Beverly Tyler was a film actress and singer who appeared in mostly B movies in the 1940s and 1950s. She was known for her sweet-faced and innocent persona, and for her roles in The Green Years, The Fireball, and Voodoo Island. She retired from acting in 1962 after marrying Jim Jordan Jr., the son of the famous radio couple Fibber McGee and Molly. She died on November 23, 2005, in Reno, Nevada, from a pulmonary embolism. She was 78 years old.
Early Life and Career
Beverly Tyler was born as Beverly Jean Saul on July 5, 1927, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Her parents were a secretary and a factory employee, who secured piano and music lessons for their daughter at a young age. She was raised in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, where she attended Central High School and sang in the choir of the Dunmore Methodist Church Wikipedia.
She moved to Hollywood with her mother when she was 14 years old, and passed screen and voice tests that led to her first film role in The Youngest Profession (1943). She was given the stage name of Beverly Tyler by MGM, and signed a contract with the studio. She appeared in several films for MGM, including The Green Years (1946), where she played the love interest of Tom Drake IMDb.
She also appeared on Broadway in the musical The Firebrand of Florence (1945), and sang on various TV shows such as Cavalcade of Stars and Shower of Stars. She was considered for some major roles in films such as Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Country Girl, and Written on the Wind, but never got any of them Wikipedia.
Later Years and Personal Life
Beverly Tyler left MGM in 1950, and worked for other studios such as Universal and Columbia. She starred in some westerns, such as The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and The Cimarron Kid (1952), opposite Audie Murphy. She also appeared in some horror films, such as Voodoo Island (1957) with Boris Karloff, and Hong Kong Confidential (1958) with Gene Barry IMDb.
She made her last film appearance in 1958, and her last TV appearance in 1961. She decided to retire from acting after marrying Jim Jordan Jr., a comedy writer and director, in 1962. They had a son, James W. Jordan, and three stepdaughters. They moved to Reno, Nevada, in 1972, where Jordan became a developer Wikipedia.
Beverly Tyler was a Democrat and supported Adlai Stevenson’s campaign during the 1952 presidential election Wikipedia. She was also known for dating some of Hollywood’s leading men, such as Mickey Rooney, Rory Calhoun, Peter Lawford, and Tom Drake IMDb.
She died under her married name of Beverly Jordan on November 23, 2005, in Reno, Nevada, from a pulmonary embolism. She was laid to rest at Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery in Reno Wikipedia.
Legacy and Trivia
Beverly Tyler is remembered as a minor but charming actress who had a promising career that was cut short by her early retirement. She is also remembered for her guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show (1961), where she played Gladys Stevens, a love interest for Barney Fife (Don Knotts) Outsider.
Some trivia about Beverly Tyler are:
- She was a distant cousin of President John Tyler Wikipedia.
- She was one of the first actresses to wear contact lenses on screen Backstage.
- She once tested for the role of Kathryn Grayson in That Midnight Kiss (1949), opposite Mario Lanza IMDb.
- She returned to her hometown of Scranton/Dunmore in 1950 to promote her film The Fireball (1950), and received the key to the city from then-Mayor James T. Hanlon Wikipedia.
