FORGOTTEN FILMS: TV TRANSITION

Though typically overshadowed by Hollywood's A-list, there were respectable performances by numerous actors and actresses who never became major film stars. A common occurrence was their transition to the new medium of television, often becoming familiar faces in homes across America. These periodic posts offer insight into their transition.

Beverly Garland: Beverly Fessenden (1926-2008)

Beverly Garland started her career with feature films, primarily small parts in a few major productions and the lead in some low-budget films. In her early roles, the versatile actress often seemed to be either at odds with the law or screaming in science-fiction movies. Her film career began on a positive note with a role as Miss Foster in the quintessential film-noir, D.O.A. (1949) starring Edmond O’Brien. As Holly Abbott, she had a strong supporting role in The Miami Story (1954) opposite Barry Sullivan. A series of forgettable westerns and dramas followed. Two Guns and a Badge (1954) and New Orleans Uncensored (1955) to name two. Sprinkled between these films were her singular roles on television programs, initially in The Lone Ranger (1950). Rehearsals at a television studio became more common yet she never left the science fiction genre behind in such cult films as Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, 1956 and as the rather flippant, unsuspecting nurse in the creepy, Not of This Earth, 1957. She was the unfortunate mother in the dark comedy flop, Pretty Poison, 1968.

Her television claim to fame was in the ground-breaking role on Decoy (1957) for its entire thirty-nine episodes. As Casey Jones—seemingly an undercover alias—it was television’s first female policewoman and the first actress to star in a television dramatic series. Garland racked up appearances on most of the popular shows of the Sixties and Seventies with a recurring role as the wife in the short-lived sitcom, The Bing Crosby Show (1964). The “mom” roles became her stock and trade. She was the step-mom to the Douglas boys during the late stages of the long-running comedy, My Three Sons (1960). She found new fame as the well-cast, unaware mom to Kate Jackson in the successful, Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983). She played Ellen Lane for six episodes in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1995). Her last recurring role was nine appearances on the family drama, 7th Heaven (1997).

Note: Garland combined her acting career with a devotion to the hotel that her second husband, Filmore Crank, built and named in her honor. Starting out as a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, it became a 255-room Spanish Mission-style resort called Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn. In 2014 it was renamed, The Garland.