Beverly Garland: Biography

Had the Fates smiled upon her, the versatile Beverly Garland would have been one of the biggest female stars in films. She started out well, with a plum part in the noir classic DOA (1949), in which she was billed as Beverly Campbell. Alas, Garland was never one to keep her opinions to herself, and her pointed comments about some of her DOA colleagues turned her into a Hollywood pariah before her career had even begun. She eventually worked her way back up the ladder with supporting roles in theatrical features and guest-star assignments on television. Garland rapidly earned a reputation as a "good luck charm" for TV-pilot producers, who could usually count on a sale if Garland was featured in their product. She guested on the first episode of Medic as an expectant leukemia victim, and was co-starred in the pilots of no fewer than three Rod Cameron TV vehicles: City Detective, State Trooper and Coronado 9, all of which sold. In the mid-1950s, Garland was briefly the inamorata of quickie producer/director Roger Corman, who prominently cast her in such cheapies as It Conquered the World (1955) and Not of This Earth (1956). She starred in the 1957 syndicated TV series Policewoman Decoy, which permitted her to adopt a variety of convincing guises in the line of duty. From the 1960s on, Garland was everyone's favorite TV wife or mother: she played Bing Crosby's wife in The Bing Crosby Show (1964), Fred MacMurray's wife on the last three seasons (1969-72) of My Three Sons, Stephanie Zimbalist's mother in Remington Steele (1982-86) and Kate Jackson's mother on Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-87). Active into the 1990s, Beverly Garland has supplemented her acting income with her job as spokesperson for a major Midwestern travel agency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide