Beverly Wills
Beverly Wills (June 7, 1933 – October 24, 1963) was an American television and film actress.
Beverly Wills | |
|---|---|
 Wills and Tom Peters on the set of I Married Joan, 1954. | |
| Born | Beverly Josephine Williams June 7, 1933 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 24, 1963 (aged 30) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | House fire |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse(s) | Lee Bamber
( m. 1952; div. 1953)Alan Grossman
( m. 1954; div. 1958)Martin Colbert
( m. 1960) |
| Children | 2 |
Biography
She was born in 1933 as Beverly Josephine Williams in Los Angeles to actress and comedian Joan Davis and actor and writer Si Wills. Wills made her film debut in George White's Scandals (1945) when she was 11 years old.[1] Mickey (1948) followed three years later.
In 1952, at the age of 18, Wills appeared with her mother and Jim Backus in the TV comedy, I Married Joan (1952–55). She played the younger sister of her real-life mother.[2] After the series ended its run, Wills appeared in only four more films including Some Like It Hot (1959) and Son of Flubber (1963).
Wills married three times before the age of 30. Her first marriage was to Lee Bamber, a Pasadena fireman, in 1952. Bamber and Wills eloped to Carson City, Nevada. The couple divorced in 1953. She was later married to Alan Grossman on July 12, 1954; the couple had two sons. Wills and Grossman divorced and she was remarried to Martin Colbert.[3][4][5]
On October 24, 1963, Wills died in a house fire with her grandmother, Nina Davis, and both children from her second marriage, sons Guy (age 7) and Larry (age 4) Grossman. The fire started due to the 30-year-old Wills smoking in bed.[3][6][7] Her mother, Joan, had previously died from a heart attack, at age 53, in 1961.[8]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Anaesthesia | Little girl | Short, Uncredited |
| 1945 | George White's Scandals | Joan as a child | |
| 1948 | Raw Deal | Girl | Uncredited |
| Mickey | Cathy Williams | ||
| 1952 | Skirts Ahoy! | Boots | Uncredited |
| 1953 | Small Town Girl | Deidre | |
| The Life of Riley | Audrey | 1 episode | |
| 1953-1955 | I Married Joan | Beverly Grossman | 5 episodes |
| 1954 | The Student Prince | Flirt | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Millionaire | Barbara | Episode: "The Louise Williams Story" |
| The People's Choice | Mandy's girlfriend | Episode: "Sock and the Mayor's Election" | |
| 1957 | Matinee Theater | Episode: "Out of the Frying Pan" | |
| Tales of Wells Fargo | Sissy Stillwell | Episode: "Man in the Box" | |
| 1958 | Date with the Angels | Episode: "Wheeler at the Cabin" | |
| Buckskin | Cassie | Episode: "Lament for Durango" | |
| 1959 | Some Like It Hot | Dolores | |
| 1961 | The Ladies Man | Miss Hypochondriac | |
| 1962 | The Tall Man | Episode: "The Impatient Brides" | |
| 1963 | Son of Flubber | Mother in commercial | |
| Vacation Playhouse | Clara Boone | Episode: "Hooray for Love" | |
| Petticoat Junction | Mrs. Norton | Episode: "Uncle Joe's Replacement" | |
| 1964 | Mister Ed | Judy Price | Episode: "Ed the Shish Kebab", (final appearance) |
References
- "Beverly Wills' Stage Goal: Be Herself". The Milwaukee Sentinel. July 4, 1948. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- Bloom, Ken; Vlastnik, Frank; Lithgow, John (2007). Sitcoms: The 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time. Black Dog Publishing. p. 177. ISBN 1-57912-752-5.
- "Fire Kills Joan Davis' Relatives". The Evening Independent. October 24, 1963. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- "Joan Davis' Daughter Elopes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 27, 1952. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- "Beverly Wills, Actress, Weds". Herald-Journal. July 12, 1954. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- "Fire Kills 4 Members Of Joan Davis Family". St Petersburg Times. October 25, 1963. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- "Fire Kills Joan Davis' Kin". The Milwaukee Journal. October 24, 1963. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- Tucker, David C. (2007). The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms. McFarland. p. 91. ISBN 0-7864-2900-3.
