Actor-comedian Orson Bean, 91, hit and killed by car in LA

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Orson Bean, the witty actor and comedian, was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said. He was 91.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed Bean’s Friday night death, saying it was being investigated as a “traffic-related” fatality. The coroner’s office provided the location where Bean was found, which matched reports from local news outlets.

A man was walking in the Venice neighborhood when he was clipped by a vehicle and fell, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Brian Wendling initially told local stations. A second driver then struck him in what police say was the fatal collision. Both drivers remained on the scene. Police were investigating and didn’t identify the pedestrian to local outlets, which named Bean based on eyewitness accounts.

Bean enlivened such TV game shows as “To Tell the Truth” and played a crotchety merchant on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”



FILE - In this file photo dated Sunday Aug. 30, 2009, actor and comedian Orson Bean arrives at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, USA. According to a statement from the Police in Los Angeles Saturday Feb. 8, 2020, Orson Bean was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles. Bean was 91. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, FILE)


Read more: https://apnews.com/c74e551badceefd745bc32d10e4515ff

[dem4decades]

1. Shit I just watched a Twilight Zone with him in it yesterday. And

I was surprised to see he was still alive when i looked at his IMDB page. And now, the very next morning i read he's dead. That my friends is the Twilight Zone.

The title was Mr. Bevers, and Bean played the title character, a quirky, happy go lucky misfit that when offered a chance at a different lifestyle , well i don't spoil it.

[oasis]

2. He had an easy going style of comedy. I wasn't familiar with Orson

until Mad Magazine featured him in one of their issues in the mid-sixties.

RIP Orson Bean.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. He was hit by TWO cars!

Cross gentler than what took you out, Orson.

[More_Cowbell]

14. He stepped into the street from between parked cars

I saw this on a southern California website but couldn't find it again. He was crossing the street outside a crosswalk to get to a theater.

[steventh]

4. Damn! Sorry to see this happened.

Rest in peace Orson.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Orson Bean had the dubious distinction

of being blacklisted by the HUAC and having Breitbart for son-in-law.

[rpannier]

8. The Jon Voight of his day

[Duppers]

12. ?

Voight is a winger, Orson Bean was very liberal, so help me understand.
Thanks!

[rpannier]

15. From Mother Jones

Actor and singer Orson Bean (first cousin twice-removed of Calvin Coolidge) has an impressive, eclectic list of television credits to his name. He played Lester in Being John Malkovich and Bilbo Baggins in a 1977 animated TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He was also Andrew Breitbart’s father-in-law, and, according to Breitbart, turned him on to Rush Limbaugh and fueled the media impresario’s conversion from liberalism to conservatism.

[Duppers]

18. Oh no.

Damn, I didn't know this.

Thank You for enlightening me!!
My respect for Bean is now gone, as it should be.

[pamela]

6. Andrew Breitbart's father-in-law

The late Andrew Breitbart, that is. I always enjoy remembering that he is still dead.

[underpants]

7. Bean was a Hollywood conservative

RIP

[Coventina]

9. He was instrumental in "discovering" and promoting Raul Julia to stardom

So at least he couldn't have been a raging racist.



No idea what his other political stances were.

I was sad to hear this news.

I was a fan of "Dr Quinn" back in the day, and it was a pretty liberal show.

[underpants]

10. I only meant it as informational

I remember him from game shows.
He apparently had really highly coveted dinners. He really thought out interesting mixes of people to invite.

[Coventina]

11. That sounds fun!

I wasn't trying to criticize you, or anything.

I'm always disappointed when I learn someone I admired was an R.
(Like Jimmy Stewart, for example).

Of course, we also have to keep in mind that 60-70 years ago R didn't mean what it means now.

[rpannier]

16. His was a conversion to conservative. He was changed by two vile people

From Mother Jones

Actor and singer Orson Bean (first cousin twice-removed of Calvin Coolidge) has an impressive, eclectic list of television credits to his name. He played Lester in Being John Malkovich and Bilbo Baggins in a 1977 animated TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He was also Andrew Breitbart’s father-in-law, and, according to Breitbart, turned him on to Rush Limbaugh and fueled the media impresario’s conversion from liberalism to conservatism.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Remarkable Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Bean

Born Dallas Frederick Burrows. Distant relation of Calvin Coolidge.

[tonekat]

17. Sorry to hear he went to the dark side...

That's disappointing. My favorite memory of him is from the 70's when he was on Carson and told a story about passing by a store window that had pencils that had "Your Name Here" on them. He bought a box of pencils that said "Your Name Here" on them and passed them out.

I didn't realize that he was in 'Being John Malkovich'. I really didn't care for that movie.