Beverly Tyler
This relatively obscure, sweet-faced "B" level ingénue of the post-war 40s and 50s was born Beverly Jean Saul of modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on July 5, 1927. Her mother was a secretary who secured piano and music lessons for her young daughter. Her father was employed with a typewriter company. As a teenager Beverly made her singing debut on radio. Moving to Hollywood with her mother, she was groomed by MGM at the ripe old age of 14 and made her first picture with a bit part in The Youngest Profession (1943) using her real name. She was given the more attractive marquee name of "Beverly Tyler" before the ink had barely dried on her contract. Her career showed some signs of improvement after appearing opposite Tom Drake in The Green Years (1946) and Peter Lawford in the lightweight comedy My Brother Talks to Horses (1947), but then she was forced to wait out a lull.
Strangely enough, other than for a brief singing bit in Best Foot Forward (1943), Beverly was never promoted in musicals by MGM, or any other studio for that matter -- although she did test once for the Kathryn Grayson part in That Midnight Kiss (1949) starring Mario Lanza. She did, however, appear in the short-lived Kurt Weill musical "The Firebrand of Florence" on Broadway in 1945, and performed in the musical "Miss Liberty" in Los Angeles in 1950. Beverly also sang on TV on such variety shows as "Cavalcade of Stars" and "Shower of Stars."
She returned to the camera after a three-year absence in 1950 with Mickey Rooney in The Fireball (1950), and in another horse film, Hills of the Brave (1950). Most of the roles offered had her playing an altruistic love interest amid rugged surroundings in such western adventures as The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and The Cimarron Kid (1952). She made only a handful of films over the course of her career, which effectively ended once Voodoo Island (1957) and Hong Kong Confidential (1958) were in the can. A serviceable co-star, little attempt was made by the Hollywood powers-that-be to effectively challenge her multiple talents.
Although she dated the likes of Tom Drake, Peter Lawford, Audie Murphy, Mickey Rooney and Rory Calhoun, this lovely sparrow did not settle down in marriage until 1962 when she wed comedy writer/director Jim Jordan, Jr. ("The Colgate Comedy Hour"), who was the son of the famous "Fibber McGee & Molly" radio couple. Beverly instantly retired from the business and together the couple produced a son. The only performing she has done over the years was to appear in a few local theater productions in Reno, Nevada, having moved there in 1972. Her husband later became a developer. Beverly died at age 78 of a pulmonary embolism on November 23, 2005, and was survived by her son, James W. Jordan, and three step-daughters.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.7002 |
| Birthday | 1927-07-05 |
| Place of Birth | Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Also Known As | Beverly Jean Saul, |
1952
The Cimarron Kid
6.109/23
Audie Murphy comes into his own as a Western star in this story. Wrongly accused by crooked railroad officials of aiding a train heist by his old frie...
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The Cimarron Kid
1957
Voodoo Island
4.587/23
A wealthy industrialist hires the renowned hoax-buster Phillip Knight to prove that an island he plans to develop isn't voodoo cursed. However, arrivi...
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Voodoo Island
1957
Chicago Confidential
5/19
In the Windy City, the mob infiltrates a powerful union.
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Chicago Confidential
1947
The Beginning or the End
6.375/12
The research, development, and deployment of the first atomic bomb, as well as the bombing of Hiroshima, are detailed in this docudrama.
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The Beginning or the End
1950
The Fireball
6/11
Johnny Casar runs away from the orphanage to start a successful career as a roller skater and after setbacks learns to curb his ruthlessness and ambit...
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The Fireball
1946
The Green Years
6.438/16
An orphaned young boy is guided by his great-grandfather and strives to go to university to become a doctor. However, the boy's harsh grandfather stan...
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The Green Years
1943
The Youngest Profession
5/7
Best friends Joan and Patricia are teenage autograph seekers who spend most of their day bumping into and having tea with movie stars like Greer Garso...
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The Youngest Profession
1958
Hong Kong Confidential
5.9/5
An undercover U.S. agent searches for an Arab ruler's son kidnapped by communists in Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong Confidential
1947
My Brother Talks to Horses
7.5/2
Living with his family in Baltimore, 9-year-old Lewie Penrose claims that he can converse with horses--and also pick the winners of upcoming races. Wh...
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My Brother Talks to Horses
1950
The Palomino
10/1
A young man helps a pretty girl search for her stolen horse. (A society boy tries to help a beautiful woman save her horse-breeding farm.)
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The Palomino
1958
The Toughest Gun in Tombstone
6.5/4
A lawman goes undercover in order to capture the outlaws who murdered his wife.
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The Toughest Gun in Tombstone
1944
Bathing Beauty
5.894/33
After breaking up with her fiancé, a gym teacher returns to work at a women's college, but a legal loophole allows him to enroll as one of her student...
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Bathing Beauty
1952
The Battle at Apache Pass
6.5/19
Major Jim Colton is a sympathetic leader who has a working relationship with Apache leader Cochise. Colton is undermined by corrupt and politically am...
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The Battle at Apache Pass
1943
Best Foot Forward
6.8/5
Bud Hooper, a cadet at Winsocki Military Academy, sends an invitation to movie star Lucille Ball to come to Winsocki's big dance. Ball's publicity-hun...
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Best Foot Forward
1952
Night Without Sleep
5.818/11
Upon awaking in the morning, a man finds his thoughts clouded by the possibility that he committed a murder.
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