Beckman appeared in well over 100 productions in the United States and Canada, including recurring roles as Commander Paul Richards in the 1954 Flash Gordon space opera television series, Bob Mulligan in the ABC sitcom I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, George Anderson in the television adaptation of Peyton Place, Captain Clancey in the Western comedy-drama Here Come the Brides, Harry Mark on Bronk, conniving United States Army Colonel Douglas Harrigan in McHale's Navy, Colonel Platt in the 1965 movie McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, and as a sheriff in an episode of Rango.

He made a guest appearance as Cody on Honey West "A Matter of Wife and Death" (episode 4) in 1965.

In the 1980s he appeared in Kane & Abel, played the security guard Alf on the Don Adams sitcom Check It Out!, and was also a non-celebrity contestant on the TV game show Scrabble.

He continued to act through his late seventies on shows like The Commish and MacGyver, and he had a recurring role in The X-Files for several seasons.

[2] He served with the Canadian Army during World War II, including the D-Day Landings at Juno Beach, Normandy, on 6 June 1944.