Known on Bay Area radio airwaves for his compelling work at KSFO, KCBS, and KKHI, Scott Beach was also an actor (appearing notably in American Graffiti, The Right Stuff, Bullitt, Stand By Me and Mrs. Doubtfire), as well as the voice of “Garfield” in the original television show featuring that character.
Beach was born in Portland, OR and graduated from Oregon’s Lewis and Clark College. A Fulbright scholarship took him to Paris to study music and acting at the National Conservatory. He learned French and did some film dubbing and radio work in Paris. Upon returning to the United States, Beach taught briefly at Concordia College in Minnesota. During a late-1950s spell as a struggling actor in New York, he was offered a radio job in Minneapolis. That led to an opportunity at KCBS and the beginning of a love affair with San Francisco.
Scott Beach was a fabled man-about-town, a founder of the long-running improv troupe “The Committee”, and a longtime performer in the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.
He passed away in 1996 at the age of 65.