Beulah Ashley

Beulah Ashley
Born
Beulah Maria Rodgers

January 24, 1899
Meridian, Mississippi, USA
DiedJuly 6, 1965 (aged 66)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
OccupationsFilm actress and writer
Spouse(s)Alsie Ashley
(m. circa 1918, died ?)
Morris Feldstein
(m. 1931; ?)
ChildrenJoel Ashley

Beulah Maria Ashley[1] (née Rodgers; January 24, 1899 – July 6, 1965) was an American character actress in silent film,[2][3] and script supervisor active during Hollywood's Golden Age.[2][1][4][5] She was the mother of actor Joel Ashley.

Early life and career

Born on January 24, 1899,[6] in Meridian, Mississippi,[1] and raised there and in Macon, Georgia,[7][8] Ashley was one of at least six daughters born to Laura Mariah (née Jones) and Joel Thomas Rodgers,[9] a repairman employed by Central of Georgia Railway.[10]

In either 1934 or 1935 (following the marriage of actress Barbara Rogers—Ashley's sister, née Emma Lee Rodgers[11]—to Warner Brothers executive William Koenig[12]), Beulah moved to Los Angeles with her son Joel. Her Hollywood debut, at least as a writer, came shortly thereafter, in the form of an uncredited rewrite on Warner Brothers' G-Men.[13] In April 1935, virtually coinciding with that film's release, Ashley—along with her sister—helped her son make his unofficial West Coast debut at Hollywood Military Academy, in Aunt Julia's Pearls,[a] a three-act comedy by Boston-based educator/playwright Hope Hearn Moulton.[16][17][18]

In the July 27, 1944 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Ashley was one of a near pageful of alphabetically listed cast and crew members thanked for their work in MGM's Bathing Beauty (1944), including—among others in Ashley's immediate vicinity—bandleader Irving Aaronson, choreographer Robert Alton, assistant director E. J. Babille, and film editor Margaret Booth.[19]

Personal life and death

Ashley married at least twice: in the late 19-teens to Alsie Ashley, with whom she had her only child, actor Joel Ashley,[20][14] and in 1931, to the Russian-born Morris Feldstein.[21]

In December 1935, Ashley was one of a plethora of Hollywood professionals testifying on behalf of their colleague, director/choreographer Busby Berkeley, then on trial for second degree murder, with Ashley, her brother-in-law William Koenig, and several others testifying as to Berkeley's sobriety in the period immediately preceding the fatal mishap.[22]

Asley died in Los Angeles on July 6, 1965, aged 66, following a lengthy illness. She was survived by her son and four sisters.[2][1]

Selected filmography

Notes

  1. ^ A somewhat more notable Joel Ashley "first" would take place in December of that year—albeit unbeknownst to viewers—in the form of his own uncredited Hollywood debut as the stunt double for a still relatively unknown Errol Flynn, in the latter's breakout role, Captain Blood.[14] Moreover, it was not, as later maintained by Kay Francis biographer Lynn Kear, merely his "hanging out on studio lots" that brought about that debut (said "hanging" having evidently entailed a good deal of paid employment), but rather, as noted nine years after the fact by that film's director, the subsequent "sliding down".

    His first chance came when he was working with Warner Bros. as a studio electrician. One day he slid down a rope, from the top of the stage practically into the lap of Michael Curtiz, the director. Instead of bawling him out, Curtiz promptly signed Ashley for a part in the picture he was making. It seems that he had been searching for actors who could slide down the rigging of a ship and Ashley, all unconsciously, had given an exhibition of what he could do in that line. In short, he slid right into the movies.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Funeral Slated Monday for Beulah Ashley". Hollywood Citizen-News. July 10, 1965. p. 3. "Funeral services for Beulah Maria Ashley, 66, who died July 6 [...] Born in Meridian, Miss., Mrs. Ashley lived at 5416 La Mirada Ave., Hollywood. She had been a script clerk with Republic Motion Picture Co. for many years. She leaves son, Joel of Hollywood; sisters, Mrs. Inie Hatcher, Mrs. Julia Soresi, Mrs. Louise Lloyd of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Ruth Gerster of Los Angeles."
  2. ^ a b c "Obituaries: Beulah Ashley". Variety. July 14, 1965. p. 63. ProQuest 1014826554. Beulah Ashley, pioneer screen actress who in later years was a script supervisor at a majority of studios, died after a lengthy illness in Hollywood, July 6. Actor Joe Ashley[sic], a son, survives.
  3. ^ Vazzana, Eugene Michael (1995). Silent Film Necrology: Births and Deaths of Over 9000 Performers, Directors, Producers, and Other Filmmakers of the Silent Era, Through 1993. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. p. 11. ISBN 9780786401321.
  4. ^ "Mystery Shot Kills L.A. Doctor". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. December 17, 1935. p. 4. "Among the witnesses were Mervyn LeRoy, Warner Bros. director; William 'Bobby' Connolly, director at the studio; Benjamin Koenig, brother of the party host; and Beulah Ashley, sister of Mrs. William Koenig and former Warner Bros. script writer."
  5. ^ "Berkeley to Give Crash Version". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. December 18, 1935. p. 2. "Two script writers, William Koenig and Beulah Ashley, testified that Berkeley was not intoxicated."
  6. ^ Stewart, William (1981). International Film Necrology. New York : Garland Pub. p. 12. ISBN 0-8240-9552-9.
  7. ^ "United States, Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9XS-KKJ : Tue Mar 04 17:15:58 UTC 2025), Entry for Joel P Rogers and Laura C Rogers, 1900
  8. ^ "United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLLV-Y3Z : Wed Aug 13 15:44:37 UTC 2025), Entry for Thomas J Rodgers and Laura Rodgers, 1910.
  9. ^ "Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Rodgers Plan Celebration of Golden Wedding". The Macon Telegraph. May 24, 1938. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Funeral Rites Set for Joel Rodgers". The Macon Telegraph. December 23, 1943. p. 6. "Funeral services for Joel Thomas Rodgers, retired Central of Georgia Railway car repairman [...] Surviving are his wife, the former Laura M. Jones [...] daughters, Mrs. Lee Hatcher, Jacksonville; Mrs. Robert Lloyd, Mrs. Joseph Seresi, and Barbara Rodgers, of New York; Mrs. Beulah Ashley, Hollywood. Calif., Mrs. Harry Gerster of Seattle, Wash. [...]; two grandsons, Jack Barwick, Jacksonville, and Joel Ashley, New York."
  11. ^ "Macon Girl Gets Chance At Stardom in Hollywood". The Macon Telegraph. December 15, 1932. p. 5. "[I]t was learned that Barbara Rogers, listed as a Waycross blonde beauty in the group, is really Emily Rodgers of Macon, the 'baby' of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Rodgers on Poplar Street [...] Barbara, who was Emma Lee, or Emily, then left Macon five years ago to spend three years in New York as a model for a big dressing establishment, living with her sister, Mrs. M. Fels.. [...] The Rodgers have lived in Macon nearly all their married life, except for an interval when they lived in Valdosta, where Emma Lee was born."
  12. ^ "Koenig and Actress Will Remarry Here". Hollywood Citizen-News. February 20, 1935. p. 4. "Mr. Koenig said he and the actress were married a year ago at Tijuana but because of criticism of Tijuana marriages, they had decided to remarry in California."
  13. ^ a b Roddick, Nick (1983). A New Deal in Entertainment : Warner Brothers in the 1930s. London : British Film Institute. p. 297. LCCN 83-152420. "Ass.p-Lou Edelman. U.m-Frank Mattison. D-William Keighley. Ass.d-Chuck Hansen. 2nd.d-William K. McGann. Sc-Seton I. Miller, from his own story ‘Public Enemy No. T. Ph-Sol Polito. Camera-Al Green. Ed-Jack Killifer. Script-Beulah Ashley. A.d-John J. Hughes. Properties-Bill Kuehl. Cost-Orry-Kelly. M.d-Leo F. Forbstein."
  14. ^ a b Kear, Lynn; Rossman, John (2006). Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 148. ISBN 0-7864-2366-8. "Ashley was born on April 7, 1919, in Atlanta, Georgia. He never knew his father, and spent much of his early youth living with his grandparents in Macon, Georgia. He attended military schools, including the Georgia Military academy and Peekskill, before he and his mother moved to California. [...] By his late teens, Joel was hanging out on studio lots, and he entered show business as a double for Errol Flynn in Captain Blood (1935)."
  15. ^ Stevenson, L. L. (February 7, 1944). "Lights of New York; One Way". The Richmond Independent. p. 14.
  16. ^ "Hollywood Cadets in Mystery Drama". Evening Vanguard. April 13, 1935. p. 2. "[T]he "three-act mystery comedy, 'Aunt Julia's Pearls,' was presented by cadets this week at Hollywood Military Academy in the school auditorium. [...] In the masculine roles were: John Duffy, as Mr. Hunter; Joel Ashley, as Jim Hunter; [...] Of assistance in the makeup were Miss Barbara Rogers and Mrs. Beulah Ashley."
  17. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office (1928). Catalog of Copyright Entries, New Series. Part 1, Group 3: Dramatic Compositions, Motion Pictures 1928: Vol. 1, No 1-12. United States Government Printing Office. p. 32. OCLC 220733155
  18. ^ Moulton, Hope Hearn (1934) Exposition in Playwriting: Past and Present Methods. Boston University. OCLC 7915846. WorldCat.
  19. ^ a b "Advertisement: BATHING BEAUTY – directed by GEORGE SIDNEY: With Thanks to All". The Hollywood Reporter. July 27, 1944. p. 8. ProQuest 2298702826. Irwin Aaronson, Peggy Adams, Bob Alton, John Murray Anderson, Pop Arnold, Beulah Ashley, Edward J, Babille, Ed Baravelle, Lew Barnes, Eddie Becker, Margaret Booth,
  20. ^ "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936–2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4D-6QHN : Sat Apr 26 10:41:10 UTC 2025), Entry for Joel T Ashley and Alsie Ashley.
  21. ^ "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829–1938", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24DH-R1X : Fri Jul 25 04:57:59 UTC 2025), Entry for Morris Feldstein and Beulah Rodgers Ashley, 29 September 1931.
  22. ^ "Berkeley Defense Draws Judicial Sarcasm". Los Angeles Daily News. December 18, 1935. p. 8. "Others testifying that Berkeley was not intoxicated were William Koenig and Beulah Ashley, script writer."

Further reading

  • "Waycross, Georgia". The Atlanta Constitution. May 12, 1918. p. 15A. "Miss Beulah Rodgers has gone to New York, where she will make her home | with her sister, Mrs. Leo Sherwood."
  • "Weddings and Engagements". The Macon Telegraph. April 20, 1913. p. 15. "At the home of the bride on Albany avenue, Waycross, Wednesday afternoon at 5 o'clock Miss Inez Rogers and Leo Sherwood were armried, Rev. W. H. Scruggs, officiating. Both have many friends who will be interested in the announcement of their marriage."
  • "Social Notes: Waycross, GA". The Atlanta Constitution. April 20, 1913. p. 7. "At the home of the bride on Albany avenue Wednesday afternoon at o'clock, Miss Inez Rogers and Mr. Leo Sherwood were married, Rev. W. H. Scruggs officiating. Both have many friends who will be interested in the announcement of their marriage."
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