Carl Betz

Carl Lawrence Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American stage, film and television actor.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Betz participated in childhood theatricals and later worked in summer stock. He graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1939 and then served in the military. Following military service, he graduated from Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh and made his Broadway debut in 1952. He appeared in the CBS television soap opera, Love of Life, but is best remembered for having played Donna Reed's television husband, Dr. Alex Stone, from 1958 to 1966 in the ABC sitcom, The Donna Reed Show. Between 1967 and 1969, he played defense attorney Clinton Judd in ABC's Judd for the Defense, and won an Emmy Award in 1969 for his work. He died at the age of 56 of lung cancer.

Early years

Growing up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Betz began his acting career unofficially in grammar school when he formed a theatrical company with friends, performing plays in his grandmother's basement. After graduating from Mount Lebanon High School, in 1939, he won a scholarship to Duquesne University. During the summer, Betz performed in a Pittsburgh summer stock company and decided to transfer to Carnegie Mellon University, then known as Carnegie Tech, in Pittsburgh to study drama. His education was interrupted when, in 1942, he was drafted into the United States Army. He served in Italy and North Africa during World War II and eventually became a technical sergeant with the Corps of Engineers.