Born Alvin Scott Beach, he appeared in numerous motion pictures, most notably as a German scientist patterned after Wernher von Braun in The Right Stuff.
Beach was an early and beloved performer at the original Renaissance Pleasure Faires in Agoura and Novato, California, where for many years he portrayed the Lord Mayor of the Shire and was a mentor and an inspiration to many aspiring actors.
During a radio broadcast on January 28, 1973, he reported that the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam had been signed on the previous day in Paris, France.
Beach twice served as the narrator in performances of Arthur Honegger's King David with the Masterworks Chorale of San Mateo, California.
[2] Beach also provided the voice of the comic strip cat Garfield in the character's first television appearance in the 1980 anthology special The Fantastic Funnies; he was later replaced in that role by Lorenzo Music.