My Three Sons star, B-movie queen Beverly Garland passes at 82.
Beverly died Friday after a lengthy illness her son- in-law told media.
Garland was a femme fatale who made her screen debut in noir classic DOA and went onto star in a series of sci-fi horror films for director Roger Corman.
Films like Swamp Women, It Conquered the World and The Alligator People helped cement Bev’s rep as a gutsy liberated woman who was way ahead of her time. Other film creds include The Joker is Wild with Frank Sinatra and Pretty Poison with Tony (Psycho) Perkins and Tuesday Weld.
Bev was also a groundbreaker – playing undercover NYPD officer Casey Jones in Decoy (1957-1959) the first TV show centered on a female lead.
She later appeared on My Three Sons as Fred McMurray‘s second wife during the final days of that long running series.
Born Beverly Fessenden in 1926 she took the name Garland after marrying thesp Richard Garland (Attack of the Crab Monsters). Years later she remarried and ran a mission-style hotel in North Hollywood called Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn which was host to many celeb/fan meet & greets.
"Not only was she a terrific actress, she was one of those special gals who was fun to work with," mourned Mike "Touch" Connors, who costarred with Bev in Swamp Women and again years later when she guested on his series Mannix.
"You couldn’t help but laugh with her when she laughed."
