Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 1

This is the first of two features about Beverly Washburn. You can read my interview with her here.

First off, I’d like to thank Beverly Washburn who graciously lent her valuable time in collaborating with me and guiding me to make this a proper tribute.

Two times a year (every April and October) I get to ramble through the crowds of unwavering fans at The Chiller Theater Convention here in New Jersey.

These events allow us to meet and engage in conversations with beloved actors who stir up a sense of nostalgia for their classic films and television roles, all having now achieved cult status. We celebrate these fond memories and possess a vast appreciation for the legacy of their work. We go to Chiller fanatical about these guests. Some may be a bit austere, but so many are incredibly gracious, funny, down to earth, and grateful for our devotion.

In October of 2023, I went to spend time with my friend Sara Karloff. but also to get the chance to meet someone I’ve had a long-time fan affection for: Beverly Washburn.

Beverly turned out to be a charming, kind, and genuine person who still possesses that unique intonation to her voice. She has the same sweetness and organically winsome smile she had as a young actor. And I would be careless if I didn’t state up front that she is also a champion of animals and has become a true friend.

She might be legendary for her adeptness at weeping, but she can also laugh on a dime. Her laughter comes off without a hitch. It’s a very natural practice for her, showing her marvelous sense of humor with a lightness that flickers from her blue eyes.

Her biography Reel Tears: The Beverly Washburn Story ‘Take Two’ ( click the link to purchase) is filled with truly poignant, humorous, and engaging anecdotes about the golden age of Hollywood and beyond. Her writing is refreshing, delightful, and unpretentious. But she is also a courageous writer who shares with bare honesty her very personal journey sometimes tinged with tragedy and her productive career in television growing up as a beloved child actor. Her memoirs include an affectionate forward by her friend Tony Dow of Leave It To Beaver fame.

During the golden years of Hollywood, Beverly Washburn graced the silver screen as a luminary child actor in the 1950s and 1960s. She found the careful balance between comedy and ‘real tears’ with the uncanny gift of crying on cue.

A consummate performer, she effortlessly cut across the terrain of both humor and drama, leaving an everlasting mark on the hearts of her audience.

Beverly as Lisbeth Searcy in Old Yeller (1957).

Not only is she the timeless muse who appeared in some of the most cherished movies of the time, but during the Golden Age when television was redefining American culture, Beverly appeared in countless shows as a natural whenever she was featured in the storyline. She always summoned the ability to adopt a serious mood or show with an aptitude for humor that began the moment she stepped on the stage with comedian Jack Benny in 1952. As a favorite child actor during the rise of live television in the 1950s, the little blonde pixie eventually grew into a very pretty ingenue taking the teen fan magazines by storm in the 1960s.

Beverly Washburn appeared in nearly 100 television shows. During her Hollywood years, many of her feature films were nominated for Academy Awards. She worked with some of the most notable directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, George Stevens, and Frank Capra. She also worked alongside some of the greatest Hollywood actresses including Jane Wyman, Anne Baxter, Piper Laurie, Dorothy McGuire, and Barbara Stanwyck.

She was the girl who could not only cry on cue but could reduce the audience to tears. Often asked how she was able to cry so easily on screen, she has said in interviews that she’s overly sensitive and just tried to put herself in the character’s place in that situation.

Talking to her now, she feels extremely blessed when looking back over her long career, and she never forgets to express the love she has for her fans whenever she’s been interviewed. She is also very grateful that her parents were very supportive yet they never pushed her into acting.

She writes in her wonderfully colorful biography filled with joyful photographs and hilarious anecdotes that even though there may have been times when her family might have had only a half of a bean, her mom would share it with anyone. Beverly’s mom and dad were by her side every step of the way and were very well-liked by both cast members and crew. Her mom kept her grounded, humble, and realistic and helped her stay on a good path while navigating the business.

Beverly Washburn grew up in a humble middle-class home in Hollywood California. Acting was something that she realized she wanted to do and truly enjoyed. Beverly is not only incredibly grateful to her many fans, she readily embraces them as the reason she has remained so popular and valued as an actor. And it makes her truly happy when she puts a smile on someone’s face.

She followed in the footsteps of a talented family of entertainers, her father’s brothers and sisters were in Vaudeville, traveling the circuit with a song and dance act called The Four Pearls. In the 1950s her sister Audrey went to Hollywood High and was a classmate of Carol Burnett. The two became friends and both worked as ushers at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Audrey became Penny Marshall’s stand-in for Laverne & Shirley and wound up singing backup for Marlene Dietrich in Las Vegas. It was Audrey’s show biz career that eventually led Beverly down that path.

Beverly was merely 3 years old when she started modeling children’s clothes. When Beverly was 5 years old, she tagged along with her mom and sister Audrey, an acrobat, to entertain veterans at Long Beach Hospital. On one particular occasion, she had a dancing gig at the Capitol Theatre in Yakima Washington. The emcee asked Beverly to come up on stage and sing ‘I’m a Big Girl Now.’ Beverly felt very comfortable in front of an audience. She was a natural.

There she met Western movie star Jock Mahoney – the Range Rider. She was mesmerized by this tall handsome cowboy. He would play a role in setting Beverly’s career in motion. Her lack of experience was a hurdle but she and her mom persevered. Beverly’s mom saw her potential and hired an agent, Lola Moore, who represented some of the best-known child actors in Hollywood at the time. It wasn’t easy at first to get this notable agent’s attention. She was turned away by Moore’s overwhelmed secretary. But her tenacious mother was not willing to take no for an answer even when Moore’s office in Hollywood was overflowing with anxious little girls looking to be the next child star.

In the busy agent’s office, her mom managed to catch sight of Lola Moore’s photo, so she and Beverly waited in the parking lot. When Moore got back from her meeting at 20th Century Fox, she was met by a little blonde cutie who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. “ I sure like your hat, Miss Moore.” Beverly flashed that bright smile of hers. Moore who had been an imposing figure had no time for anything but serious business. Studying Beverly with delight, she answered with a hearty “ Well you’re the only one who does! Know why I wear such large hats?” “No Ma’am I don’t.” “It’s my signature. I want people to know I’m around. I want them to see me coming.’’

Beverly was an honest and polite child who looked straight at Moore she said, “I don’t know how they could have missed you anyway.’’

Lola Moore found this refreshing and laughed and invited the two up to her office to talk. Understanding that Beverly had no acting experience, or whether the camera was going to take to her, Moore set her up with a drama coach Mildred Gardner and she began taking voice lessons, diction, and other important acting techniques. Though Beverly had no formal training, she was a natural. She never got involved as a Method actor. She was briefly taught by Gardner but after a few weeks she informed Beverly’s mother, ” Your daughter has a natural ability to act, and taking lessons would only ruin it.”While the utmost compliment, Beverly has imagined how far she might have gone if she had formerly studied.

This is where she perfected her famous ability to ‘cry’ so well. Beverly has described this gift stating that she would think of what she was supposed to be crying about, imagining herself in that situation, and the waterworks would follow. Beverly says of herself that she’s a very sensitive and emotional person. TV guide wrote a two-page article entitled BEVERLY WASHBURN EARNS HER SALT BY CRYING ON CUE. In the book Ladies of the Western written by Boyd Majors and Michael Fitzgerald, they included a chapter called ‘Queen of the Criers.’

Beverly loved to be in front of the camera, but when she was ready she was faced with a dilemma. Every time they sent her out on an interview she didn’t get it because she had no experience or credits to her name. It was a real Catch-22.

Beverly with Evelyn Keyes in The Killer That Stalked New York (1950).

Then, essentially fate stepped in a couple of months later while auditioning at Columbia Studios for a speaking part in the classic film noir thriller The Killer That Stalked New York which would be released in 1950. Beverly was 6 at the time of filming. Jock Mahoney who was under contract with Columbia, happened to be walking through the lobby and remembered meeting her at sister Audrey’s show.

Beverly didn’t fit the description of Walda Kowalski, the little girl the script describes as having ‘brown hair and brown eyes’ in the film. She thought she wasn’t going to possibly get the part because she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother told her in a very soft-spoken voice,” Honey you’re not gonna get this part, but just go in and do your best.’’

Mahoney asked Beverly’s mother why she was at the studio, and she told him that she was going to be reading for a part in the film, and had been getting turned down numerous times because she had no experience. He told her “ I’ll be right back.’’ Later she would come to find out that he went to the producer and raved about all the work she had done even though she hadn’t done a darn thing. They believed him and she got the part. On the first day of shooting, Beverly was excited to be sitting in the big makeup chair getting her makeup and hair done which they put in little curls, possibly trying to make her look like Shirley Temple which was fine with Beverly since she was a big fan of Shirley Temple.

The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) is a classic film noir about a woman, Evelyn Keyes, who smuggles jewelry into New York from Cuba. After she contracts smallpox she goes around infecting everyone she meets in the city. The authorities try to track her down before an epidemic breaks out.

Beverly plays the first victim who gets smallpox from Keyes, and that’s how they learn about the outbreak. She had two scenes in the motion picture. One is where Keyes gives her a pretty brooch and the second is when she buys the farm. The makeup department afforded her a deathly look by making her as pale as possible, which in B&W made her look grayish. Shown in an oxygen tent, it was a very melodramatic death! After The Killer that Stalked New York, she continued to go on auditions but now she had a big credit to go with her name.

Here Comes the Groom (1951) starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. Beverly with Jacques Gencel.

Because of that one speaking role for Columbia Pictures, other opportunities opened up. After the noir thriller, she was called to a screen test for her next film Here Comes the Groom in 1951. It would be a role in a motion picture directed by Frank Capra and starring Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith, and Franchot Tone. The film also featured fashions by costume designer Edith Head and cameos by Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Lamour, Phil Harris, Cass Daley, and Frank Fontaine. Here Comes the Groom was a huge B&W musical, and an important part throughout the film. She plays a refugee who speaks very little French, makes the funniest faces, and shows off a natural sense of comedy at such an early age, as she plays off Jacques Gencel.

Beverly worked on the film for 3 months, afterwards Bing Crosby gave her a beautiful doll that she named Dixie, after Crosby’s wife at the time. After filming wrapped up, Crosby signed a photograph for Beverly saying, “ I hope to play in your next picture.”

This would not be the only wonderful treasure Beverly would receive from actors. Even Jane Wyman gave her a beautiful dress. While the motion picture was not a huge success at the box office, it did win an Oscar for Best Song ‘’In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening’’ written by Hogie Carmichael and Johnny Mercer.

In 1951, her next little part took the form of a theatrical film featuring the iconic superhero, Superman. Titled Superman and the Mole-Men, this film served as the pilot for the subsequent TV series starring George Reeves as the eponymous hero and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane, the fearless reporter. The TV series ran from 1952 to 1958.

Beverly had so much fun cast as a little girl who plays with a radioactive ball in her bedroom. Two of the mole men (who are not space aliens but come from inner earth) climb through the window and she plays with them until her mother discovers the strange little men with her daughter and screams!

She had no scenes with George Reeves. However, years later he played her father, giving her a magical locket that brings to life a snowman (played by the marvelous Edmund Gwenn), in an episode of Ford Television Theater called “Heart of Gold.” To Beverly it seemed curious how George Reeves could be called Superman one minute and next he would play her dad!

It’s wonderful that Beverly had been part of the beginning of something so iconic as Superman a legacy, and that it would have such an impact on culture and our collective consciousness. She so enjoyed working with Reeves and was shocked and saddened when in 1959 the news reported his suicide, though some suspect it might have been a case of murder.

At that point, the casting department knew of Beverly and also In 1952, she appeared in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Greatest Show on Earth where she plays a member of the audience, sharing a scene with Jimmy Stewart as a clown. That same year she was cast in Hans Christian Andersen, the enchanting family musical starring Danny Kaye in the titular role. The film features songs like “The Ugly Duckling.” Beverly had a key scene with Kaye who sings “Thumbelina” to her from inside his jail cell.

Beverly in Hans Christian Andersen (1952).

In 1953 she landed a very good role as Susy in Edward Dmytryk’s serious story about Jewish survivors after WWII. The Juggler stars Kirk Douglas as a severely emotionally disturbed survivor of the holocaust who relocates to Israel. Beverly plays a refugee Susy who is forced by her father and the police to give away information on Kirk Douglas. Later in the 1970s, she would work with Michael Douglas in 3 episodes of The Streets of San Francisco. She loved working with him and Karl Malden on that show.

Kirk Douglas and Beverly Washburn on the set of The Juggler (1953).

Also in 1953, she was cast as uncredited Ruth Lewis one of Edgar Buchanan’s children in Shane starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Elisha Cook Jr. In the rugged landscape of 1880s Wyoming, a tired and battle-worn gunfighter (Ladd) starts to dream of a more peaceful existence. His path toward a quieter life unfolds as he forms a bond with a homestead family the Starretts, particularly a young son (De Wilde) who idolizes him. However, the simmering tensions of a range war compel him to take action, disrupting his aspirations for tranquility.

The film was shot on location in Jackson Hole Wyoming then returned to Paramount Studios, traveling by train and taking in the gorgeous countryside. Though she was uncredited for her role in this iconic Western it fixed her in a special place within movie goer’s hearts. Beverly did spend a lot of time with Brandon De Wilde who plays Joey Starrett the young boy who begins to worship the rugged drifter. While he was a wonderful little actor, apparently he was a bit of a stinker! Sadly, De Wilde who had a promising career was killed in 1972 at the age of 30. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Shane.

On Brandon De Wilde with whom she worked in Shane (1953): ” He was very precocious and he would pull my pigtails and chase me around the set.”

Beverly’s memories of working on Shane (1953): ” The movie was shot on location in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Alan Ladd and I both went up the chair lift to the top of a mountain. I went down the lift by myself, but Ladd was too scared to come down! Finally, they sent a helicopter to rescue him; he was too chicken to go down. The cast and crew never let him hear the end of it! “— IMDb quote

In the early years of television, beginning in 1952 Beverly segued into live television in between doing feature films, starting with The Ford Television Theater. While television was starting to come into its own, Beverly made the transition with ease. Between 1952 and 1954 she made appearances on The Jack Benny Show. Benny became one of her all-time favorites to work with, along with her other long-term friendship with actress and mentor Loretta Young.

Beverly appeared on The Jack Benny Show in 1952.

In the first show in 1952, Beverly was planted in the audience, and on cue, she walked up on stage and interrupted Jack Benny’s monologue by asking him for an autograph while one of the guys in the orchestra pretended to try and stop her from bothering Mr. Benny. Jack Benny and Beverly did a nice skit together and the schtick became a huge hit with the audience. Beverly’s deadpan delivery is hilarious as she serves up her lines that befuddle Mr. Benny. It was also the beginning of a dear friendship and lifelong bond.

Beverly on Jack Benny: ‘’ He was a wonderful man and I adored him to this day. One of my most treasured possessions is a string of pearls he gave me. He also gave me a St. Christoper medal that says, ‘To Beverly with love from Jack Benny’ on it. He was a very special man and I was very fortunate to work with him over the years. I even went on a tour with him in 1970… We played Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, and we toured for 6 weeks on the East Coast, I played one of the ‘Smithers sisters’ a deliberately awful group that Jack auditions. Jack’s reactions to our bad performance were extremely funny.” The Smothers Brothers were a big deal at the time.’’

Later she would appear on Benny’s radio shows and in the 1970s they would also perform together at The Hollywood Palace where Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minnelli were the special guests.

Also in 1953, she appeared in a live television production of Now, Voyager for Lux Theatre playing the little girl Tina. She also worked on Ford Television Theatre, Omnibus, and Cavalcade of America. The Red Skelton Show, Four Star Playhouse, Studio 57, Science Fiction Theatre, Matinee Theatre, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Playhouse 90, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, The 20th Century-Fox Hour, and General Electric Theatre.

In Four Star Playhouse’s episode “The Man in the Cellar” in 1954, Beverly plays a young girl with a very active imagination. Charles Boyer is her psychiatrist father who is very understanding of other people’s children. But he doesn’t believe her when she alerts them to the fact there’s a man downstairs in their cellar who escaped a mental hospital. It was a very good part for her and she pulled it off with the unaffected disquietude of a child whose parents have no faith in her.

Another of Four Star Playhouse’s outstanding feature presentations is “Autumn Carousel” starring Dick Powell. It tells the sweet story of the two traveling alone on separate journeys by train back to Los Angeles. He writes for television and she’s a child of divorce. Both are lonely and in the end, they give each other something very special.

In between television roles and feature films, she had the opportunity for one of her most precious collaborations, working with Loretta Young. Beverly got started on The Loretta Young Show after she had gone on an audition or what she refers to as an ‘interview’, as they were called back then. Her agent called and said she had an interview so she went to read for the part. She did well, so after that Loretta Young would ask for her whenever there was a part for a little girl. She became part of a small clique of Hollywood kids that all ended up at the same parties. Well-respected by her peers and the industry veterans whom she worked with, she was never unconvincing at giving a solid performance in any role.

Aside from doing a lot of anthology shows and live drama between the years 1954-56, starting in 1954, she was regularly cast in Loretta Young’s early series Letters to Loretta. The show was based on real-life letters written by her fans. The show’s title would be changed to The Loretta Young Show. This was a program where the Hollywood star would come sweeping through the door at the beginning of each episode. The cast was truly like a family, and the set was filled with warmth because of its star. At the end of each day’s shooting, Loretta Young would allow the young actors to see the dailies or ‘rushes’ as they referred to them. She insisted upon it, though it was usually only the main star that the directors and producers would let in to review the day’s shoot. In this way, they could see aspects of their performance that might need attention. She wanted them to see that day’s work because they would learn from it. Young was very hands-on and involved with everything, even makeup, hair, and wardrobe. Beverly feels very blessed that she had such a wonderful rapport with her.

Beverly, Loretta Young, and Jeanette Nolan in The Loretta Young Show episode “Big Little Lie.”

‘’ Ellen Hartman, I’ll slap you clean into tomorrow if I ever hear you say that unladylike thing again!”

The first part of the show was the episode called “Big Little Lie 1954”, then came “The Girl Scout Story” in 1954, where in self-defense she drops a light fixture on a gruff thief’s head when she catches him trying to steal the girl scout’s money. But her character feels genuine remorse, even after he gets pretty rough on screen with her. Beverly pulls out that heartfelt emotion, as she runs to him after he gets knocked out. Then in 1955, she played an orphan named Katy in the eponymous episode, followed by the 1956 episode called “Take Care of My Child.”

In the episode “Big Little Lie (1954)” directed by Robert Florey for The Loretta Young Show, Beverly plays a lonely schoolgirl whose decision to start a rumor about her Hollywood actress mother turns into classroom blackmail. Jeannette Nolan plays her strict Aunt Lily, ‘’ Ellen Hartman, I’ll slap you clean into tomorrow if I ever hear you say that unladylike thing again!” As winsome as Beverly is, she shoots Nolan the perfect stink eye. Beverly and Loretta Young have a wonderfully poignant moment when Ellen must confess the predicament she’s in – in that emotional scene they share a powerful and quite genuine chemistry.

Her first episodic television series would be for the popular police procedural Dragnet in 1954. In the episode “The Big Pair” she plays Ruthie Snyder who lives with her grandfather. They are robbed, and the home is cleaned out except for a rug. Beverly gave a wonderful performance as the precocious Ruthie who advocates for her elderly grandfather, while the monotoned voice of Joe Friday seeks to catch the thieves.

In 1955, when she was 11, she was cast in a half-hour situation comedy series live every Saturday night from CBS studios called Professional Father starring Steve Dunne and Barbara Billingsley (who went on to play June Cleaver). Phyllis Coates who played the original Lois Lane was also on the show as Dunne’s receptionist/nurse. Beverly played Kit, one of the children. Dunne’s character Dr. Tom Wilson is a child psychologist who has trouble with his own family. The show only lasted 26 weeks. Beverly always found live television thrilling because there was no room for mistakes.

Beverly in TV’s Professional Father (1955) starring Steve Dunne, Barbara Billingsley, and Ted Marc.

Beverly in The Lone Ranger (1956) starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels as Tonto.

It was 1956 and Warner Bros. called Beverly in to audition for the feature film The Lone Ranger starring Clayton Moore, Bonita Granville who plays her mother, and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. Filmed in Kanab Utah, it is the home of the wonderful Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and No-Kill Shelter for the rescued pets that were the unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Beverly has very fond memories of playing the little girl Lila who was rescued by her hero The Lone Ranger  (Clayton Moore). When she read for the part she was a huge fan, so it was thrilling for her to be cast in the role.

Beverly in The Lone Ranger (1956) starring Clayton Moore and Bonita Granville.

As mentioned above, television offered a variety of shows that followed, Science Fiction Theater in the episode called “The Strange People at Pecos”, Matinee Theatre, Fury, The Millionaire, weekly drama showcases such as Studio 57, Four Star Playhouse, Star Stage, Telephone Time, Lux Video Theatre, Zane Grey Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse, 20th Century-Fox Hour, Jane Wyman Presents, Fireside Theatre and Father Knows Best where she would meet her long-time friend Lauren Chapin who was Kathy on the show. In that episode, Beverly plays a poor girl whom Kathy befriends at a spelling bee.

In the television series Fury– Beverly plays a spoiled little brat named Betsy whom Bobby Diamond saves with his horse Fury after she falls off a cliff, and is hanging there. Diamond appeared in 116 episodes of the series that ran from 1955-1960. Interesting note: After the stunt double refused to jump Beverly did the stunt herself. Working on the show began a lifelong friendship with Bobby Diamond.

In the show Telephone Time the anthology series hosted by John Nesbitt, she appeared in “The Man with the Beard” yet another role that required Beverly to shed those marvelous tears. Here she plays a young girl tormented by a group of bullies who push her into the mud and ruthlessly cut off her hair because her father wears a beard. Beverly was a trouper when the makeup department had to cover her in a muddy mess and train half her hair to appear cut off on one side of her head.

However, making it look like her hair had been cut off on one side of her head was a dilemma that they had to figure out given the fact that they couldn’t actually cut her hair for real. ” While in the hairdressing department sitting in the chair as they pondered what to do next, suddenly the hairdresser spotted up on the shelf sitting on top of a styrofoam head …wait for it…Van Heflin’s toupee!  Problem solved! The next step was to part my hair down the back, then braid it on one side, then use bobby pins to pin it to my head, and then attach Van Heflin’s toupee to the side of her head. Voila, it instantly looked like her own hair!’’

Beverly expressed to me that she often wondered if Van Heflin ever found out that a 12-year-old girl had actually worn his toupee!

Beverly also worked with Anne Baxter in Zane Grey Theater’s “Star Over Texas.” She was cast alongside Gene Lockhart for Schlitz Playhouse in an episode called “The Closed Door” about a callous businessman, locked in isolation for three weeks due to a psychosomatic inability to turn the doorknob. He adamantly rejects both assistance and psychiatric aid, vowing to stay put until he can unlock the door himself. However, his seclusion is unexpectedly interrupted when a family, with a sick child, seeks refuge in his home during a severe storm against his objections. Beverly is the sensitive little girl who challenges Lockhart’s cruel and selfish demeanor.

Beverly in the Schlitz Playhouse episode “The Closed Door” starring Gene Lockhart.

Lockhart –‘’ I don’t intend to fill this house with strays blown off the road!” Beverly -‘’ We’re not strays… What are strays Mommy?… And anyway we’re not, so there!’’

In Telephone Time’s “The Key”, Beverly plays Laura Bridgeman a blind and mute girl who will later become one of Helen Keller’s teachers (based on a true story). In this role, she had to wear a scarf over her eyes given the fact that her eyes had been burned out by a fever.

Spike as Old Yeller, Kevin Corcoran, and Beverly in Old Yeller (1957).

Competing week after week in grueling auditions, she found her signature role in 1957. The role that she is most remembered for is her portrayal of Lisbeth Searcy in Walt Disney’s Old Yeller, starring Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran.

Tommy Kirk holds a special place in Beverly’s heart. He used to join her for dinner at her home, always bringing along a box of chocolates with him. A reunion for Old Yeller had been planned; however, tragically, on September 28, 2021, Kirk passed away.

Old Yeller is the story of the pioneer family in Texas and the special bond with the dog ‘Old Yeller.’ Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran were the brothers who had the dog, and a lot of movie-going kids were devastated that he got rabies and had to be shot. Even now, grown men approach Beverly at film conventions and tell her how they can’t watch that film anymore because it destroyed them!

Beverly, Dorothy McGuire and Tommy Kirk in Old Yeller (1957).

Old Yeller is very dear to Beverly’s heart. Though at the time it might have started as just another audition. The main reason she wanted to get the part was because she was such a huge animal lover. The dog Spike who plays the cherished character of Old Yeller was a rescue dog that came from an animal shelter. Beverly read for the part and considers herself fortunate to have landed the role of Lisbeth Searcy in that beloved classic. It was on the Disney lot during filming that she met her lifelong best pal, Mouseketeer Sharon Baird.

Beverly was there for 3 months for the filming of Old Yeller. She and the two boy stars of the film Tommy Kirk who played Travis the one who had to shoot Old Yeller and Kevin Corcoran had school in a big red trailer on the Disney lot. Beverly and Tommy even dated while shooting the film and still has a very strong affection for him.

They all had classes with certified teachers who were also called welfare workers who were from the Los Angeles Board of Education. They were there to make sure that they only worked a certain amount of hours in the day and one full hour for lunch. It was strictly an academic education.

They could be taken away to go do a scene but they had to have at least 20-minute increments of schooling before going back to the set. They’d go back to their spots and then had to complete 3 hours of schooling.

As an avid animal lover, she has said, ‘’ I think I was more excited about working with the dog!”She jokingly likes to say that his dressing room was bigger than hers! That wonderful dog Spike was a rescue from the shelter and also had a trainer. The children were allowed to pet him, but they weren’t allowed to play with him because he needed also to take breaks just like child actors did. So he’d be brought back to his spot and given his treats and plenty of water.

“I had no idea at the time that Old Yeller would live on the way it does. It’s consistently, from what I’ve been told in the top 100 of the most rented movies, and sadly as most of you probably know Tommy Kirk passed away in 2021. He also lived here in Vegas. And he would come over and I’d make dinner cause he was a bachelor and he loved home cooking and I’m devastated to this day losing him. We were supposed to be doing an Old Yeller reunion this past January and he would never fly so were gonna drive in together because we had been friends the same amount of time (as Sharon) over 60 years. And sadly he had a heart attack unexpectedly. He was so loved. We all loved him and he had a huge fan base just like the Mouseketeers. I mean it’s so iconic ‘’ (Source unknown)

After Old Yeller, in 1958 she appeared in 2 episodes of General Electric Theater. “The Road that Led Afar” starred Piper Laurie and Dan Duryea is a widower raising four children, including Beverly. They are barefoot mountain folk with not a pot to peel a potato in. In the episode, Duryea falls in love with Piper Laurie. Beverly also appeared in the Shirley Temple’s Storybook episode ‘Rip Van Winkle, as E.G. Marshall’s daughter.

Beverly and Molly Bee in Summer Love (1958).

Also in 1958, she was cast as Jackie Bronson in the feature film Summer Love, a comedy musical starring John Saxon and Molly Bee who played her sister. The film co-stars Jill St. John, Judi Meredith, Shelley Fabares, Troy Donahue, John Wilder, and George Foghorn Winslow who along with Beverly were the youngest in the film. Years later Wilder became the producer for The Streets of San Francisco and cast her in 3 episodes of that popular police show of the 1970s.

In 1959 she was back on television appearing in John Newland’s One Step Beyond. This supernatural anthology series was supposedly based on actual uncanny events. In “Premonition” Beverly plays a young woman, Lisa Garrick, who has a vision of her own death while dancing under a massive crystal chandelier that threatens to come crashing down upon her. Beverly is as believable as ever, playing the young terrified Lisa who no one will believe that has seen her own death by chandelier. The character of Lisa spends her entire life refusing to go into that room. Beverly worked many times with actor/director John Newland on The Loretta Young Show.

From One Step Beyond “Premonition.”

A scene from Playhouse 90 episode “In Lonely Expectation.”

She then was cast as Betty Anne in an episode of Playhouse 90 called “In Lonely Expectation.” She played a young unwed mother who doesn’t know how she got pregnant. Imagine that! The episode also featured a young Diane Baker. Beverly would once again play an unwed mother on The Streets of San Francisco. There, she gets to hold onto her baby while Kitty Wynn in a dazed frenzy hunts the doctor who has stolen her baby for a black market operation in the episode called “Most Feared in the Jungle.”

Westerns run on a similar fault line as horror films, and Beverly is as familiar with Westerns as she is with the horror and science fiction genres. She appeared in two episodes of The Texan. And from 1957 to 1964 she appeared in 3 episodes of Wagon Train.

Her very first episode of Wagon Train in 1957 starred Ernest Borgnine was called “The Willy Moran Story.” Beverly plays Susan Palmer and Willy Moran, is a drunk hired by a wagon train as a driver. He is an army buddy of the Major but is used as a fall guy by a member of the train who wants to rob it. Borgnine is perhaps one of my favorite actors, just consider his performance in Marty in 1955 and The Wild Bunch in 1969. It is well known that Ernest Borgnine loved his fans and was a hell of a guy. I met his best friend Bo Hopkins at the Chiller Theater convention a few years back and he loved to share stories about his buddy Borgnine who truly is considered one of the nicest actors living to be 90 years old. Beverly has said that she enjoyed working with him.

Perhaps the most memorable of the three episodes is “The Tobias Jones Story” in 1958. Beverly has a wonderful rapport with Costello on and off-screen. The episodes were directed by Herschel Daugherty who she worked with several times, including the Thriller episode “Parasite Mansion” in 1961.

Beverly’s mom was always with her on the set. When she worked on Wagon Train with Ward Bond he was used to working with an all-male ensemble, so he cursed a lot. Beverly remembers that every word out of his mouth was a swear word, though because she was young she didn’t know what any of the words meant. Bond was a very nice man and when the welfare worker went to the director and threatened to take Beverly off the set, Ward Bond felt bad because he didn’t even realize he had been doing it. He apologized profusely and after that, he never even said ‘darn.’

Lou Costello and Beverly in the Wagon Train episode The Tobias Jones Story.

For “The Tobias Jones Story”, it was a very dramatic role for Lou Costello who plays a tragic alcoholic who is wrongfully accused of murder. Costello is very dear to Beverly and one of her favorite people whom she worked with. She considers him one of the sweetest men and is a huge fan of Abbott and Costello. She says he was a joy to work with on the show. His performance earned him great reviews, unfortunately, he died a little later on after the episode aired.

The two play drifters and stowaways and Beverly is an orphan. In the episode, Beverly and Lou refer to his booze as ‘cough medicine.’ As Midge, Beverly is a compassionate little girl who takes on the role of caretaker to Tobias who lacks the will to stop drinking. Beverly always manages to convey sincerity in her portrayals of the kindhearted innocent. Here she must grow up too quickly to protect her flawed older companion. When he is falsely accused of murder she stands by him with tender conviction.

Lou Costello though one of the funniest men in those days, wrestled with a sadness that came through his brand of humor and delightful nature. His son had drowned and it changed him after that. He never got over it. On Wagon Train, Costello was so used to ad-libbing that it was hard for him to remember his dialogue. He just wasn’t used to it. So instead of stopping to get his lines, he would just look straight into the camera and say “So how are ya?’’ and everyone would laugh. Beverly says he’d do it every time, she also recalls rehearsing a scene where she had to push the intoxicated character Tobias, into a wagon before the two are caught, “ He leaned back and said ‘push my biscuits’ (buttocks) into the wagon as hard as I could. I’d never heard that expression before!”

The last episode of Wagon Train starred Laraine Day in “The Cassie Vance Story.” Loraine Day can be remembered for her role in the film noir classic, The Locket in 1946.

One of my favorite television appearances by Beverly was on Leave It To Beaver starring Tony Dow as the cheeky Wally Cleaver and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver who always seems to find himself in the funniest predicaments. Dow and Mathers appeared at the Chiller Theater convention during the height of COVID-19, so I chose to stay at home, though it was a tough decision for me to make. I regret that now, as Tony Dow passed away not too long after his appearance. Needless to say, I could kick myself from here to a month of Sundays.

As Jill Bartlett in “Blind Date Committee (1959)”, Beverly plays a timid young girl who lacks the confidence to socialize with the other popular kids in school. The good egg that Wally is, he decides to take Jill to the dance when none of his friends will. Though she is obviously a lovely girl, Beverly must play a shy wallflower – and in the end, in Wally’s inimitable honest smart-alecky way tells her, “ You know Jill, I don’t see anything wrong with ya.’’

” I was filming an episode of another series and found out that they were shooting Leave It to Beaver on the same lot and I wanted to say hi to Barbara Billingsley, but mainly I wanted to meet Tony Dow because I had a crush on him. So I went onto the set of Leave It to Beaver and I did get to meet Tony. He was very shy. As fate would have it, the casting director came on the set and Barbara introduced me to him and he asked me to come in the next day to read for the show and they cast me in an episode called “The Blind Date Committee.” Tony and I hit it off and then in the 60’s a teen magazine set us up on a fake date and then we became friends. A couple of years ago we did the play “Love Letters” together.” (2020 interview Greasy KidStuff Magazine – Lee Sobel)

On Tony Dow: ” I adore him and always will. He was such a sweet, wonderful, and humble guy who shared my love of animals.”

Beverly and Tony Dow did a lot of ‘fake dating’ for the fan magazines. Though nothing romantic existed between the two they remained good friends until Dow’s death in July of 2022.

Beverly and Tony Dow are out on the town.

In the late 50s and 60s, fan magazines and the studios set up ‘fake dates’ photographed out on the town or at Hollywood parties. She was often shot with Tony Dow, Paul Petersen Tommy Kirk, Eddie Hodges, Bobby Rydell, Johnny Crawford, Randy Boone, and Don Grady. She remained good friends with all of them. Beverly dated Peter Duel of Alias Smith and Jones. He was a very promising actor yet a troubled soul who struggled with depression. In 1971, Duel took his own life.

Beverly with Bobby Rydell.

The decade of 1960s television ushered in shows like 77 Sunset Strip, The Texan, Hawaiian Eye, Arrest and Trial, Wagon Train, Mr. Novak, The Patty Duke Show, Gidget, Thriller, and Star Trek.

In 1961 she was cast in the short-lived TV show Ichabod and Me produced by Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly who were responsible for two of the most sublimely funny and intelligent television series, Leave it To Beaver and The Munsters. In her episode, she plays a teenager who gets engaged and shows up at her parent’s house with her fiancé. He’s 6’4’’ and she’s a petite 5 feet nothing.

In 1962, when she was 19 she had the opportunity to work with Loretta again in her new show in which Loretta played a widow with seven children. She gets a job with a New York magazine. In The New Loretta Young Show, Beverly is cast as the bookwormish Vickie Massey. This was during a time in television when shows like Ben Casey were really popular.

The New Loretta Young Show (1962-1963).

It was here she became friends with Dirk and Dack Rambo who played Young’s twin sons. Later Dirk would die in an accident caused by a drunk driver and Dack would die of AIDS. The show also featured Sandy Descher as one of the daughters. You might remember Sandy Descher as the little catatonic girl who wanders the desert after seeing her family wiped out by the giant ants in 1954’s above-average science fiction film, THEM!

Beverly had the honor of being chosen by the execs at CBS to do the regional radio spots promoting the TV series, on the National Press junket. What made it hard for the show to survive was being in the same time slot as the very popular doctor drama – Ben Casey. The New Loretta Young Show ran from 1962-1963.

She considered Loretta Young to be a ‘sweet, genteel lovely woman’ whom she was fortunate to have worked with and stayed in touch with up until the time she died. Young became a kind of caring mother figure. ” I’m so grateful that she liked me because I loved her so much.”

Years later, Beverly would appear on an episode of Murder, She Wrote set in Maine. Of course, Mainers, including my partner Wendy from Bath Maine, know that it was shot on the back lots. Kevin Corcoran turned out to be the assistant director on the show.

The Patty Duke Show ‘Cathy Leaves Home- But Not Really’ aired Dec 15, 1965, ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

In 1965 she made a guest appearance with one of her favorite people to work with – Patty Duke on The Patty Duke Show where she plays one of her girlfriends. Beverly has written about how kind and generous Patty Duke was as a person.

” I’ll always remember her as being so down to earth. I’m 5 feet tall and so was she, and I played her school girlfriend. The first day on set I was in the wardrobe trailer trying to find something to wear. Patty came in and told the wardrobe lady to give me one of her outfits which was so touching because not many stars would do that.”

She also appeared in 2 episodes of Gidget starring Sally Field, cast as one of her girlfriends. Her stepfather was none other than Jock Mahoney who had helped launch Beverly’s career. The first episode revolves around a slumber party with one of the girls being actress Barbara Hershey. In the other episode, Paul Lynde plays her father.

Sally Field and Beverly in TV’s Gidget.

This leads me to one of my favorite performances of Beverly’s career. Her appearance as Lollie Harrod in the horror anthology series Boris Karloff’s Thriller. “Parasite Mansion” is one of the finest installments of the show directed by Herschel Daugherty. Beverly had worked with Daugherty several times, including Wagon Train and Studio 57.

Locked away in a dismal unfinished attic room with childlike scribbling on the dreary walls of the decrepit family mansion, Lollie is not only tormented by a malicious poltergeist she is terrorized by the insolent crone – Granny played with relish as only Jeanette Nolan can do. Unbeknownst to Lollie or the rest of the family of Harrods, Granny has the power of telekinesis and pretends that it’s a nasty poltergeist who has been plaguing all the women of the clan for decades. Lollie’s mother was driven mad by the thing. The episode also stars Pippa Scott who is shot by Lollie’s younger brother Rennie (Tommy Nolan) who sees Scott as a trespasser. Scott goes off the road crashes her car, and is taken back to the house on the storm-filled night. There she is nursed and mended by Victor (James Griffith) who lives in the bottom of a bottle. It’s clear Granny doesn’t have any intention of allowing Scott to leave. It is the scenes in which Beverly is tormented by the unseen spirit that claws at her face and assaults her with dinnerware that showcases how well Beverly can demonstrate her vulnerability.

Pippa Scott, Beverly, and Jeanette Nolan as Granny in “Parasite Mansion” episode of Thriller.

Jeannette Nolan as Nanny in Boris Karloff’s Thriller episode “Parasite Mansion.”

Beverly and Barbara Stanwyck in Calhoun: County Agent 1964.

In 1964 she played Barbara Stanwyck’s daughter in the made-for-TV movie pilot Calhoun: County Agent. And during the 1960s there was a movement for teen stars to record hit songs. William Morris Agency called Beverly and said she now had a record contract. At that time, artists like Shelley Fabares had a hit song ‘Johnny Angel’, Paul Petersen had a song, and so Beverly joined in and recorded legendary folk singer Pete Seeger’s song “Everybody Loves Saturday Night’But Me.” for the Smash label. The song made the charts! The flip side featured a song called “The Heart You Break May Be Your Own.”

Beverly with friend Paul Petersen.

It is featured on a CD collection called “The Girl Group Anthology” which includes Dusty Springfield, Lesley Gore, and Connie Francis. Beverly was certainly in good company.

She appeared on two episodes on season 2 of Mr. Novak (which they have not released yet, why, I don’t know) a show that features James Franciscus as a progressive high school teacher during the 1960s.

James Doohan, Beverly, and DeForest Kelley in the Star Trek episode “The Deadly Years.”

Then came another of her memorable TV appearances as Lt. Arlene Galway in the Star Trek episode “The Deadly Years.” The crew of the Enterprise rapidly grows old from a source of radiation they picked while on a rescue mission. Beverly was the first to go, dying of old age. The makeup for this episode was grueling.

Beverly on her makeup: ‘’They had to make a plaster cast of my face. I had to breathe through a straw for four and a half hours while it dried. After that they made a cast of my face, then a rubber mask from that which they put over my face. We’re talking many years ago. Since then they’ve come a long way with makeup. Then, they also used spirit gum which took two hours to peel off in the end. It was very tedious. And they put on the wig and everything else. But it was such a wonderful set and a great experience for me.”

Through the thick and heavy makeup, Galway looks at her reflection, “That’s a stupid place to hang a mirror!” shortly before she dies in William Shatner’s arms. Beverly also appears on the blooper reel for the show.

”As an actor, you try to come prepared and be on time and do everything but it was such a fun set that when I forgot my line it became a joke. I was supposed to say something like. ” There’s something wrong with my hearing. I don’t feel well.” And instead, I said, ” I feel like hell. I can’t remember my next line.” Everyone cracked up and it was such a release to me. No one got upset. no one said, ” You need to be a professional” Everybody was laughing and it was a fun moment.”

What followed was for me one of the defining roles. Of course, I’m talking about her starring role as Elizabeth Merrye in the film that would forever cement Beverly Washburn in the minds of avid horror and cult movie fans for generations — UCLA graduate Jack Hill’s first feature-length film — Spider Baby in 1968, in which he wrote, directed and edited the film, which was completed in 1964 but not released until 1968 due to financial difficulties.

Many fans of Beverly Washburn would hardly disagree that she can also be proclaimed as a veritable Scream Queen (though that might not be as she sees it), given her contributions to Science Fiction Theater, One Step Beyond, the Boris Karloff’s Thriller episode “Parasite Mansion”, Star Trek and Tales of the Unexpected in 1977. Later she would work with horror schlockmeister Ted V. Mikel’s on Demon Haunt in 2009, and his Astro-Zombies M4– Invaders from Cyberspace in 2012. And most recently the comedy horror flick Tales of Frankenstein in 2018, and the science fiction comedy Unbelievable!!!!! In 2020.

Even a new generation of fans has shown their undying love for Spider Baby which had such a resurgence thanks to the help of Jack Hill’s friend Quentin Tarantino who considered Hill his favorite exploitation film director. He was instrumental in getting the film not only restored but re-released as one of the most innovative classic horror films that most certainly inspired further classics like Toby Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Hooper’s film is another touchstone of the genre. It’s reminiscent of Spider Baby with its isolated family living in a ruined house that eats people. That film would be released 11 years later.

Beverly, Sid Haig, Jill Banner, and Lon Chaney Jr. in Jack Hill’s Spider Baby (1967).

It’s very endearing to see how incredibly humble and genuinely astonished Beverly is about fans’ enthusiasm for the beloved cult film.

‘’ Beverly Washburn who had been a child star since she was very very young and had 20 years of experience… the two of them (Jill Banner) played off each other just like solid professionals… it’s just miraculous how they played off each other”– Jack Hill

Hill has stated that he didn’t need to give the actors any direction, they all inhabited their roles seamlessly.‘’ They couldn’t have fit those roles more perfectly if I had written it for them.’’ – Jack Hill

Sid Haig on Beverly & Jill Banner: ’’ There was nothing phony about it. They kept it real all the time.’’

Beverly about Jack Hill: ‘’ The director was wonderful… he told me we’re just a little crazy but we’re not mean (she laughs with a twinkle in her eyes) we just like to kill people!”

In Jack Hill’s Spider Baby (1967), Beverly tackles one of the most iconic and off-center roles to come her way, cast as Elizabeth Merrye, one of three siblings in a family line that not only goes mad but regresses into mindless killer cannibals.

The Merrye sisters Virginia (Jill Banner) and our wonderful Beverly Washburn are well suited as the demented Merrye girls. And then there’s Ralph. Adorable feral little Ralph – manifested by the quirky Sid Haig who is cult royalty and would later take on grittier roles as screen heavies in exploitation films.

The Merryes live in seclusion with the family chauffeur (Lon Chaney) who has watched over them ever since their parents died. From the opening scene, we learn from the Dictionary of Rare and Peculiar Diseases that the entire clan suffers from the Merrye Syndrome – a unique genetic condition that in late adolescence causes them to regress mentally and physically from playful innocence to a pre-infantile state of savagery and cannibalism. Elizabeth, Virginia, and Ralph are the three surviving children of Titus Merrye now the skeletal remains lying in repose in his bed. The rest of the Merrye kinfolk subsist in a pit… hungry.

Spider Baby’s sense of unorthodoxy creates its little universe of characters who move in their own orbit. Elizabeth and Virginia with her large bow in her hair is as ridiculous as it is lyrically creepy for obviously young teenage girls wearing hair ribbons and dresses like two moppets in full bloom of young adulthood. She gradually evolves into a monstrous assassin with her pitchfork in her anxious hands elevating her to a truly gruesome character and not just a childlike darling.

Beverly’s precocious facial expressions, bratty sister head tilt, and stance give the most sublime demonstration of no teenager but a 9 or 10-year-old child when she catches Virginia slicing off the ear of the wonderful classic character actor Mantan Moreland. After killing him Elizabeth admonishes Virginia, “You’re bad, BAD!!!’’

‘’ Beverly is just classic, she was just amazing then as she is today… she was just completely natural in everything she did.’’– Sid Haig

Elizabeth might dress like a little girl, but Bruno considers her to be the responsible one of the children. Yet this seemingly innocent moppet is enamored by the idea of scolding people for being ‘bad’ yet she’s bubbling over with her own hostility. Her respect for the rules becomes twisted, and Beverly is masterful – mixing both personas as a rule follower and rule breaker, in one fatal facial expression. She is brilliant as she hates with glee. It’s in her eyes and her gleaming death stare.

Virginia identifies herself as a giant spider. She dances like a stalking arachnid waiting to pounce on her prey, holding her two blades, she loves to play her game of “spider”, trapping her victims by rigging up the window to slam shut on them, before stinging them to death with butcher knives, or wrapping them up in a web-like netting.

Jill Banner, who inhabits the role of Virginia like a natural, studied acting at the time, attending professional acting classes in Hollywood. Banner was 17 at the time and had never worked in film before. Tragically she was killed in a car crash in 1982. Banner was dating Marlon Brando at the time. Jack Hill also claims in a panel discussion included on the Arrow Bluray release, that Banner would not tell people for years that she was in the film, for fear of what people would think of it. If only she knew what a tremendous cult following the film has attained.

And then there’s Ralph whose untamed sexuality cannot be masked by his black velvet Buster Brown / Little Lord Fauntleroy suit and his non-verbal utterances. Haig lurks through the house using the dumb-waiter or hanging upside down peeping in the windows at Carol Ohmart in various states of undress.

The siblings have an undying devotion and affection for Bruno who gently lectures them about their dark misadventures, but their disorder leads them to rebel and follow their violent primal urges. Bruno – ‘’ Please treat the children tactfully, they can become wild if encouraged.’’

Peter Howe (Quinn Redeker) and his sister Emily (Carol Ohmart), distant relatives of the Merrye family show up to claim they are the rightful heirs to the estate. They bring along their lawyer Schlocker (Karl Schanzer) and his secretary Ann (Mary Mitchell- Dementia 13, Panic in the Year Zero). Emily and Schlocker would be happy to place the children in an institution.

From the same commentary by Jack Hill and Sid Haig on the Arrow Bluray release, Hill cites author Dean Sluyter’s book Cinema Nirvana who writes about the spiritual messages in films. Referring to Redeker’s character Peter he says, “ he’s a nice looking soft-spoken, affable, likable, slender young white guy who finds himself on a magical mystery tour (it was the advent of the 60s)but rather than freak out and precipitate his own destruction like the other normal people, he saves himself by bumbling along in a state of friendly openness.”

Lon Chaney Jr., Mary Mitchel, Quinn K. Redeker, Karl Schanzer, Beverly, Jill Banner and Carol Ohmart.

Karl Schanzer as Schlocker, Carol Ohmart as Emily, Lon Chaney Jr. as Bruno, and Mary Mitchel as Ann.

In a triumph of campy dialogue, Schlocker would later deliver a memorable declaration as Elizabeth and Virginia descend the stairs in silhouette, completely backlit like two shadowy monsters.
“ Now see here, this has gone far enough. This just won’t do! It’s beyond the bounds of prudence and good taste!’’

Suddenly Taylor and Hill transform the lighting on the sisters’ faces revealing Elizabeth’s impish smile has been replaced with a murderous grimace, wide-eyed and fixed “KILL HIM!’” Beverly with a pitchfork in hand is superb.

Toward the end, Beverly sits leaning into Chaney as he bares his revelation of anguish at the reality that he cannot control his murderous charges. As his tears fall, Beverly summons her legacy of true tears and begs him not to leave. Hill and Haig watched the scene in the dailies, not only was Chaney’s performance heart-wrenching but they said of Beverly, ‘’ You could not take your eyes off her.’’

In the darkly whimsical masterpiece with morbid set designs, and tinges of Charles Addams, at the center is Virginia’s twisted spider web-like realm, Elizabeth’s fixation on hatred, and the unhousebroken Ralph’s feral. The house is a vacant refuge of insanity. All three childlike Merryes contribute a sense of satirical dread fueled by director Jack Hill’s unsparing sense of unrepentant cinema.

A cult horror film that also functions as a black comedy with plenty of nods to the old Universal horrors of the 1930s & 40s. Spider Baby even gives a direct nod to Chaney Jr.’s performance in The Wolfman during the famous dinner scene, where Peter and Ann eagerly trade their favorite horror movies and mention The Wolfman, with Chaney replies spookily, “ There’s going to be a full moon tonight.”

Cinematographer Alfred Taylor (Blood Bath 1966) did wonderfully atmospheric, macabre, and those incredible noir low-lit shots of Beverly and Jill as Elizabeth and Virginia Merrye. He layers each scene along with Ray Storey’s (The House on Skull Mountain 1974, Blue Sunshine 1977) art direction, of a house filled with decay, decrepitude, and a simplistic, bleak ambiance. Spider Baby is an adult fairy tale with dark corners.

Indie auteur Jack Hill (Blood Bath 1966, The Big Doll House 1971, Coffy 1973, and Foxy Brown 1974) populated this queer little world with the perfect characters all on a budget of $65,000. Even with its low budget Spider Baby manages to possess some of the most bizarrely poetic scenes in classic horror. The film is a psychotronic, transgressive, and drolly charming masterpiece of cult/horror cinema and black humor. With all of its teetering irony, the film takes us from darkly, mirthfully offbeat, suddenly going for the jugular dramatically creating the uneasy feeling surrounding the Merrye family.

Spider Baby is one of THE definitive Cult films for sure and one of my top favorite horror films, with its witty, macabre, quirky, irreverent, and a bit of film noir thrown in for its use of Chiaroscuro. Spider Baby is brilliantly lit by cinematographer Alfred Taylor lights both Beverly and Jill Banner from below, and carefully places shadows, as the Merrye family wields their brand of justice on the devious figures doomed from the beginning.

Carol Ohmart wearing Fredericks of Hollywood in Spider Baby (1967).

I can’t forget to mention Carol Ohmart (House on Haunted Hill 1959), who does not expect to uncover the house of Merrye madness, is an interesting femme fatale and the ‘woman in peril’ flaunting her Fredericks of Hollywood black lingerie. By the end she runs through the ‘old dark house’ and ultimately the woods meeting up with Ralph where it is suggested that he has his way with her until she awakens traumatized, sex-crazed, and murderous herself.

Lon Chaney gives a poignant performance with the grooves of his face worn by his alcoholism that seeps through the character of Bruno’s weary mug. Jack Hill was told that Spider Baby was Lon Chaney’s last sober film. He loved the script so much that he wanted to do a good job with it. He also fell in love with both Beverly and Jill Banner. And Hill considers both actors ‘absolutely delightful.’ The cast feels so sad that Chaney didn’t live to see what a cult following it has and the tremendous pouring out of fans who revere the film, and his sincere performance.

Prolific composer Ronald Stein’s (Attack of the 50 Ft Woman (1958), Dementia 13 (1963), It Conquered the World & She Creature (1956) Not of this Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Undead, Dragstrip Girl (1957) The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960) The Haunted Palace (1963), music was often lyrical & offbeat, having worked closely with Roger Corman. He loved the film so much, he went to Mexico and recorded it all in one weekend. It’s a playful theme song with drolly grim lyrics sung by Lon Chaney Jr.

Spider Baby has been compared to the work of iconoclast Luis Buñuel. considered a moralist director whose work was gripped by a sense of revolution, necessary to change the stagnant ways people conform to their lives. The Merrye family can attest to that. I can see the dinner scene as a nod to his The Exterminating Angel, as the table is set where everyone but the guests are supposed vegetarians. Beverly delivers a deadpan line, “ We don’t eat dead things.”

Yet Ralph has caught a rabbit and it is served up undressed at the bizarre feast of dried grass and live worms, mushrooms Virginia has caught, and the desiccated roast rabbit. When Ralph grabs the ‘rabbit’ and starts tearing into it, (we know it’s actually a stray cat that he caught himself but the guests think it is a rabbit). Cousin Peter (Quinn Redeker) is confused because he thought he was a vegetarian. Bruno tells him “But Ralph is allowed to eat anything he catches!”

Later, there’s a scene where she gets to show off her ability to access her natural comedic side as she sits with a jigsaw puzzle idly working on it, ripping off the edges with her teeth and jamming in the pieces to make them fit. It’s a subtle touch and not everyone notices that little comic wink. In the meantime, Virginia is stabbing the loose pieces with a large knife. When a spider crawls out from a pile of books, Virginia grabs it and eats the thing. Elizabeth reacts, “ Blech. Spiders aren’t supposed to eat other spiders,” But Virginia insists, “Cannibal spiders do,” as she continues to stab at the puzzle pieces.

The film was shot in August and September of 1964 changing the title from Cannibal Orgy, and The Liver Eaters to Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told, but its release was held up for years because the producers went bankrupt, which tied up the film in legal limbo. Independent producer David L Hewitt acquired it for distribution in 1968. After four years locked away in a vault even after it was released he says it was “kind of consigned to oblivion – discovered years later on home video. I would first catch this special film on late-night TV in New York.”

Hill has remarked about the film when he attends conventions and has asked fans what they take away from Spider Baby, they tell him that ‘it’s the family love’, unconditional love. That it has real heart, a lot of heart that shines through. Beverly Washburn is a natural in it and really broke out of her child actor persona she was known for in films like Shane and Old Yeller when she was cast as Elizabeth in Spider Baby giving a sublime performance as a reeling psychopath.

But there’s another role that would challenge that prevailing image of the bright spark in the Golden Years of Hollywood and television. It’s a great role for her and what a contrast from the little girl who was usually cast as an innocent.

Richard Davalos and Beverly in Jack Hill’s Pit Stop (1969).

After Spider Baby she would star in another low-budget film with Jack Hill called Pit Stop in 1969 which also starred Brian Donlevy, Ellen Burstyn (who went by the screen name Ellen McRae), Hill regular and cult film bad boy Sid Haig as Hawk Sidney, Richard Davalos as a ruthless opportunist looking to make a name for himself in dangerously competitive racing on a figure 8 track. It also co-stars character actor Steve Pendleton as Luther and Beverly’s brother George who lends an extra bit of heart with his appearance as Burstyn’s husband Ed. With relentless action scenes of figure eight car racing, Hill filmed Pit Stop in B&W which gave it a B noir sensibility.

Beverly starts as Sid Haig’s girlfriend. When Davalos shows up, she dumps Haig and becomes Davalos’s girl (Davalos appeared in East of Eden in 1955 with James Dean.) Pit Stop features Beverly’s ‘pixie cut’ look that wound up in the episode of Star Trek.

In Pit Stop as the free-spirited Jolene, Beverly continues to transform herself into a versatile actor portraying a young woman who is an offshoot of the ’60s sexual revolution, and who falls for tough loner Richard Davalos.

Beverly has a great line –” Come on Jolene baby, give your old Uncle Luther a kiss.’’ ‘’ Yeah, well I’ll give you a kick in the radiator you old lecher!’’ Which she delivers with perfectly sarcastic grit.

There is a spirited scene where Sid Haig flips out and demolishes a car with a baseball bat, all while Beverly is sitting in the front seat. In my opinion, it’s one of Beverly’s best roles as it gave her a chance to shine. There is an intimacy between Beverly and the camera, where she shows herself to be incredibly vulnerable, conveying a soul that is hurting. I believe she can be credited for a truly unguarded performance in Pit Stop.

It was the 70s, and eventually, work slowed down for Beverly after such a successful career as a child actor, then an opportunity unexpectedly arose where she could work once again. The show was Getting Together in 1971 starring Bobby Sherman. The 70s also offered her roles in McMillan & Wife, The Manhunter, Most Wanted, The Law and Mr. Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, and Tales of the Unexpected.

Karl Malden and Beverly in The Streets of San Francisco episode “Most Feared in the Jungle” (1972).

She appeared in three episodes of Quinn Martin’s The Streets of San Francisco in 1972 with Karl Malden and Michael Douglas. Her episodes were “Most Feared in the Jungle” (1973), where she portrayed Miss Rayfield, an unwed mother, “Letters from the Grave” (1975) where she played an Alcatraz tour guide, and as Michelle Rhodes in “Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers” (1977), the roommate of a murder victim. This was followed by the 80s with Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Hotel, Murder, She Wrote, and Las Vegas in 2003. She also had a part in the film Hard Four in 2007 with Ed Asner, and Paula Prentiss (The Stepford Wives 1975). The part of Brenda was written specifically for her.

Beverly also had a regular stint as the VoiceOver operator on the popular daytime soap General Hospital which began in 1963 to date.

Richard Halsey, the editor who won an Oscar that year for Rocky in 1976 had approached her to be cast in the 1973 feature film When the Line Goes Through starring then-unknown actor Martin Sheen. That was before he hit it big in the industry. Sheen plays a drifter and Beverly plays one of two sisters who are influenced by him in a small town in West Virginia. Sheen was extremely taken with Beverly’s performance. I’ve tried but failed to hunt down a copy of the film which went straight to release on video, but there is some hope the film will be digitized and remastered on Bluray.

In the 90s she did a lot of television spots in the Las Vegas area. In 2009 she appeared in a film by exploitation horror filmmaker Ted V. Mikels called Demon Haunt.

Beverly Washburn has been very busy over the years appearing at the TCM Classic Film Festival in 2006 and regularly attending autograph shows like Chiller Theater where we met, and is so incredibly gracious, and truly has a deep affection for and appreciates every one of her fans. Just to show what a kind and loving person Beverly Washburn is, when she sells her signed photographs at conventions, she gives a huge portion of it to animal charities. She writes a monthly column titled ‘Hollywood Memories’ for a local paper ‘Vegas Voice’. Beverly has also worked with Helping Hands of Vegas Valley working to bring aid to seniors.

SPERDVAC RADIO -Richard Herd and Beverly at a previous SPERDVAC convention: Source: Jerry Williams of Sperdvac for the Spectrum & Daily News

She also participates every year at SPERDVAC (The Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy) and REPS doing reenactments of old-time radio shows.

Beverly starred in the feature documentary “When the World Came to San Francisco” (2015) which won the 2022 Andromeda Film Festival’s “DaVinci Special Award” for Best Documentary (2022). In 2023 she won the Festival Award for Best Actress for When the World Came to San Francisco. Beverly was recently cast in the soon-to-be-released TV series Dusty Bluffs. Currently, she’s working on a documentary along with Sharon Baird and Mimi Gibson titled Here’s Looking At You Kids. About growing up in LA as child actors and their long-lasting friendship.