Beverly Garland. More Than a Name?

MST3K Central
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Our own Judy Garland. “Somewhere in a B Grade Film!!!” “Way down low!!!” “Tough gals are what she was made of!!!” “Cops then a couple wives!!!” “First there was Roger Corman!!!” “Then TV!!!” “Kildare, Gunsmoke, and Mannix!!!” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King!!!” “She was the spouse on My Three Sons!!!” “And Mother Where The Red Fern Grows!!!” “And Decoy!!!” “Rawhide, Mod Squad, and Wild Wild West!!!” “Hart to Hart!!! The Fugitive!!!” She did practically everything. Studying drama with Anita Arliss, she sharpened her talents in summer stock and radio work. Credited as Beverly Campbell in her film debut D.O.A. (1949), she soon married actor Richard Garland keeping his name even after the divorce. Problem Girls (1953), The Neanderthal Man (1953). She once remarked, “You don’t have to act in these pictures… All you have to do is possess a good pair of lungs. I can scream with more variations from shrill to vibrato than any other girl in pictures.”

The Miami Story (1954), The Desperado (1954), Killer Leopard (1954), Emmy nominated on Medic, Four Star Playhouse, Swamp Women (1955), Science Fiction Theater, New Orleans Uncensored (1955), Sudden Danger (1955), Gunslinger (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), The Go-Getter (1956), Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956), Wire Service, Not of This Earth (1957), The Joker Is Wild (1957), Naked Paradise (1957), The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958), Trackdown, Yancy Derringer, The Alligator People (1959), The Wonderful World of Disney, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, The Asphalt Jungle, Danger Man, The Nurses, The Dakotas, Sam Benedict, Laredo, Judd for the Defense, Pretty Poison (1968), Then Came Bronson, Marcus Welby M.D., The Rookies, Cannon, Love American Style, Airport 1975 (1974), Ironside. Television is where she excelled and she guested on show after show.

Medical Center, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Tony Randall Show, Sixth and Main (1977), Charlie’s Angels, Roller Boogie (1979), Trapper John M.D., It’s My Turn (1980), Magnum P.I., Matt Houston, Remington Steele, Finder of Lost Loves, P.S. I Luv You, Friends, Ellen, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Diagnosis: Murder, 7th Heaven, Teen Angel. On January 26th, 1983, she was given a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her third husband real estate developer Fillmore Crank built a hotel in her name in Los Angeles. A 255 room Spanish Mission resort called Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn later known as The Garland, she helped run it for years. Swamp Women, Gunslinger, It Conquered the World. Three of Beverly’s films spotlighted on MST. Whether monster food or the law, she had our attention. Mrs. Douglas or Class Act?

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Note: Three Garland pictures were on MST3K. Swamp Women (1955), Gunslinger (1956), and It Conquered the World (1956). All three directed by B Movie Legend Roger Corman. Below are links to conversation on all three episodes.

Summary

311. It Conquered The World (1956)

503. Swamp Diamonds (1956)

511. Gunslinger (1956)

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Interview with Beverly Garland.

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Interview with Beverly Garland.

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Beverly Garland at Fanex Nostalgia Vision 1993.

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Skip E. Lowe Interviews Beverly Garland.

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Beverly Garland’s Filmography.

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Top Ten Movies of Beverly Garland.

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1973 Camay Soap TV Commercial with Beverly Garland.

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Roger Corman on Naked Paradise (1957).

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Roger Corman on Gunslinger (1956).

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Bing Crosby, Beverly Garland, and Frank McHugh - Top Banana.

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Whenever I’m in LA, I stay at her hotel, now just called “The Garland”, which a great place. The in-house TV channel, in addition to promoting hotel amenities, runs a documentary about Beverly’s life on a loop.

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I’d love to see that!

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Oh, Beverly! :heart_eyes:

I’m not too familiar with the rest of her filmography, but I love her in her MST3K appearances. Whether she’s a badass sheriff who depopulates a whole town, a psychotic criminal padding her way through a swamp, or kicking over space carrots, she’s always a good time.

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She’s in enough cheesy 50s movies. We might see her again. One day.

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1988 Interview with Beverly Garland.

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Trailer of The Alligator People (1959).

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Trailer of Where the Red Fern Grows (1974).

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The first online fandom I really got into (it’s still active and I met a bunch of lifelong friends there) was Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. That’s where I first encountered Beverly Garland, who played Lois’s mother. Because of the connection, the LA meetup (which never personally attended) always stayed at the Beverly Garland hotel. I believe Beverly herself dropped by a couple of times over the years, and was very sweet about it.

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