Beverly Younger

Beverly Ruth Younger was born August 2, 1915 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her parents were Edward J. Younger (1891-1954) and Margaret Verle Dunham (1891-1975). Beverly's first stage appearance was at the age of four and from the age of six until she left high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA she had parts with the Bainbridge Players. She decided to stay and performed for the next several years with the Federal Theater and began being featured on radio soap operas. She was also a writer, specializing in comedic monologues. She met actor Lester Burton Podewell (1907-1998) in the Eugene O'Neill play, The Straw, in which they both had roles. They married later that year in 1937. Many of her early monologues were written for his performances, however she wrote many character impersonations for her own one woman shows. For five years she played Matilda Pendleton on radio's Ma Perkins. Following that experience she played Kitty Keene on the radio series by that name. During the 1950's on Stud Terkel's Stud's Place live TV show in Chicago she played Gracie the waitress. Her husband, Lester Podewell, was among the diner's clientele. She died following a lengthy illness on July 24, 1999 in Evanston, Illinois, USA.