Familiar and well-liked character actor of very different persona than either his father, Noah Beery, or his uncle, Wallace Beery. He attended Harvard Military Academy but managed to make a number of appearances on film and on stage with his father before adulthood. At age 19 he began playing amiable second leads and occasional leading roles, primarily in westerns, before settling into what would be the pattern for much of his career: good-natured supporting roles, usually as a pal of the hero. He kept going in such parts into his late 70s, transforming slowly into warm (or, rarely, curmudgeonly) rustic sages. In later years he achieved great renown as the father of the James Garner character on TV's The Rockford Files. He married the daughter of cowboy star Buck Jones. Their son Bucklind Beery is an actor. They also had two daughters, Muffett and Melissa. Beery died in 1994 at the age of 81.
Father of actor Bucklind Beery. Nephew of actor Wallace Beery Son of Noah Beery Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford, Beery's character on The Rockford Files, was ranked #45 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue]. Was only 15 years older than James Garner when he played his father on The Rockford Files. Once said his favorite of his own movies was Red River. His first wife, Maxine Jones, was the daughter of cowboy star Buck Jones.