You rubbed elbows with Superman and Captain America. That combo alone grants you historic significance.
You were also a convincing victim in the terrifying classic, Deliverance, where you deftly overlapped woefulness with empathy.
And your versatility didn't end there, as so many of your films can attest: Toy Story 3; The Toy; Rango; The Incredible Shrinking Woman; Purple People Eater; Repossessed; Exorcist II: The Heretic; Mickey and Nicky; Nashville; Network; Gray Lady Down; Rampart; Rolling Vengeance; the Killer Inside Me; Back to School; Silver Streak; The Big Bus; The Big Ask; Promises in the Dark; The Great Bank Hoax; The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez; All the President's Men; Friendly Fire: The Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones; Hopscotch, Wise Blood; Alambrista!; and 1941.
On various television shows, you also made the generous rounds, guest starring on M*A*S*H; Gunsmoke; The Rockford Files; Hunter; The Rookies: Hawaii Five-O; Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected; Lucan; The Streets of San Francisco; and Homicide: Life on the Street. Heck, you even had a recurring role on the super-popular Roseann.
No one will argue that you were an all-around good guy, Mr. Beatty: unique, recognizable and eclectic. As such, you meant a lot to a lot of people, and if that isn't a testament to a fella's greatness, I don't know what is.
