Beatrice Lambe

My maternal Grandmother was born Beatrice Lambe in 1897.  The story is vague regarding her early childhood--    her mother died (Beatrice was two...)  from then on she was raised by her paternal grandmother--   ending up in Chicago.  Beautiful and outgoing--  and yearning for a life of glamour---  She managed to land a contract  at Essanay Studios---  a big deal--  Essanay also handled, Gloria Swanson, Tom Mix, Wallace Berry, and eventually even Charlie Chaplin--
Her first (and sadly only...) big role "In The Palace of the King" (1915)  was shot in Chicago--  The studio asked her to come to 'Hollywood'---- my great great aunt forbid the idea--  This was one of my grandmothers favorite stories--  how fame was snatched away--  preventing her destiny!  There is lots of documentation on "In The Palace..." --  None list Beatrice Lambe as the star--  still I'm believing her--

She married at around 20--  Had my uncle Jack in 1920--  Sadly the marriage was brief and was annulled--
For the next few years she worked doing X-rays in a dental lab--  She met my Grandfather, Tom Burns (my namesake..) married and had my aunt Betty in 1926 followed by my mother Marilyn (after Broadway star Marilyn Miller) in 1928.  Aunt Betty (or "Beppy") inherited my grandmothers aspirations--  she too was a knock-out and ambitious--  (always being mistaken for Betty Grable...) in the late forties my aunt moved to Los Angeles and married--  Soon to be followed by the rest of the family--  My aunts new husband was good buddies with my father Jack Early---  It was at the bar at the Biltmore hotel (Palm Springs) where the date for my parents was set up---  early in 1950--  but I digress--  back to Beatrice--

Tom and Beatrice lived first in the valley, then Granada Hills---finally settling in Sun City California in the early sixties--  My grandfather died of cancer in April 1964--  I was born nine months later-- remaining in Sun City, Beatrice married once again--  to Fred Rogers---  This time is the first memory of my grandmother--  She loved to perform, garden and was up for anything---  husband Fred became mentally unstable--  began to threaten her---  I won't even go into the scary stuff he pulled--  like earlier the marriage was annulled--  (as a side note--  25 years later --she met my dog Fred --  her response:  "Why would you name him that"...)
My family moved her to Orange County during the drama with Fred--  I'm guessing 1978--  soon after my uncle Jack passed away--  a huge blow to my grandmother--  From there she moved to Laguna Hills into a 'retirement hotel'---  while there she met her fourth husband,  Paul Fulton--  a sweet man who adored her---  They were very happy, having their honeymoon at the Hotel Laguna--  She was 82-- Paul
passed on  maybe five years later--

One could easily see the appeal of my Grandmother--  remaining beautiful and always up for fun--
She lived to be 102--  When she was 99 I won an Emmy award for my work on 'Days of Our Lives'
(Please forgive if I seem like I'm name dropping---  I hate that stuff.....)  Anyway--  Showing her the award---  the way she grasped it with 'iron hands'....  I was thrilled that it made her so happy---  after that, when I would visit her---  she would always ask, "where's the Emmy"....  It meant so much to her---   Her original spirit was still going---  Truly, I miss her today--- but love that into her hundreds---  she was proud---  we got each other--