Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 2

This is the second of two features about Beverly Washburn. You can read Part One here.

THE INTERVIEW:

1. Your first part in a film was for the 1950 film noir classic The Killer that Stalked New York starring Evelyn Keyes. You were supposed to be the first victim, a little girl who gets smallpox from Keyes who is on the run spreading the plague. And it was a speaking part. The script said, "˜'There sits little Walda Kowalski with her great big brown eyes and brown hair'' but you had blonde hair and blue eyes. You immediately thought that you wouldn't get the part. But Western star Jock Mahoney lied to the producers of the film at Columbia Studios after he saw you in the lobby while auditioning for the part of Walda. Mahoney met you 3 months earlier at one of your sister Audrey's shows. He was very taken with you, so he raved to the producer that you had done all this work even though you had no credits. And you got the part!

Essentially it was Mahoney's misdirection that helped your career! "¨"¨Does it ever make you laugh that it took a harmless lie, a few speaking lines, and tragically dying from smallpox in a Columbia Studios production to give you the leverage you needed to move forward in your acting career? Can you tell us about that experience?

Getting my first big break was perhaps a little unusual particularly since it was based on a little lie!
I had met Jock Mahoney a few months prior to the audition for the role in “The Killer That Stalked New York” which was to be filmed at Columbia Studios. At 6 years old, I had an agent who had sent me on countless auditions, none of which I ever got due to the fact that I had no experience other than having worked as a model of children’s clothes.

The role of little Walda Kowalski was listed in the script as a little girl with big brown eyes and brown hair. Now that description wasn’t pertinent to the actual role, however when a writer writes in a character, he or she typically envisions what they might look like. Well, right off the bat, it seemed apparent that I wasn’t what they were looking for because I had blue eyes and blonde hair.Â As I was sitting in the lobby among many little brown-eyed and brown-haired other hopefuls and my not having any experience, it seemed that this would just be another letdown and another rejection for me. As I waited to go in, something marvelous happened. Jock Mahoney happened to walk through the lobby!Â He remembered me as we had met at the Veteran’s Hospital in Long Beach California where he had been the guest of honor and where my sister was performing her act for the Veterans.Â He asked my mother what I was doing there and when she told him I was reading for the part of Walda, he said “I’ll be right back.” What we found out later was that he went into the office of the Casting director and told them that I was perfect for the role, that I had done this and I had done that,Â when the reality was, I hadn’t done a thing other than model!Â He was under contract at the time and had some clout,Â so they took his word for it. So as the story goes, he lied, they believed him and I got the part!

I do laugh sometimes thinking about how that all came about. I think about him from time to time and realize how blessed I was to have it unfold the way it did because after I had that one speaking role, it was then that I was able to continue on."¨ It’s such a “catch-22 ” situation because they don’t want to hire you if you don’t have experience, but how do you get the experience if they don’t hire you? I of course will forever be grateful to him for allowing me that one break, albeit he had to tell a little white lie in order for them to give me the role!

Continue reading “Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 2” →

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!

Continue reading “Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 1” →