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| Beverly Loyd |
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born:
26 July 1921 Portland, Oregon, United States of America |
died:
27 August 2000 Hemet, California, United States of America (age 79) |
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Pretty, vivacious American leading actress and model of the 1940s. Although her professional surname has occasionally been spelled "Lloyd," it should be, in fact, spelled "Loyd," with one "L" (after her husband's first name). Her parents were Charles O'Neale Gross (1890-1944) and Hattie Lillian (Sleight) Gross/Hershberger (1900-1979). She had two older brothers, Richard Mansfield Gross (1915-1998) and Virgil O'Neale Gross (1918-1994). Getting her start in beauty pageants and modeling, brown-eyed brunette Beverly was named "Miss Oregon" of 1940. Shortly thereafter in the summer of 1941, her Hollywood film career "began" when Howard Hughes saw her picture in "Look" magazine, and he screen-tested her and signed her to a seven-year contract. In late 1943, with no work from Hughes in sight, she was released and signed with Republic Pictures, where she played female leads and overall bigger roles in features. In April 1946, she signed with Roach, but come June, papers were reporting that shortly before she was to start work on "Here Comes Trouble," she was suing Roach -- for, depending on the article, $100,000, $100,150, or $150,000 -- after she was bit in the small of her back by a black widow spider while posing with several for a publicity photo (I get the feeling this may have been a publicity stunt). On 16 February 1941, she married Loyd Howard Yandle (1918-2004) in Battle Ground, Washington; they wed after only having met each other the previous July, while Loyd was barking at a carnival. They moved to California shortly thereafter, when Beverly got signed by Hughes. Mr. Yandle was a truck driver, would serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and then become a Los Angeles policeman. They would have two children, Beverly Loyd (Yandle) Vandries/Ferrari (1944-2005) and Mark Alan Yandle (b. 1952). Beverly and Loyd remained together for 59 years until her passing. During her film career, Beverly continued modeling, with her husband later recalling, "She held the title of being California's top model, having some 17 different billboards on the highway all over the country at one time." According to her husband, Beverly's film career ended after she fought off the advances of a lecherous director by clubbing him with the Oscar on his desk. "Fed up" with the film business, Beverly returned to modeling full-time. In 1954, she opened a modeling and charm school in Van Nuys, California. By 1975, she and her husband (now retired from the police force) owned an antiques shop in Nevada. They moved to Hemet, California in 1980. During the final years of her life, Beverly was beset by a number of health problems, including leukemia, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In November 1999, she suffered a stroke not long after a bypass was performed on her heart; this was followed in short order by cardiac arrest and a massive seizure, among other issues. The final year of her life was marked by much suffering and no shortage of medical negligence (which her husband recalls in detail in many of the "Thin Blue Line" links below, especially in the Oct 2000 issue), though she fought through it all the best as she could. Beverly Gross Yandle passed away at 6:55am on 27 August 2000 at Hemet Valley Hospital in Hemet, California. She was survived by her husband, their two children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She was cremated, and after Loyd's death in 2004, they were interred together in a crypt at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. The dates and information given for Beverly elsewhere -- born Beverly Carroll on 27 March 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA; died 22 October 2010 in Brentwood, California, USA -- refer to another actress, the niece of producer Earl Carroll and one of his "Vanities" showgirls, who later married composer Lionel Newman. |
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Real name: Beverly Lillian Gross |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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