Beverly Roberts

Beverly Louise Roberts (May 19, 1914 – July 13, 2009) was an American actress, singer, painter and entertainment executive whose career spanned the golden age of Hollywood and the early days of television. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she first drew the attention of a Warner Bros. talent scout while performing in a nightclub in 1935, after years of experience on the stage. Signed to a contract the following year, she made her cinematic debut in The Singing Kid (1936) opposite Al Jolson, and quickly followed with a role alongside Humphrey Bogart in Two Against the World. 1937 saw her in Warner’s first Technicolor production, God’s Country and the Woman, co‑starring with George Brent, and between 1937 and 1939 she appeared in sixteen films, sharing the screen with stars such as Errol Flynn. After losing coveted parts to contemporaries like Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, Roberts stepped back from film, returned to singing and stage work, and became a familiar voice on radio and early television in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In 1954 Roberts transitioned behind the scenes, accepting the role of administrator for the “Theater Authority,” an organization that coordinated the five major entertainment unions and oversaw charitable performances. She remained a business executive throughout the 1960s, finally retiring in 1977 and relocating to Laguna Niguel, California. Her personal life was marked by a long‑term partnership with fellow actress Wynne Gibson, with whom she shared homes on both coasts until Gibson’s death in 1987; the two never married and Roberts had no children. Even in her later years she remained a celebrated figure, appearing in the 2000 documentary I Used to Be in Pictures and receiving honors at the Del Mar Theater and the Cinecon Film Festival in 2002. She made one of her final public appearances in 2006 at the Egyptian Theater anniversary, answering audience questions about her debut film. Beverly Roberts passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 13, 2009, at the age of 95.