In the end, Beatty's talents garnered him $5 million in wealth, per Celebrity Net Worth. This might seem less than excepted given his prodigious film output, but Beatty's earnings were more than enough to sustain him into his late life, especially considering that he more or less retired after his final role in 2013's "Baggage Claim."
Beatty's theatricality, and versatility, as an actor had roots in his upbringing in the Protestant Disciples of Christ Christian Church. Born Ned Thomas Beatty in 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky, Beatty said to the Associated Press, "The preaching was very often theatrical." Beatty thought he might have turned to preaching himself, actually, had he not gravitated toward theater. He said of acting, "It was where people got down to their truest emotions and talked about things they didn't talk about in everyday life."
Growing up, per the Hollywood Reporter, Beatty sung in everything from weddings to barbershop quartets to Baptist revivals. After graduating high school in 1955, he attended Transylvania University, a private Christian school, and joined Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. He traveled and performed with them for 10 years and performed with the Arena Stage Company in Washington, D.C., for eight years. Roles in "The Great White Hope," "Uncle Vanya," and "Death of a Salesman" led to his Hollywood break in 1972's "Deliverance."
Beatty is survived by Sandra Johnson, his fourth wife, and eight children: Wally, Jon, Thomas, Dorothy, Blossom, Doug, and twins Charles and Lennis.
