
What happened to Helen Beardsley?
Helen Beardsley left Frank late in life, but never divorced him. She died in April 2000, shortly after her 70th birthday. At her own request, she was buried in Washington alongside Richard North, her first husband. Frank Beardsley died in 2012 at age 97.
How long did Frank Beardsley's marriage last?
Frank and Helen Beardsley's marriage lasted for 30 years, until she left him when her health began to fail. She died in Healdsburg, California, on April 26, 2000, aged 70, from Parkinson's disease and a stroke. Frank Beardsley later remarried.
What did Frank Beardsley die of?
Frank Beardsley, the family’s patriarch, who ran his home with a military-trained eye for exactness, died Dec. 11 of complications of old age at a hospital in Santa Rosa. He was 97. A broad-shouldered man with Irish roots and a deep Catholic faith, he was born in San Francisco on Sept. 11, 1915.
Who was Francis Beardsley's first wife?
Francis Louis Beardsley was born in San Francisco on Sept. 11, 1915, to Charles and Mary Grennan Beardsley. He joined the Navy in 1936, rising to chief warrant officer in a 31-year career. His first wife, the former Frances Albrecht, died in 1960. A year later, he married Helen Brandmeir North, who died in 2000.

How many times was Frank Beardsley married?
After his second wife died in 2000, Beardsley remarried again. His third wife, Dorothy, was a nurse, just as the previous two had been. She survives him, as do all 20 of his children and stepchildren, most of whom still live in California.
How old was Frank Beardsley when he married Helen?
Beardsley was 45 and a father of 10 when he married Helen North, a mother of 8, on Sept. 9, 1961. Reporters and a large crowd flocked to the church in Carmel for the wedding and later to the courthouse in Salinas, Calif., where each parent adopted the other's children. Within three years, the couple had two more.
How old was Helen Beardsley when she died?
70 years (1930–2000)Helen Beardsley / Age at deathHelen Beardsley, a mother of 20 who recounted the story of her unusual family in a book that was later made into a popular movie, died April 26 at a hospital in Healdsburg, Calif. She was 70 and lived in Santa Rosa, Calif. The cause was complications from Parkinson's disease, her family said.
What happened to the Beardsley North family?
They”re still in love after 32 years and have two adult daughters, Elyse and Diana. Helen Beardsley left Frank late in life, but never divorced him. She died in April 2000, shortly after her 70th birthday. At her own request, she was buried in Washington alongside Richard North, her first husband.
How many children did Frank and Helen Beardsley have?
Helen, her eight children and all of Beardsley's moved into one home. The couple adopted each other's children and had two more of their own — bringing the total to 12 girls and eight boys.
How old was Lucille Ball as mine and ours?
This came about probably on the strength of Lucille Ball's name and performance (which many of her fans regard as a classic). Some critics felt that Ball, then in her late 50s, was perhaps 15 years too old for the part of a middle-aged (presumably 40-ish) mother.
What happened to the real family of Yours, Mine and Ours?
After Frank retired from the Navy, the family went into the bakery business with the kids helping out after school and on weekends. Helen has since died; Frank married for a third time and died in 2012.
Is your mine and ours based on a true story?
Frank Beardsley, whose big, blended family inspired 'Yours, Mine and Ours,' dies at 97. Frank Beardsley, a widower whose happy, if harried, domestic life inspired a book and two movies after he and his second wife adopted each other's children — there were 18 in all — and then had two more together, died Dec.
What does Beardsley mean?
The ancestry of the name Beardsley dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived in the village named Bardsley in Lancashire. The village itself traces its name back to the Old English words Beornred's leah, which mean Beornred's wood or Beornred's clearing.
Which kids were adopted in Yours, Mine and Ours?
She had 10 children before her marriage, four biological children and six adopted ones. Jimi, Naoko, Lau, Bina, and Marisa are adopted; one of the other children is also adopted and the other four are biological, but it is never revealed which.
Who Gets the Drumstick the story of the Beardsley family?
The Story of the Beardsley Family Hardcover – January 1, 1965. Helen Beardsley was the mother of a blended family of 20 children. This book about her experiences was the basis for the movie "Yours, Mine, and Ours."
How many kids are in Yours, Mine and Ours?
Yours, Mine & Ours is a 2005 American family comedy-drama film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo. It concerns a blended family with 18 children.
What happened to the real family of Yours, Mine and Ours?
After Frank retired from the Navy, the family went into the bakery business with the kids helping out after school and on weekends. Helen has since died; Frank married for a third time and died in 2012.
What does Beardsley mean?
The ancestry of the name Beardsley dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived in the village named Bardsley in Lancashire. The village itself traces its name back to the Old English words Beornred's leah, which mean Beornred's wood or Beornred's clearing.
Who Gets the Drumstick the story of the Beardsley family?
The Story of the Beardsley Family Hardcover – January 1, 1965. Helen Beardsley was the mother of a blended family of 20 children. This book about her experiences was the basis for the movie "Yours, Mine, and Ours."
Who are the kids in Yours, Mine and Ours?
CastSean Faris as William, age 17.Katija Pevec as Christina, age 16.Dean Collins as Harry, age 14.Haley Ramm as Kelly, age 11.Tyler Patrick Jones as Michael, age 10.Bridger and Brecken Palmer as Otter and Ely, age 6.Ty Panitz as Ethan, age 4.
How old was Frank Beardsley when he died?
Frank Beardsley, a widower whose happy, if harried, domestic life inspired a book and two movies after he and his second wife adopted each other’s children — there were 18 in all — and then had two more together, died Dec. 11 in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was 97. His son Michael Beardsley confirmed the death, but the family did not disclose the cause.
How many children did the Beardsleys have?
They welcomed each other’s children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 15 years, before raising the tally to 20. In all, there were 12 girls and eight boys. At the time, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that the Beardsleys had the “undisputed largest military family in the nation’s history.”.
Where did the Beardsley family live?
Mr. Beardsley once described the book as a love story but also a “Navy story.”. The family, which lived in a specially renovated home in Carmel, Calif., that sprawled to eight bedrooms and five bathrooms, relied on military-style organization to keep up with workaday chores.
What medicine did Ball get drunk off?
In the Ball film, the mother’s prospective stepchildren mix her a cocktail so potent that it recalls the physical comedy of the “I Love Lucy” television episode when Ball gets drunk off an alcohol-laced medicine called Vitameatavegamin.
Who was the first wife of the Beardsley family?
His first wife was the former Frances Albrecht. Helen Beardsley died in 2000. Mr. Beardsley later married Dorothy Cushman, who survives, along with 20 children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Did Frank Beardsley's shoe size matter?
Frank Beardsley was inexact when selecting shoe sizes, but it didn’t matter. “Someone would grow into them eventually,” she said.
Who gets the drumstick Helen Beardsley?
Helen Beardsley’s “Who Gets the Drumstick?,” in contrast, was a warmhearted human-interest tale that was first excerpted in Good Housekeeping magazine. It described the children embracing their new parents from the start and explained how the family managed to function. Their working philosophy boiled down to the motto of the “Three Musketeers” — “All for one, one for all” — but modified for a bigger troupe.
How many children did Helen Beardsley have?
Helen Eileen Beardsley (née Brandmeir, formerly North; April 5, 1930 – April 26, 2000) was the mother of a noted blended family of twenty children — eight by her first marriage to Richard North, ten stepchildren from her second husband Frank Beardsley, and two that she and Frank had during their marriage.
When did Frank Beardsley retire?
After 30 years in the Navy, Frank Beardsley retired in 1966. Looking to buy a business, in 1968 he bought a nut and candy store named Morrow's Nut House in Monterey, California.
Who was Helen Beardsley married to?
She then married, secondly, on September 9, 1961 to Chief Warrant Officer Francis Louis "Frank" Beardsley, USN , who at the time served as Personnel Officer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. A widower, Frank Beardsley brought 10 children from his first marriage; combined with Helen's eight children ...
Who said "I have only three kids"?
The family had just left the stage, and the show had cut to a commercial break. Johnny Carson was in awe of the huge family and he said, "I have only three kids. I don't know how they do it." Someone in the seats stood up and hollered, "Oh, yes, you do!"
How many members of the Beardsley clan were there?
All 22 members of the Beardsley clan dined with star that night. "She would throw her head back and cackle in her classic Lucy style and we were all enthralled," Pope said.
How many Beardsley kids are there?
She said growing up as one of the 20 Beardsley kids was a true gift.
Why did Pope say that her dad was not allowed to go into her room?
Pope remembers her dad responded that it was because of all those children that the two of them would need a place of their own, a refuge. "None of us children were allowed to go into that room unless we were invited," Pope said.
How old was Frank Beardsley when he married Helen North?
Frank Beardsley's life became anything but that when, as a 45-year-old widowed father of 10 children, he married Helen North, a widowed mother of 8, in September of 1961. They adopted each other's children and gave birth to two more.
How many bedrooms does Susie Pope have?
Suddenly home nearly twice as many people, it had to be made bigger. Susie Pope remembers her dad and new mother setting out have it expanded to eight bedroom, five bathrooms and three living rooms.
When was the first Beardsley movie made?
The first movie about their family, made in 1968 and starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, suggested that the Beardsley kids and the North kids initially resisted the marriage.
Did the Beardsleys make bread?
Pope said her family did earn royalties from the book and the movie. The famous Beardsleys also made some bread, literally, from an advertising deal with the former Langendorf Bakery.
How many grandchildren does Michael Beardsley have?
Mr. Beardsley is also survived by about 60 grandchildren and about 24 great-grandchildren, Michael Beardsley said.
Why did Frank Beardsley buy the sandstones?
Frank Beardsley, a retired Navy chief warrant officer, had bought them in large quantity at a naval base store so that he would always be ready to refit his children’s growing feet.
How many children did Henry Fonda have?
He had 20 children. Rather, he and the former Helen North had 20 after merging two very large families in a second marriage for both, he as a widower and she as a widow. Their union prompted wide media coverage and inspired a book and two movies titled “ Yours, Mine and Ours ,” the first starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball.
Did the Beardsleys get a commercial?
The attention did not end. Tour buses stopped outside their home. A bread company hired the Beardsleys to do a commercial and posted a family photograph on its trucks. Shortly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley appeared on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show. (Mr. Carson described their life as “Camp Run Amok,” one of their sons, Gregory, recalled, adding, “But we were pretty organized, actually.”)
Who credited his parents with not overplaying the family's fame?
Gregory Beardsley credited his parents with not overplaying the family’s fame. “My parents,” he told The Monterey County Herald, “always used to remind us, ‘You’re only 5 percent of the equation, so 5 percent of a celebrity isn’t too much to brag about.’. ”. Advertisement.
What did Beardsley do to his children?
Beardsley, who had a knack for telling jokes, valued order above most things. He made unannounced “white glove inspections” of his children’s rooms and allowed absolutely no dust, Pope said. For a while, he put them on an exercise regimen that entailed gathering in the yard for jumping jacks. Advertisement.
How did Frank Beardsley die?
Frank Beardsley, the family’s patriarch, who ran his home with a military-trained eye for exactness, died Dec. 11 of complications of old age at a hospital in Santa Rosa. He was 97.
How many bags of flour did the Carmel crew unload?
The crew, clad in hand-me-down clothes, poured out of their eight-bedroom Carmel home and down the hill. They helped unload 50-pound bags of flour and huge tubs of jam. Grocery shopping for 22 was pandemonium; instead, a restaurant supply company brought the food to them.
When did Beardsley's second wife die?
After his second wife died in 2000, Beardsley remarried again. His third wife, Dorothy, was a nurse, just as the previous two had been.
Who sent the prayer card to Beardsley?
Soon, he received a missive from Helen North. The widowed mother of eight, who knew Beardsley’s sister, had sent a small prayer card that had comforted her. Touched, he eventually called to ask her out.
Who paid for the Beardsleys?
Ball, who paid for the Beardsleys to take a five-day trip to Disneyland, took quite a liking to the family, according to Lucie Arnaz, Ball’s daughter.
Who is Marisa Gerber?
Marisa Gerber is a narrative writer at the Los Angeles Times. She joined the paper in 2012 and has written about criminal justice, immigration and gentrification. She grew up in Nogales, Ariz.
