A bad weekend for some distinctively lovely women of film, and their fans.
Nina Foch
Not a day after the death of Nina Foch, the glamourous Netherlands-born star of My Name Is Julia Ross, Illegal, You’re Never Too Young, and so many others, comes news of the passing of Beverly Garland. The B‑Movie queen, who graced the likes of Not of This Earth, It Conquered The World, Gunslinger, Swamp Diamonds, and other low-budget fare before bringing some heterosexual cred to TV’s My Three Sons as a new wife to widowed Steve Douglas, was known, among other things, for her almost preternatural good-nature and good humor. Adored by fans, she adored them right back.
Beverly Garland
We also hear today that Bettie Page, for whom no introduction ought to be necessary, was hospitalized yesterday after suffering a heart attack. The indefatigable Page is 85. We wish her the best. We also wish we could run the above shot in its uncropped version, as it is a unique communication of Yuletide sentiment, but it’s also unsafe for work and family environments.
Bettie Page
I used to go over to the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood to hear west coast jazz old-timers play (usually the Dave Pell Octet… I sat next to John Williams once, his brother was playing drums) … I think Beverly was sometimes part of the crowd … there were very few people under 65 – it was a great antidote to youth-worshipping Los Angeles
So sad, Met Forry and Garland. Nice people.
I was watching that documentary “Universal Horror” last night, and right there, being interviewed practically back-to-back, were Forrest Ackerman and Nina Foch. And James Karen was there too, who was in “Mulholland Dr.”, which I’d just watched the previous morning. Strange.