One of the few actors in my Where Are They Now Halloween series that has had an outstanding career in television for over thirty years, and one that far eclipses his career in films.
Beau Starr was born in New York during September 1944. His career began in 1980, at the age of 36, when he booked his first role on sketch-comedy show, “Bizarre.” This lead to many more guest spots on various television shows including “Seeing Things” in 1981, “T.J. Hooker” in 1982, “Three’s Company,” “Knight Rider,” and “The A-Team” in 1983, “Hill Street Blues” in 1984, “MacGyver” in 1986, and “Matlock” in 1987. His first movie role – Summer School with Mark Harmon and Kristie Alley – came in 1987, and his biggest role for horror fans, playing Sheriff Ben Meeker in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) came in the following years.
Sheriff Ben Meeker became the sheriff of Haddonfield after Sheriff Leigh Brackett retired and left town. On Halloween night he meets Dr. Sam Loomis on the streets of Haddonfield. Loomis tries to warn Meeker that Michael Myers has returned, but Meeker doesn’t believe him until it is revealed that six people have already been murdered. At that moment he sends calls out to warn the town. Together they find Rachel Carruthers and Jamie Lloyd and, after finding that everyone at the police station had been butchered, Ben Meeker takes everyone back to his own house so he can look after them there. Overzealous locals on the hunt for Michael Myers accidently kill an innocent man, causing Meeker to leave the house to investigate. Of course once this happens Michael kills his daughter Kelly, her friend Brady, and another police officer. Later that evening, Meeker and the locals find Rachel and Jamie as they are locked in a struggle with Michael Myers. They open fire on the murderer, shooting hundreds of rounds into him, causing him to fall into a watery grave and presumably ending him once and for all.
He eventually takes Rachel and Jamie back to their parents’ house. He’s about to leave when he hears screams coming from upstairs. Dr. Loomis is the first to react and finds Jamie at the top of the stairs with a bloody knife, having stabbed her adoptive mother. Dr. Loomis tries to shoot Jamie, but is restrained by Meeker. One year later Meeker and Dr. Loomis begin to realize Michael Myers has returned after a 9-year-old’s grave had been dug up from a cemetery. Later that evening Meeker, Loomis, and other police officers arrive at the Tower Farm party to find some of the partiers to had been butchered. Fearing Michael’s return, they head to his childhood home to stand guard incase he heads there next. After a little switcheroo, Meeker is present to witness Michael’s “arrest.” At the end of the carnage, Meeker is gunned down by a man in black who frees Michael from jail and opens things up for the next movie, Halloween 6.
Coming off of Halloween franchise fame, Beau Starr resumed his television career and booked a recurring role on “True Blue” from 1989 – 1990 and a guest spot on “Hard Ball” in 1990 and “Street Justice” in 1992. During this time he also booked a small part in Oscar Winning Goodfellas (1990), horror-thrillers Murderous Vision (1991) and Dead Silence (1991), and 2x Oscar Winning Speed (1994). All of these roles saw Starr playing a police chief, captain, or other law official.
Then it was back to business and Beau Starr continued to establish his career as a “must have” in television. His next rules included guest spots on “Murder She Wrote” in 1992, “Due South” in 1994, “The Outer Limits” in 1995, “NYPD Blue” in 1996, and “Total Recall 2070” in 1999.
So, where is Beau Starr now?
His television roles continued well into the new millennium. These guest spots consisted of “Relic Hunter” in 2001, “Earth: Final Conflict” in 2002, “The 4400” and “Masters of Horror” in 2005, “Stephen King’s The Dead Zone” in 2006, and “Psyche” in 2013. His most recent film roles include action-comedy Code Name: The Cleaner in 2007 and scifi’s Final Days of Planet Earth in 2006.
