Ed Begley Jr. has been acting for over 50 years. He’s appeared in many films and TV shows like Better Call Saul. He currently plays the nerdy physics professor, Dr. Grant Linkletter on the hit sitcom Young Sheldon.
His acting genes come from his father, Ed Begley Sr., who appeared in classic films such as 12 Angry Men and Sweet Bird of Youth, for which he won an Academy Award.
Despite his father’s success, young Ed had a very discouraging start in Hollywood, only getting bit parts for a number of years.
He was about to give up his dream of acting and leave L.A. when he got a call to play Dr. Victor Ehrlich on a new medical drama called St. Elsewhere, which was a precursor to ER and Chicago Hope. St. Elsewhere, which ran from 1982 – 1988, literally jump started Ed Begley Jr.’s career.
While acting is in Ed’s blood, environmental activism is what makes his heart tick.
In 1970, long before An Inconvenient Truth educated the world about global warming, and long before it was cool to be green, Ed Begley Jr. was recycling his garbage, driving his first electric vehicle, and eating vegan. And he was only 21 years old!
When scientists were sounding the alarm that climate change was dire and their message was largely being ignored, Ed was speaking out about the horrible air quality in Los Angeles, and riding to Hollywood events like the Academy Awards on a bicycle. He says being labeled “a kook” adversely affected the acting roles he was offered.
Today things are very different, and Ed is recognized as a well-respected leader in the eco-movement.
Ed Begley Jr. was one of the first people in Hollywood to start talking about the need to protect our environment. He has worked tirelessly to bring environmental awareness to the masses. He is a true green pioneer.”
– Leonardo DiCaprio
Ed has a greater sense of social obligation than anyone I know. He’s like a West Coast cadet who gets up every morning and says ‘reporting for duty.’”
– Bobby Kennedy Jr.
I asked Ed why so many people are reluctant to make changes in their lifestyle even though the planet is facing a crisis that may permanently alter life as we know it.
“It’s human nature to stay with what we think works. Fear of the unknown is great, and we think we’re going to perish. But we have the intellectual ability to recognize that while the brain is saying we shouldn’t change, staying the course isn’t a good idea. The facts dictate that we need to make some radical changes to survive. It’s hard, but we did it with the computer age. The space program was also a radical decision. Now we need to make some radical changes about how we get our energy.
“We’re learning lessons now about our excesses and our emphasis on consumerism and trying to get satisfaction from more and more stuff. I believe that like an alcoholic, we will bottom out and have a belly full of it.
“Many Americans have joined the “Voluntary Simplicity Movement,” because they’ve ceased to get satisfaction from their second home, their fourth car, or ninth TV. It’s not getting them high anymore. They spend less time with their families and more time commuting to work so they can buy more stuff they don’t need. If stuff made you happy, there would be nothing but happy people living in Bel Air and unhappy people living in the bush.
“For me, luxury is being able to do what I want, when I want. Some people think it’s about having a huge house; that’s not my definition. By Hollywood standards, it’s like, ‘What happened to Ed? He’s in this tiny house.’ By world standards, this is a palace.”
Living within our means may seem like dry subject matter, but it’s fertile ground to me, because so few of us are doing it. Most of us are mortgaging our children’s future so we can be comfortable today. That kind of theft brings up great passion in me. It’s taken millions of years to create fossil fuels, which is simply solar power stored in the form of crude oil and coal, and we are blowing through it in 250 years. It’s so short sighted.”
– Ed Begley Jr.
Here is a recent video of Ed talking about his dad, his acting career, his Hollywood friends, including Meryl Streep, and his line of eco-friendly cleaning products.
To read the full interview I did with Ed for Luxury Las Vegas magazine, check out Up Close and Personal with Ed Begley Jr.
Ed devotes time to organizations like the Environmental Media Association, Tree People, Friends of the Earth, the Walden Woods Project, which was founded by musician Don Henley, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and many others.
We all need to do our part. As the Native Americans say, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”