BERYL HAMMOND was brought to our attention by a very sharp eyed viewer who thought that one of the waitresses in the movie "Red Line 7000" looked just like a GAZZARRI DANCER in the Shirley Ellis "Name Game" video. Some research into this lead proved this astute viewer to be correct. Although there are some gaps in our short bio about BERYL, this is what we currently know about her.
She was born in Canada on February 6, 1937. BERYL would have just turned 28 when she first appeared on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO in the spring of 1965.
In September 1957 she sailed from New York to Plymouth, England on the SS Flandre, where she secured a role in the upcoming British production of the movie "Intent To Kill". Being that the movie was going to be filmed in Montreal BERYL was a perfect fit. The producers must have liked her because she was hired to play the role of a nurse in the film which was released in 1958.
We don't see or hear of her again until her time on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO. She started appearing as a GAZZARRI by March 1965 and was on the show for at least three months (or about a dozen episodes). BERYL stands out prominently in several performances, such as the John Paul Twins "Oh Pretty Woman", and The Larks "The Jerk" videos. She left the show in late May 1965. Another movie role and more television beckoned.
She found a role in the 1965 movie "Red Line 7000". Filming for this flick began on January 15, 1965 and the release date was November 9, 1965. It seems probable that BERYL filmed her part after leaving HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO in mid-1965. It is fitting that her acting part involved portraying a waitress who also danced in a nightclub.
In the latter part of 1965 she also found work in television sitcoms. She appeared in two episodes of "Bewitched". One aired in October of 1965, the other in December, and she most likely first met her future husband, Jerry Davis, on the set. Jerry was a prolific television producer in the 1960s and 1970s, putting out shows such as "Hawaiian Eye", "McHale's Navy", "Ben Casey", "Surfside 6", "77 Sunset Strip", as well as "Bewitched". Jerry also went on to produce "The Odd Couple" and Beryl acted in one episode of that series in 1970. One has to wonder whether Jerry first noticed BERYL while watching her on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO. Jerry and BERYL wed the following year in June 1966. They had two sons.
We next hear of BERYL in 1983 with her PhD dissertation "Age and Reading Level Effects in Visual Information Processing" (OCLC #10570182) at the University of Southern California. She had gone back to school, most likely in the 1970s, and earned her Masters, and then PhD. She went on to become a very well known clinical psychologist in California and had her own practice.
We have learned that sadly she passed away recently on February 6, 2011.
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