beymer was born in Avoca, Iowa, the son of Eunice (née Goss) and George Richard Beymer, a printer. Beymer and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1940 where he began his acting career in 1949 in television. In the 1950s, he began appearing in films and achieved success in So Big (1953), Johnny Tremain (1957), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and West Side Story (1961) before sharing a... MORE

George Richard Beymer, Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor known for playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story and Ben Horne on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks. Beymer was born in Avoca, Iowa, the son of Eunice (née Goss) and George Richard Beymer, a printer. Beymer and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1940 where he began his acting career in 1949 in television. In the 1950s, he began appearing in films and achieved success in So Big (1953), Johnny Tremain (1957), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and West Side Story (1961) before sharing a 1962 Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor with Bobby Darin and Warren Beatty. In 1957 Beymer appeared on the syndicated American Civil War drama Gray Ghost in the episode "An Eye for an Eye". In 1961, Beymer began a brief relationship with Sharon Tate, who was working as an extra on his film, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. Beymer encouraged Tate to pursue an acting career, and after she was introduced to his agent, Tate signed a contract with Filmways. Beymer achieved a notable success in the film The Longest Day (1962). In 1964, he became involved in Freedom Summer in LESS