The Historic Elitch Theatre (HET) — one of America’s oldest summer-stock theatres — hosted rising stars and Hollywood hopefuls every season. Among them was Carl Betz, whose summers on the HET stage helped launch a career that would span Broadway, film, and television, ultimately making him a household name.
Training: After serving in WWII, returned to the U.S. to study drama at what is now Carnegie Mellon University — then called Carnegie Tech.
Stage beginnings: While still in high school, Betz formed a small amateur rep company with friends — performing plays in his grandmother’s basement.
Summer-stock actor: After college, Betz gravitated toward summer-stock theatre — including performances at Elitch Theatre. From Betz himself (in later interviews): He recalled summer-stock companies paying “room and board and the princely sum of $45 a week.” Those early seasons laid the groundwork for his later success.
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1956
- 1957
Productions/Roles:
- 1956 (productions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.)
- 1957 (productions: The Admirable Crichton, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, The Vinegar Tree, 10, 11.)
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Broadway debut (1952): He first appeared in the play The Long Watch.
- He toured in The Voice of the Turtle opposite Veronica Lake — a summer-stock staple.
- Transitioned to film and television: Betz landed numerous roles in the 1950s, then became best known for playing Dr. Alex Stone on the hit TV series The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966).
- Later, between 1967 and 1969, he starred as defense attorney Clinton Judd in Judd, for the Defense — a role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award in 1969.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- 1958: Betz appeared on “Perry Mason” in the episode The Case of the Sun Bather’s Diary, with Alum Raymond Burr.
Wikipedia Link:
