Beverly Dennis, a former child actress in Chicago who performed on Broadway, in films and on television, most notably on “The Red Buttons Show” until she was blacklisted in the 1950s, has died. She was 79.
Ms. Dennis died Jan. 20 in Beverly Hills, Calif., of multiple myeloma, said her daughter, Amanda Kramer, the keyboardist with the Psychedelic Furs.
Ms. Dennis lost her CBS role as Buttons’ wife after the publication “Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television” listed her as belonging to “subversive organizations,” probably because she “signed a few petitions like the rest of us,” her friend the actress Lee Grant said.
Born in New Jersey, Ms. Dennis grew up in Chicago. She briefly attended the University of Chicago.
After losing her role on “The Red Buttons Show,” Ms. Dennis appeared in 1953 in “Charley’s Aunt” and supported herself doing television commercials. But she decided to switch her profession to psychotherapy and attended Columbia University for a master’s degree.
