Edward James "Ed" Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949)[1] is an American actor and environmental activist.

Equally prolific in cinema, Begley's film appearances include Blue Collar (1978), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Transylvania 6-5000 (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), She-Devil (1989), Batman Forever (1995), and Pineapple Express (2008).

He is a recurring cast member in the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, including Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016).

He has played significant roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and Mascots.

Additionally, Begley played Viper pilot Greenbean on the original Battlestar Galactica TV series, Boba Fett in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi, and Seth Gillette, a fictional Democratic U.S. senator from North Dakota on The West Wing.

[6] In 1996, he appeared in a TV movie called The Late Shift, where he portrayed CBS executive Rod Perth.

[9] Begley played Dr. Walter Krandall, the protagonist's former marriage counselor and fiancé of his ex-wife in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried.

[17] Begley's former home is 1,585 square feet (147.3 m2) in size, using solar power, wind power via a PacWind vertical-axis wind turbine, an air conditioning unit made by Greenway Design Group, LLC., and an electricity-generating bicycle used to toast bread.

[19] He is noted for riding bicycles and using public transportation, and owns a 2003 Toyota RAV4 EV electric-powered vehicle.

According to another of Groening's animated comedy series, Futurama, Begley's electric motor is "the most evil propulsion system ever conceived" as stated in "The Honking" (19 minutes in).

He announced the final showcase, which included an electric bicycle, a solar-powered golf cart and a Toyota Prius.

Various celebrities drove an electric Ford Focus automobile and tried to set records on an outdoor track.

During the second lap, cutouts of Begley and Al Gore would pop out, and if the celebrity had hit either of them, one second was added to his or her time.

[25] From 2007 to 2010, Begley and his wife Rachelle Carson starred in their own reality television series, Living with Ed on HGTV and Discovery's Planet Green channel.

[33] He received the Thomas Alva Edison Award for Energy Independence from the American Jewish Congress, the first one to be presented.

Begley was also on the advisory committee for the group 2004 Racism Watch, founded by fellow actor Ed Asner.

The advertisement in question, "100 Days", made a reference to terrorism and terrorists while highlighting a photograph of an anonymous man of Middle Eastern descent.

Elsewhere series lead, William Daniels, met Begley's father when the two were working on live television.

I rode on the coattails of Bill Daniels... the kind of Mutt and Jeff routine of Dr. Craig looking up and berating a 6 foot 4 doctor Victor Ehrlich.

In a 2014 interview with Jimmy Falcon of Cloverleaf Radio, he said this about Lloyd: Not only did I enjoy working with him, but I see him fairly regularly.

Now look at Janis Joplin, what a great voice and Jim Morrison, those people left us so young, like my point of view has change somewhere, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, saying, 'No, you idolized Jimmy Stewart, Gloria Swanson.'