Character actor Beau Starr, known to movie fans for Goodfellas and the Halloween franchise, has died at the age of 81. He began his public career as a football player under the name Bill Starr, spending three seasons on the taxi league of the New York Jets.
After his time in the NFL, he pivoted to acting in his 30s and landed his role as the tough-minded Sheriff Ben Meeker in the fourth and fifth Halloween movies. In 1990, he featured in Goodfellas as the father of mafioso Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta amid a cast including Lorraine Bracco, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. A memorable early scene in the film shows Starr's character beating his son with a belt for playing truant from school for months amid his drift into organized crime.
Starr died peacefully of natural causes at home in Vancouver on April 24, his younger brother and fellow actor Mike Starr shared this week with TMZ. Mike hailed his late elder brother as 'very unique and special,' describing him as a major influence on him who helped their parents raise him.
Born in New York City in 1944, Beau Starr played college football upstate at Hofstra and, after his time with the New York Jets, joined the Canadian Football League. He was already in his mid-30s by the time he embarked on his acting career, beginning in 1980 with the Canadian sketch comedy show Bizarre. Over the course of its run, the series featured such comic talents as Bob Einstein — later known as Marty Funkhauser on Curb Your Enthusiasm — and Howie Mandel.
