Beverly Tyler (born Beverly Jean Saul, July 5, 1927 – November 23, 2005), was an American film actress and singer who was a minor

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

leading lady who appeared in mostly B movies in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early years

Tyler was born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, on July 5, 1927, the daughter of a secretary and factory employee, who secured piano and music lessons for their daughter at a young age. She was reared in adjacent

Dunmore, Pennsylvania Dunmore is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, adjoining Scranton. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1862. Extensive anthracite coal, brick, stone, and silk interests ha ...

, attended Central High School; her parents and she were devout Methodists who were active in the Dunmore Methodist Church, where Beverly sang in the choir. When she was 14 years old, Tyler passed screen and voice tests and was informed, "you're a movie actress."

Film and television

Tyler debuted in films billed as Beverly Jean Saul in ''

The Youngest Profession ''The Youngest Profession'' is a 1943 film directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Virginia Weidler, Edward Arnold, John Carroll, Scotty Beckett, and Agnes Moorehead. Based on a short story series and book written by Lillian Day, it contains ...

'' (1943). She worked in over 30 motion pictures between 1943 and 1957, including '' The Green Years'' (1946), '' My Brother Talks to Horses'' (1947), '' The Fireball'' (1950), '' Voodoo Island'' (1957), '' Toughest Gun in Tombstone'' (1958), and '' Hong Kong Confidential'' (1958). In 1953, Tyler played Lorelei Kilbourne on the television program ''

Big Town ''Big Town'' is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had p ...

''. She also was seen on TV in ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', and ''

Hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

''. She was considered for the roles of Betty Schaefer in ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'' (1950), Eve Harrington in ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story (and subsequent 1949 radio drama) "The Wisdom of E ...

'' (1950), Georgie Elgin in '' The Country Girl'' (1954), and Marylee Hadley in ''

Written on the Wind ''Written on the Wind'' is a 1956 American Southern Gothic melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. It follows the complicated relationships among dysfunctional family ...

'' (1956), but never got any of these parts.

Stage

Tyler appeared on Broadway during her teenaged years as the female lead in the 1945 production ''The Firebird of Florence''.

Later years

Tyler's last appearance on the small screen was in 1961, and for the next few decades, she focused on marriage and motherhood, and was a mainstay on the local theatre and supper-club circuit in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

until her retirement in 1990. She did return to her native Scranton/Dunmore area in 1950 to promote her picture ''The Fireball'' and was given the key to the city by then-Mayor James T. Hanlon, and she also went back to spend a few weeks in 1990 after her retirement to visit her old neighborhood with a childhood friend with whom she had kept in touch.

Personal life

During her time in Hollywood, Tyler was well known as a "girl about town" being seen at some of Tinsel Town's most popular nightclubs with such leading men as

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...

, and

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president Jo ...

. Tyler was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

and supported

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

's campaign during the 1952 presidential election. In May 1962, she married Jim Jordan, Jr., the son of the famed 1930s radio couple

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime American husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most popular ...

, and had a son and three daughters. They remained married until his death in December 1998.

Death

Tyler died under her married name of Beverly Jordan on November 23, 2005, in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, from a pulmonary embolism, and was laid to rest at Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery in Reno, Nevada.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Beverly 1927 births 2005 deaths Actors from Scranton, Pennsylvania American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from Pennsylvania American musical theatre actresses Musicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania Western (genre) film actresses Western (genre) television actors Methodists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century American actresses Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American women memoirists