Beverly Michaels

She began her career at the age of 16 as a showgirl at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe Nightclub in New York. Her stage debut, also at age 16, was in the play "Glad to See You" which ran in Philadelphia and Boston from November 1944 to January 1945. [4]

Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at the age of 19 and standing 5 feet 9 inches tall,[5] Michaels quickly found modeling jobs, in which she was initially credited as "Beverley Michaels." Her first screen appearance was in East Side, West Side, released in February 1950.[6] Independent film director and producer Hugo Haas cast Michaels in the 1951 film noir Pickup.[6] The movie was a surprise hit, albeit a secondary B feature, and launched Haas's career as a Hollywood director. It also had a large part in starting the cycle of bad girl movies of the 1950s, which usually starred blonde sex symbols. The New York Times' film reviewer commented: "Beverly Michaels, a comparative newcomer, is flashily attractive, hard and vulgar as his two-timing mate, but her histrionics are, like the cheap character she portrays, coarse and in need of polishing." [7]

Haas' follow-up release, The Girl on the Bridge (1951), was not a success, however, and Haas dropped Michaels in favor of newcomer Cleo Moore as his regular female star. Michaels was now a free agent and had uncredited roles in The Marrying Kind and No Holds Barred, both 1952 releases. [6]

She returned to film noir with a lead role in Wicked Woman (1954).[6][8] The Village Voice praised her performance as "wonderfully lurid," and included the movie in a list of the 25 most memorable cult films.[9]

Later roles included the 1955 noir film Crashout, [6][10] Hammer Films' Women Without Men (1956) [6][11][12] and guest-starring roles in television shows.

Michaels was one of six children of Denzil and Catherine Michaels.[13] She married MGM executive Voldemar Vetluguin, producer of her first film "East Side, West Side", [14]in 1949. She was 21; he was in his 50s. [15] [16]They divorced in 1952.

In 1957 she married Russell Rouse,[17] director and screenwriter of "Wicked Woman" and many other films. [18] They subsequently had two sons, born in 1958 and 1961.[19][20] Their son Christopher Rouse won an Oscar in editing for The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007.[21] She and Russell remained married for 32 years, until his death in 1987.[20] Michaels was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.[22]

In the 1980s a cult following grew among fans of the "bad girl" 1950s melodrama genre. While this public interest centered mostly on Cleo Moore, Diana Dors and Mamie Van Doren, Michaels' contributions were duly noted, including a tribute to Wicked Woman written by Lily Tomlin in the short-lived magazine Movies. With the exception of an appearance at a film noir festival to honor her second husband,[23] Michaels mostly avoided follow-up interviews from that publicity or attempts to lure her back into the spotlight, opting instead to maintain her privacy in retirement.

After Rouse's death, Michaels moved from Southern California to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived until her death from a stroke[24] at the age of 79. She was cremated, and wanted her final farewell to be so private that she requested that there be no obituary published or funeral held.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beverly Michaels.

• Beverly Michaels at IMDb