Jacqueline Beer (born Jacqueline Vangramberg; 14 October 1932) is a French actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 1954 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1954 where she placed Top 16. She was Chair of the Board of Directors of the Thor Heyerdahl Institute, located in Larvik, Norway. Her second husband was scientist Thor Heyerdahl. She was sometimes credited as Jacqueline Baer.

Early years

Beer's father was "a well-known writer and owner of a large horse farm." Her formal education came at a convent near Paris.

Film and TV

Soon after winning the Miss France contest, Beer signed a contract with Paramount Pictures. Her American film debut came in 1956 when she had an uncredited role as a model in Bob Hope comedy That Certain Feeling. She also played Marianne in war drama Screaming Eagles (1956) and Monique Souvir in the mystery/thriller The Prize (1963). She guest starred in the first season of Maverick in a 1958 episode titled "Diamond in the Rough" starring Jack Kelly loosely based on the true story of the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872. She is best remembered today for her five-year role as Suzanne Fabray, nicknamed "Frenchy," the charming and efficient switchboard operator (and occasional operative) on the classic private eye TV series 77 Sunset Strip starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Personal life

Beer married Jean Antoine Garcia Roady, an accountant, on November 26, 1955. They had two sons, Serge and Laurent, and a daughter, Sabine. In 1991, Beer married ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, whom she met in Güímar, on the Spanish island of Tenerife. She became part of his work, using her skills as an amateur photographer. After he died in 2002, she remained active in the Thor Heyerdahl Research Centre in Aylesbury, UK, and is Chair of the Board of Directors.

Television appearances