MovieChat Forums > Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) Discussion > Do all the children stay in touch with t...

Do all the children stay in touch with their father?

posted 18 years ago by reesenmark
11 replies | jump to latest

I have just finished reading the book the movie was based on, "Who Gets The Drumstick?" I know Helen Beardsley has passed away, and some of the North children changed their name back to North from Beardsley. Do all the children keep in touch with Frank Beardsley, and do the younger two keep in touch with all their siblings? Can anyone answer these questions?

In my area, in 1967-68, you could get 10 loaves of bread for a dollar, gas was 13-15 cents a gallon, cigarettes were 35 cents plus 2 cents tax. I grew up and still live in Michigan, so our prices were/are probably lower than in California.

Lourese

[–] dfortier5 18 years ago

Check out several of my posts in the tread titled "The Real Story". I email regularly with 3 Beardsley family members and have emailed with others and even received a letter from Helen herself back in 1977. Beardsley family members have said about me that I know more about the Beardsleys than they do about themselves. :-)

If you have any questions after you read those posts I'll be glad to answer them.

[–] reesenmark 18 years ago

Thank you so much for your reply. This did answer the questions that I had.

Lourese

[–] lauren2006 18 years ago

I read through the thread you were talking, but it didn't say anything about whether the children stayed in touch with their father. And do you know which of the children changed their names from Beardsley back to North. Thanks.

[–] dfortier5 18 years ago

The ones who changed their names back are Janette, Nick, Tom, Phil and Gerry (and of course their wives and kids too). The three other girls carry their husband's last name. I've been told by more than one family member that fans make a bigger deal about the changing of the names than the family does. Frank is OK with it. Everyone in the family is OK with it. They understand that the Norths wanted to honor the memory of their father. It just goes to show that Helen did a good job keeping their father's memory alive. It also shows that the Norths have heart.

The kids keep in contact with their father. They had a big party Sept 2005 to celebrate Frank's 90th birthday. Last I heard, just a few weeks ago, just before his 91st birthday, Frank was doing well.

"I'd rather believe what I believe and be wrong than believe what you believe and be wrong."

[–] lauren2006 18 years ago

Thanks for responding. Thats really cool that they keep in contact with him.

[–] alexbogue3889 16 years ago

Frank is a very lucky man.

[–] harlowfan 15 years ago

Haha! That's kind of ironic, considering that in the movie, Phillip was the one who wanted to be a Beardley so badly. ;-)

I have to admit, when I view the movie, I feel a little sadness as well as gladness about the name change. It symbolized them becoming a family, but it also meant the North childrens' father's name would be lost. I think it's nice, they decided to honor their birth father in that way. And it's nice the family is so laidback about the name thing. It goes to prove they have their priorities straight.

[–] dfortier5 15 years ago

Just like in the movie, the real Frank and Helen encouraged the 2 families to merge together as one. They did their best to have unity within the family.

All the kids that changed their names back did it as adults. The last one to change over was Tom who was 47 years old when he changed his name, after his mother died.

BTW Frank is now 93 and is still alive and kicking, living at home with his third wife whom he loves dearly. The Beardsley kids love her too. She is a young 79 year old, full of energy. She, like Frank has been married and widowed twice before but she only had 3 children, not 20 like Frank. Frank, of course is slowing down because of his age, but he is still active. He is lucky that at his age he is not living in a home for the aged.

"I'd rather believe what I believe and be wrong than believe what you believe and be wrong."

[–] alexbogue3889 10 years ago

Such a great family.

[–] MusicLover3889 (306) 3 years ago

For sure

[–] MusicLover3889 (306) 5 months ago

Frank's third wife, Dorothy, just died on October 24, 2023.