Posted by Edgebrook Glen on May 23, 2010 at 16:19:48:
Glenview resident was Romper Room's Miss Beverly
A generation of Chicago kids tried to be "Do Bees" because of Miss Beverly.
Beverly Braun, a 40-year Glenview resident who was known as Miss Beverly on WGN-TV's Romper Room from 1962 to 1967, died May 12 after battling cancer. She was 79.
"Children would wait with great anticipation to see if Miss Beverly would say their name" at the end of the show, when she looked through the "Magic Mirror," recalled her daughter, Wendy Braun.
Born Beverly Mendelson in Chicago, Mrs. Braun started out as a teacher at Stone Elementary School in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.
She took elocution and acting lessons, then pitched the idea of a radio show on women's issues to a Chicago radio producer, her daughter said.
After a year in Los Angeles, she returned to Chicago and was among 800 women who auditioned for the Chicago edition of Romper Room, a children's program which had begun in 1954 but aired a nationally syndicated version from 1961 to 1962.
Mrs. Braun, then known as Beverly Marston, demonstrated she was "quick-witted and smart. She was approachable and genuine and that got her the part," Wendy Braun said. "She was great with people, a great listener but also a great interviewer."
Mrs. Braun instructed children in the basics of good behavior and proper manners, using the show's trademarked Mister Do Bee and Mister Don't Bee.
She married Robert Braun in 1965. When she became pregnant in 1967, she "had to tell viewers that was going to have a 'Do Bee' of her own," her daughter said.
After leaving the show, the couple moved to Glenview and raised two children, Wendy and Matthew.
"She happily devoted the rest of her life to her family and made being a mother her priority over pursing a show business career," her daughter said.
Mrs. Braun was active in the Northbrook-Glenview School District 30 PTA and was a volunteer usher at Chicago theaters for many years.
"She took us to see every musical and show in Chicago. She became an avid theater lover," said Wendy Braun, who is an actress in Los Angeles.
Funeral arrangements were private.