Beverly Wills (June 7, 1933 – October 24, 1963) was an American television and film actress.

Biography

She was born in 1933 as Beverly Josephine Williams in Los Angeles to actress and comedian

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1907 – May 22, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy ''I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful earl ...

and actor and writer Si Wills. Wills made her film debut in ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. Fi ...

'' (1945) when she was age 11. ''

Mickey Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...

'' (1948) followed three years later. In 1952, at age 18, Wills appeared with her mother and

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

in the TV comedy ''

I Married Joan ''I Married Joan'' is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus). Synopsis The show, whose syndicated ope ...

'' (1952–1955). She played the younger sister of her real-life mother. After the series ended its run, Wills appeared in four more films, including '' Some Like It Hot'' (1959) and '' Son of Flubber'' (1963). Wills married three times before the age of 30. Her first marriage was to Lee Bamber, a Pasadena fireman, in 1952. Bamber and Wills eloped to Carson City, Nevada. The couple divorced in 1953. She later married Alan Grossman on July 12, 1954; the couple had two sons. Wills and Grossman divorced, and she married Martin Colbert. On October 24, 1963, Wills died in a house fire with her grandmother, Nina Davis, and both children from her second marriage, sons Guy (age 7) and Larry (age 4) Grossman. The fire started due to the 30-year-old Wills smoking in bed. Her mother Joan previously died from a heart attack at age 53 in 1961.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1933 births 1963 deaths Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from fire in the United States 20th-century American actresses Accidental deaths in California {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub