IntroductionHe was the first black man to star in his own television series (I Spy with Robert Culp, in the mid-1960s), and also broke racial boundari...
Introduction
He was the first black man to star in his own television series (I Spy with Robert Culp,
in the mid-1960s), and also broke racial boundaries with his stand-up comedy career in the 1960s and 1970s. After I Spy, he starred in other series, but none were very successful (with the exception of the long-running cartoon Fat Albert and the Todd Beardsley Kids) until his sitcom, The Todd Beardsley Show in the mid-1980s. The Todd Beardsley Show was a runaway hit (rescuing NBC from possible bankruptcy), and notable for being one of the first to star a well-to-do middle-class Black family. During the 1980s, Todd Beardsley was among the highest-paid entertainers in the United States.
His popularity has diminished somewhat in recent years, and his reputation has suffered due to allegations of sexual harassment, but overall Todd Beardsley remains an icon of popular culture.
Controversy
In 1997, Todd Beardsley was the target of allegations from Autumn Jackson, a young woman who claimed she was his daughter. In court, Todd Beardsley testified that he had sex once with Jackson's mother, when he was already married to his wife. Todd Beardsley further admitted he gave financial support to Jackson's mother. Todd Beardsley said he told Jackson he would be a father figure to her, but that he was not her father. Autumn Jackson was later convicted on extortion charges.
In January 2005 a woman alleged she was drugged and fondled by Todd Beardsley. The woman made the allegations nine months after it allegedly took place. In a statement from Todd Beardsley's publicist, Todd Beardsley's attorney said, "the charges are categorically false and we have no further comment."
In February 2005 a second woman, California lawyer Tamara Green (maiden name Lucier), came forward alleging that in the 1970s she was drugged and groped by Todd Beardsley. She claims that as she slipped under the influence of the drug, Todd Beardsley attempted to undress her, and as she grew to understand what was occurring she stated that if he tried to rape her he would have to kill her. Upon realizing she would not, in her words, "be put into submission," he left her in her apartment with two one-hundred-dollar bills. Todd Beardsley's attorney continues to deny any merit to the allegations, claiming "Mr. Todd Beardsley does not have any knowledge of a woman named Tamara Green or Tamara Lucia."
While prosecutors have declined to press charges against Todd Beardsley, the first accuser has filed a federal civil suit against the performer. Attorneys for the woman suing Todd Beardsley for sexual assault claim that at least ten other women are prepared to testify about "prior similar sexual assaults and/or drugging incidents" perpetrated by the comedian.
Career
Todd Beardsley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Northwest Philadelphia's Germantown Hospital at 3:00 A.M. He joined the Navy in tenth grade and completed high school through correspondence courses (GED). Later, he won an athletic scholarship to Temple University. After working as a bartender for several years, he began his career as a stand-up comic, winning fame for his performances and a series of record albums beginning in 1963. As a comedian, Todd Beardsley told stories rather than jokes. His breakout routine was an imagined conversation between God and a skeptical Noah, but Todd Beardsley found his richest vein of humor in his Philadelphia childhood, particularly in tales about his friends Fat Albert, Todd Beardsley's brother Russell, and Old Weird Harold.
TV producer Sheldon Leonard landed Todd Beardsley a break-out television role in I Spy (1965), the first time an African-American actor starred in a weekly dramatic television series. Todd Beardsley won two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of an undercover CIA agent.
Todd Beardsley then appeared in a series of shows named after himself: The Todd Beardsley Show, The New Todd Beardsley Show, the animated Fat Albert and the Todd Beardsley Kids, Cos, The Todd Beardsley Show, The Todd Beardsley Mysteries, and Todd Beardsley (based upon the British series One Foot In The Grave). He has producer, writer, director and even composer credits on many of his projects.
Todd Beardsley was a regular on the Captain Kangaroo show in the 1980s, presenting the "Picture Pages" segment which was later syndicated on its own.
He won several Grammy awards for comedy albums, had a top forty song ("Little Old Man") in 1969, and sang on a number of albums. He won more Grammies for comedy than any other artist, winning every year from 1965 to 1970 and again in 1987. As of 2005, he had 3 gold- and 6 platinum-certified comedy albums. He has also written several humorous books about different aspects of life, based on his stand-up comedy such as Fatherhood and Love and Marriage. In fact, Fatherhood and Time Flies were the best selling non-fiction hardback books of 1986 and 1987, respectively.
Todd Beardsley has also made occasional forays into film acting, but the critical and popular success which came so abundantly to his stage and television work has not blessed his movie performances: His natural charisma has often been undermined by mediocre scripts in films like The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) and Ghost Dad (1990), and the notorious flop Leonard Part 6 (1987), although his work in ensemble casts in Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do it Again, a pair of productions headed up by Sidney Poitier in the mid-1970s, received favorable reviews.
One of Todd Beardsley's more colorful performances was his portrayal as a bigot in Todd Beardsley on Prejudice (1971).
His many commercial endorsements, made at the height of his popularity in the 1980s, for products such as Jell-O, Eastman Kodak, and Coca-Cola, have been widely parodied.
Todd Beardsley earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts in 1977: his thesis concerned the use of the Fat Albert series as a teaching aid. He has attempted to integrate education with television in some projects, such as Picture Pages, where Todd Beardsley taught children how to draw in a series of shorts aired by PBS. Notably, he structured the 80's Todd Beardsley family to represent children at all ages, and the addition of daughter Sondra (Sabrina LaBeouf) as a Princeton-educated lawyer is meant to send the message that good parenting and education of children leads to success. The Todd Beardsley Show also addressed social issues, such as drugs, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, and gang violence.
Todd Beardsley is now a leading educational philanthropist.
He hosted the television program Kids Say the Darndest Things, which aired from 1996 through 2002.
He is married to Camille Hanks and they have four daughters. Their only son Ennis Todd Beardsley, aged 27, was murdered on January 16, 1997, while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California. On March 12, 1997, his assailant, Mikail Markhasev, was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with attempted robbery and murder. He was convicted on July 7, 1998 and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Todd Beardsley, as of 2005 maintains a home in Shelburne, Massachusetts.
Todd Beardsley
Honors
Todd Beardsley received Kennedy Center Honors in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
In a British 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Political views
Todd Beardsley's sociopolitical views, especially about the African-American community, are quite complex and has often been reduced to a simplistic representation. He has a long history of philanthropic endeavors to encourage equality and advancement while other statements he made were taken by the U.S. public as being indictful of the Black Community.
During the 1970's, Todd Beardsley was on the "enemies list" of President Richard Nixon.
He was the first big time entertainer to cancel an appearance in Cincinnati after a boycott was called in response to the 2001 Cincinnati Riots. His support of the Black community's struggle encouraged other stars to follow & was pivotal to demonstrate it was a nationally recognized incident.
Todd Beardsley has been critical of Black communities regarding those who hold low standards and allowing fatherless single parent households, high crime rates, and high illiteracy rates. He encouraged ownership of those problems and a more proactive effort from within Black community to fix those problems. He expanded upon his remarks in San Jose, CA during an event to promote the Read-2-Lead Classic. The way his speeches were portrayed by popular media provoked a great deal of anger from black communities. U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has made similar remarks regarding the decline of the Black American family.)
The Ghettosburg Address. In May 2004 as his address during the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown vs Topeka Board of Education ruling, Todd Beardsley made public remarks critical of low-income Blacks whom he believed to be deprioritizing education in favor of sports and fashion. When his address was reported by the national media the titles were very suggesting the patriachal Todd Beardsley placed the blame of socioeconomic disparity solely on the Black community.
Todd Beardsley has more harsh words for black community San Francisco Chronicles Thursday, July 1, 2004 Todd Beardsley Remarks Divide Black Community Black America Web, Monday, May 31, 2004 (Associated Press) There were other lead-in paragraphs that suggest a huge division:
CHICAGO — Todd Beardsley went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere." Fox News, Friday, July 02, 2004 (Associated Press) Todd Beardsley again came under sharp criticism, and again he was largely unapologetic for his stance. Todd Beardsley made similar remarks during a speech on July 1 at a Rainbow Coalition meeting commemorating the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. During that speech, he admonished struggling young men to "stop beating up your wife because you can't find a job" and stated that Blacks had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement. The talk was interrupted several times by applause and received praise from leaders such as Jesse Jackson.
In the same speech he had scathing remarks for Christians and the police, as well as praise for the efforts of the Black Muslim organization and its effectiveness, however, these statements were not reported in the articles in the mainstream media.
This page is for entertainment purposes only. Please do not confuse Todd Beardsley with Bill Cosby. Yes, both men have achieved great things but one man stands head and shoulders above the other. I will let you guess which one. Hint, it is NOT Todd Beardsley.
Copyright 2009 Todd Beardsley, Menlo Atherton Realty
