Beverly Michaels
Birth nameBeverly Eileen Michaels
Birth dateDecember 29, 1927[1]
Birth placeThe Bronx, U.S.
Death dateJune 9, 2007 (aged 79)
Death placePhoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Other namesBeverley Michaels
OccupationActress · model
Years active1948–1956
Spouse

Beverly Eileen Michaels (December 29, 1927 – June 9, 2007) was an American B-movie actress and cheesecake model of the 1950s.[2][3]

Career

Michaels began her career at the age of 16 in 1944 as a showgirl at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe Nightclub in New York. Her stage debut, also at age 16, was in the play Glad to See You which ran in Philadelphia and Boston from November 1944 to January 1945.[4] After that show closed, she was a dancer in Havana for about a year. Returning to the US, she worked as a chorus girl on Broadway.[5]

Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at the age of 21 and standing at least 5 feet 9 inches tall[6] (some sources cited 6 feet),[7][8] Michaels quickly found modeling jobs, in which she was initially credited as "Beverley Michaels." Under contract to MGM Studios,[5] she made her first screen appearance in Mervyn LeRoy's East Side, West Side (February 1950), starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, James Mason and Van Heflin.[5][9]

Michaels then appeared in two films by independent film director and producer Hugo Haas. The first, the 1951 film noir Pickup,[9] was a surprise hit, albeit a secondary B feature, and launched Haas's career as a Hollywood director. It also had a large part in starting the cycle of bad girl movies of the 1950s, which usually starred blonde sexpots. The New York Times' film reviewer wrote: "Beverly Michaels, a comparative newcomer, is flashily attractive, hard and vulgar as his two-timing mate, but her histrionics are, like the cheap character she portrays, coarse and in need of polishing."[10] Haas' follow-up release The Girl on the Bridge (1951) was his last picture with Michaels.

Michaels went on to win contracts with Columbia and, later, Universal Pictures.[5] She also appeared in a Bowery Boys film No Holds Barred, released by low-budget studio Monogram Pictures in 1952.[9]

In late 1952 Michaels toured Alaska for the USO, singing Christmas carols for the troops. At about this time, she met the director and screenwriter Russell Rouse,[11] who later became her second husband. Rouse cast her in a starring role in his film noir Wicked Woman (1954).[9][12] The Village Voice praised her performance as "wonderfully lurid," and included the movie in a list of the 25 most memorable cult films.[13]

Later roles included the 1955 noir film Crashout,[9][14] Hammer Films' Women Without Men (1956)[9][15][16] and guest-starring roles in television shows.

In a 1954 newspaper interview, Michaels was questioned about her choice of racy roles:

"One of the penalties, she says, is that some people, especially the wolf type, can't forget it was just a movie. She has had, she says, to give several real-life brush-offs. However, Beverly says, they are things you have to accept. 'I get my share of wisecracks. But I ignore them. You have to. If you're going to play roles like I have, you have to expect to be a target for such remarks. I just pretend I don't hear them. If you're going to be supersensitive, you had better get out of the business...I always have hope that my next picture will make me a decent woman.'"

[17]

Personal life

Michaels was one of six children of Denzil and Catherine Michaels (nee Chisholm).[18] She attended Cathedral High School, where she played center on the girls' basketball team.[19]

In 1949, she married MGM executive Voldemar Vetluguin, producer of her first film East Side, West Side.[20] She was 20; he was in his 50s.[21][22] They divorced in 1952.

In 1957, she married Russell Rouse,[23] director and screenwriter of Wicked Woman and many other films.[24] They had two sons.[25][26] One, film editor Christopher Rouse, won an Oscar in editing for The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007.[27]

In the 1980s, a cult following grew among fans of the "bad girl" 1950s melodrama genre. While this public interest centered mostly on Cleo Moore, Diana Dors and Mamie Van Doren, Michaels' contributions were duly noted, including a tribute to Wicked Woman written by Lily Tomlin in the short-lived magazine Movies. After her retirement, she made an appearance at a film noir festival to honor her deceased husband Russell Rouse during a screening of Wicked Woman.[28]

Final years and death

After Rouse's death, Michaels moved from Southern California to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived until her death from a stroke[25] at the age of 79.

Filmography

YearFilm titleRoleNotes
1950East Side, West SideFelice BackettMGM. Producer: first husband Voldemar Vetluguin[29]
1950Three Little WordsShipboard WomanMGM. Uncredited.
1951Pickup[9]BettyColumbia
1951The Girl on the BridgeClaraHugo Haas Productions
1952The Marrying KindBlonde on Life CoverColumbia
1952No Holds BarredBlonde at Party (uncredited)Monogram Studios
1954Wicked Woman[9]Billie NashEdward Small Productions. Director: second husband Russell Rouse
1955Adventures of the FalconJune DennisonEpisode: "The Wheel of Fortune"
1955Crashout[9]Alice MosherStandard Productions
1955Betrayed Women[9]Honey BlakeWilliam F. Broidy Productions
1956Alfred Hitchcock PresentsGoldieSeason 1 Episode 15: "The Big Switch"
1956CheyenneSheila DembroEpisode: "The Storm Riders"[30]
1956Women Without Men[9] (two versions filmed: UK & USA)Angela BoothHammer Films. Alternate titles: Blonde Bait, Appointment at Midnight -She also starred in the U.S. release's alternate ending.

References

  1. ^ Michaels, Beverly E. New York, New York Birth Index, 1910-1965. p. 283.
  2. ^ Vetluguin, Beverly Eileen Michael and Rouse, Russell Edwin. Carson City NV Marriage Index, 1855-1985. pp. marriage record #39669754.
  3. ^ Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997. – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Koper, Richard (2010). Fifties Blondes: Sexbombs, Sirens, Bad Girls and Teen Queens. Albany GA: BearManor Media. p. 203. ISBN 9781593935214.
  5. ^ Stephens, Chuck. "A Face In The Crowd: Beverly Michaels". Film Comment. Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  6. ^ Koper op cit. pp. 204–205.
  7. ^ "Beverly Michaels Tallest Actress in Movie Colony", Johnson City Press, Johnson City, Tennessee, November 28, 1953.
  8. ^ Wilson, Earl. "It Happened One Night." Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Honolulu, Hawaii. February 8, 1954
  9. ^ "Beverly Michaels Filmography". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Retrieved 17 January 2021..
  10. ^ "THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Pickup,' Hugo Haas Film About Widower and Gold-Digger, Arrives at the World". The New York Times. August 31, 1951. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. ^ Koper op cit. pp. 205–206.
  12. ^ T, -- H. H. (March 27, 1954). "At The Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  13. ^ Sarris, Andrew (December 4, 2019). "Those Wild and Crazy Cult Movies". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  14. ^ Kehr, David (July 26, 2013). "ON VIDEO:Escaping One Prison for Many". New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Women Without Men". TV Guide. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  16. ^ "BFI Catalog op cit"
  17. ^ "The Lady Is a Tramp". The Bunkie Record, Bunkie Louisiana. May 14, 1954. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  18. ^ Koper op cit. p. 203.
  19. ^ "Tallest Gal Film Star Basketball Courting". The Pittsburgh Press. February 4, 1954. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  20. ^ "AFI op cit"
  21. ^ Marriage License Nr.SM-1442, State of California and Certificate of Marriage, September 2, 1949, Judge of the Municipal Court, Santa Monica, Los Angeles.
  22. ^ "Vetluguin, Who Popularized Cover Girl Photos, Dies". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. May 18, 1953. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  23. ^ Carson City NV Marriage Index, op. cit.
  24. ^ "AFI op cit"
  25. ^ Koper op cit. p. 207.
  26. ^ "Oscar-Winning Director and Writer Russell Rouse". The Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1987. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  27. ^ "Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  28. ^ "Discussion with Eddie Muller, March 7, 2002". The Danger and Despair Knitting Circle: A Resource for Classic Film Noir
  29. ^ "East Side, West Side". American Film Institute. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  30. ^ "BFI Reuben Library". British Film Institute. Retrieved 18 January 2021.