Beyer was a German director and screenwriter. He worked as an assistant director and dramaturge in two local theatres. In 1952, he began studying drama in Berlin and soon transferred to directing at the FAMU in Prague. During his studies he worked as an assistant director on films produced by the Easter German film studio DEFA. He graduated in 1957 with the acclaimed Zwei Mütter and began working for DEFA as an independent associate, which allowed him to choose his own projects. His next film An Old Love (Eine alte Liebe, 1959) was not as successful as the first one, but Five Cartridges (Fünf Patronenhülsen, 1960) was well accepted by both audiences and critics. He continued to deal with anti-fascist topics in Invincible Love (Königskinder, 1962) and Naked Among Wolves (Nackt unter Wölfen, 1963). He made a comedy Carbide and Sorrel (Karbid und Sauerampfer, 1963), and his next film The Trace of Stones (Spur der Steine, 1966) was banned from distribution only three days after its premiere and was not available for viewing until 1989. After that, he was forbidden to make any more films and continued his career on television and in theatre. He returned to films in 1974 with the war drama Jacob the Liar (Jakob, der Lügner, 1974), which was the only East German film nominated for an Oscar. Shortly before finishing his film The Hiding Place (Das Versteck, 1978) Beyer and the leading actors wrote a protest letter because the government repealed citizenship to the singer and dissident Wolf Biermann. Thus, Beyer is once again forbidden to work for the DEFA Studio and the film is banned from distribution. Shortly after his next TV film Geschlossene Gesellschaft (1978) Beyer was forbidden from working on the East German Television and in 1980 continues his career in West Germany making TV films. In 1982, he once again directed films for DEFA; the controversial The Turning Point (Der Aufenthalt, 1983) and Bockshorn (1984) made in the USA and on Cuba. After Der Bruch (1989) he directed The Suspicion (Der Verdacht, 1991), his last DEFA film for cinema distribution. From then until 1998, he worked exclusively as a TV director.