Beverlee McKinsey (born Beverlee Magruder; August 9, 1935 – May 2, 2008) was an American actress. She is best known for her roles on daytime serials, including Iris Cory Carrington on Another World and the spin-off series Texas from 1972 to 1981 and Alexandra Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1984 to 1992.

Early life

McKinsey was born Beverlee Magruder in McAlester, Oklahoma, on August 9, 1935. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Warren S. Magruder of Tulsa. in drama. She taught in schools in four states before she was married.

She understudied the leading role of newlywed Corie in the original Broadway production of Barefoot in the Park and was given the opportunity to perform the role opposite Robert Redford several times. She also co-starred as Honey in the London production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill. She started her career in off-Broadway theater, often appearing alongside James Earl Jones and Doris Belack. Her other work on Broadway included performing in Mert and Phil and being an understudy for Man and Boy. for her work as Iris.

Alexandra Spaulding

After a hiatus from daytime, Gail Kobe, then executive producer of Guiding Light, lured McKinsey to Guiding Light, on CBS, in February 1984 in the newly created character of wealthy matriarch Baroness Alexandra Spaulding Von Halkein.

As Alexandra, McKinsey's initial work was portraying Alexandra's love for power and the desire to best brother Alan Spaulding, as well as to reclaim the affection, love, and approval of Lujack/Nick, her twin sons who were forcibly taken away from her at birth. Alexandra also cared deeply for her nephews, Phillip and Alan-Michael, but was irritated by Phillip's ex-wives, India and Blake.

While Alexandra could be a snob (and ruthless) at times, she also could let her hair down, as when she went bowling with then-beau H.B. Lewis (Larry Gates). Her ruthlessness was revealed when Alexandra married Roger Thorpe (Michael Zaslow), then subsequently discovered he was involved in an affair with the younger Mindy Lewis. The scene where Alexandra humiliates Roger in public at the country club is now considered a Guiding Light classic scene.

In 1992, McKinsey took advantage of an out in her contract, and abruptly left the show. Soap journalist Michael Logan wrote about the turn of events:<blockquote>

Interviewing McKinsey was a dream. There were never any "I just love everyone I work with" cliches. After she exited Guiding Light, McKinsey cited her "not very pleasant" work environment for one of the reasons she chose to leave the daytime serial. Looking at her contract, she discovered she could leave the show after every six-month period. So McKinsey took advantage of the contract the day before her annual eight-week vacation. McKinsey went on permanent vacation. McKinsey adamantly defended her choice to exit the show. Her bosses felt they had been bamboozled. "They're bent out of shape because, for once, somebody beat 'em at their own game," she said. "I had warned Jill (the show's then-executive producer Jill Farren Phelps)&nbsp;– although I don't think she paid attention to me&nbsp;– that I was not happy. I was not happy with the story line." She had confided in Phelps previously that she was frustrated enough to quit, and was told in response that perhaps she should read her contract.

McKinsey later quipped that perhaps Phelps and the rest of the Guiding Light production team were who should have read the contract. "They didn't read the contract! I read it very closely. I knew every word. The next day, they were all combing over the contract. Somebody said, 'Maybe Beverlee's not familiar with the contract.' Well, of course she was! She wrote it, you bozos. She wrote it! I've had this out clause since 1986. I asked for it and it was P&G that determined how much notice they wanted me to give&nbsp;– and they chose eight weeks."

In addition to her issues with storytelling, which she said would not have motivated her to leave if her working environment had been happier, McKinsey noted that acting had simply stopped being fun for her. "The hours just made me crazy. They were too long," she explained.</blockquote>

Personal life

She was married three times, and had one son, Scott McKinsey from her marriage to Mark McKinsey. in 1971, and cared for him during his illness from terminal brain cancer prior to his death in 1984.

In 1994, she made a brief appearance as Myrna Slaughter on General Hospital. In an interview, she said she took the role to qualify for her medical insurance, but otherwise adamantly considered herself retired from soaps from that moment in 1992 when she last left the set of Guiding Light. She had resisted all entreaties to return to daytime television. After some health issues, including a kidney transplant, McKinsey retired to Southern California and made few public appearances.

Death

Beverlee McKinsey died on May 2, 2008, at the Olympic Medical Center in Los Angeles, from complications due to a kidney transplant, which she had undergone in 1998.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film

|-

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes

|-

| 1969 || They Shoot Horses, Don't They? || Dancer || Uncredited

|-

| 1969 || The Reivers || Girl by the Boon's Car || Uncredited

|-

| 1980 || Bronco Billy || Irene Lily ||

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television

|-

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes

|-

| 1964 || The Reporter || Ann || Episode: "Murder by Scandal"

|-

| 1965 || The Doctors and the Nurses || Eileen Moore || Episode: "Where There's Smoke"

|-

| 1965 || The Defenders || Karen McDermott || Episode: "Only a Child"

|-

| 1965 || Seaway || Millie || Episode: "Shipment from Marseilles"

|-

| 1966 || Hawk || Mattie Mulroy || Episode: "War of Silence"

|-

| 1968 || The Second Hundred Years || Flo || Episode: "Love on the Double"

|-

| 1969 || Mannix || Carol Chase || Episode 13 (season 2): "Death Run"

|-

| 1969<br>1972 || The Mod Squad || Claudine Ensign<br>Evelyn Ellis || Episode: "A Hint of Darkness, a Hint of Light"<br>Episode: "Another Final Game"

|-

| 1969 || The Virginian || Abby Clayton || Episode: "The Substitute"

|-

| 1969 || Hawaii Five-O || Jo Louise Mailer || Episode: "The Joker's Wild, Man, Wild!"

|-

| 1970 || Death Valley Days || Maud Gage Baum || Episode: "The Wizard of Aberdeen"

|-

| 1970 || The F.B.I. || Cathy Wheaton || Episode: "Summer Terror"

|-

| 1970–1971 || Love Is a Many Splendored Thing || Martha Donnelly / Julie Richards || Unknown episodes

|-

| 1971 || Longstreet || Sue Hazelton || Episode: "A World of Perfect Complicity"

|-

| 1971 || Medical Center || Beth || Episode: "The Shattered Man"

|-

| 1971 || McMillan & Wife || Laurie Forrest || Episode: "Husbands, Wives and Killers"

|-

| 1972<br>1972–1980 || Another World || Emma Frame Ordway<br>Iris Wheeler || Unknown episodes

|-

| 1972 || The Delphi Bureau || Goldie || Episode: "The Man Upstairs-The Man Downstairs Project"

|-

| 1973 || Cannon || Rita Bell || Episode: "The Dead Samaritan"

|-

| 1973 || The ABC Afternoon Playbreak || Lorraine Collins || Episode: "The Other Woman"

|-

| 1980–1981 || Texas || Iris Wheeler || Unknown episodes

|-

| 1983 || The Demon Murder Case || Charlotte Harris || TV movie

|-

| 1983 || Remington Steele || Alexis Vandermeer || Episode: "Vintage Steele"

|-

| 1984–1992 || Guiding Light || Alexandra Spaulding || Unknown episodes

|-

| 1994 || General Hospital || Myrna Slaughter || Unknown episodes (final television appearance)

|}

Theatre

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Theatre

|-

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Venue

|-

| 1962 || P.S. 193 || Miss Nichols || Off-Broadway

|-

| 1963 || The Love Nest || Polly Seekfest || Off-Broadway

|-

| 1963 || Barefoot in the Park || Corie Bratter (replacement) || Broadway

|-

| 1963 || Man and Boy || Carol Penn (understudy)<br>Countess Antonescu (understudy)|| Broadway

|-

| 1964 || Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? || Honey || West End

|-

| 1964 || Dutchman || Lula (replacement) || Off-Broadway

|-

| 1974 || Mert & Phil || Lavoris || Broadway

|}

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Award

! Category

! Series

! Result

|-

| rowspan=2| 1977

| Daytime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

| rowspan=6| Another World

|

|-

| Soapy Awards

| Favorite Villainess

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 1978

| Daytime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

|

|-

| Soapy Awards

| Favorite Villainess

|

|-

| 1979

| Daytime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

|

|-

| 1980

| Daytime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

|

|-

| 1986

| Soap Opera Digest Awards

| Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role on a Daytime Serial

| rowspan=4| Guiding Light

|

|-

| 1991

| Soap Opera Digest Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress: Daytime

|

|-

| 1992

| Soap Opera Digest Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress: Daytime

|

|-

| 1993

| Soap Opera Digest Awards

| Outstanding Lead Actress

|

|-

|}

References

  • Beverlee McKinsey Archive
  • 1992 TV Guide interview with McKinsey
  • Irises: The unofficial Beverlee McKinsey and Carmen Duncan home page
  • 'Iris' character bio from Eddie's AW Home Page
  • Clips from Texas episodes
  • Beverlee McKinsey Tribute from Respectance.com