Beatrice Roberts

Beatrice Roberts

1905-03-07 – 1970-07-24 (age 65) Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia

Alice Beatrice Roberts (March 7, 1905 – July 24, 1970) was an American film actress. She was briefly married to the cartoonist and showman Robert L. Ripley and a mistress of Louis B. Mayer.

She married Robert Ripley at age 14 on October 31, 1919, about the time he invented his Believe It or Not cartoon strip. The marriage was short livedβ€”they separated three months later and were divorced in 1926. Ripley never spoke about the marriage, calling himself a "confirmed bachelor".

After her marriage, Roberts entered several beauty pageants including the 1924 and 1925 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey (as Miss Manhattan, 1924, and Miss Greater New York, 1925). She won the "Most Beautiful Girl in Evening Gown" award each time.

She went to Hollywood in 1933 and between then and 1946, she appeared in nearly 60 films, including Tall Timber (1937) and Love Takes Flight (also 1937), in which she starred opposite Bruce Cabot. Many of her roles were small and uncredited. Her most notable role was that of Queen Azura in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, a 1938 serial.

She was a mistress to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer in 1935 and 1936, while under contract to his company. In the 1940s, Roberts married John Wesley Smith.

Her last movie contract was with Universal, and her final appearances were in Criss-Cross and Family Honeymoon. Her acting career never becoming the success she had dreamed of, she left Hollywood in 1949. She died in Plymouth, Massachusetts from pneumonia, aged 65.

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Known For

China Seas
China Seas

1935

as Ship's Passenger (uncredited)

The Killers
The Killers

1946

as Nurse (uncredited)

Jungle Woman
Jungle Woman

1944

as Inquest Juror (uncredited)

Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street

1945

as Secretary (uncredited)

Phantom of the Opera
Phantom of the Opera

1943

as Nurse (uncredited)

Bombay Clipper
Bombay Clipper

1942

as Miss Kane - Secretary (uncredited)

Pilgrimage
Criss Cross
Criss Cross

1949

as Nurse (uncredited)

Mob Town
Mob Town

1941

as Tenement Girl (uncredited)

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

1943

as Barmaid (uncredited)

My Woman
My Woman

1933

as Party Guest (Uncredited)

Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady

1944

as Monteiro's Maid (uncredited)

The Invisible Man's Revenge
The Invisible Man's Revenge

1944

as Nurse (uncredited)

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

1938

as Queen Azura

The Egg and I
The Egg and I

1947

as Nurse (Uncredited)

Wife vs. Secretary
Wife vs. Secretary

1936

as Party Guest (uncredited)

For the Love of Mary
For the Love of Mary

1948

as Dorothy

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
Naughty Marietta
Naughty Marietta

1935

as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)

Park Avenue Logger
Park Avenue Logger

1937

as Peggy O'Shea