Celebrity Graveland

October 9, 1932 – July 3, 1957

On June 17, 1957, filming wrapped on Elvis Presley‘s new movie, Jailhouse Rock. Two weeks later, his young costar – an up-and-coming actress named Judy Tyler – was dead.

Tyler was born and raised in the New York City area. Encouraged by many in her entertainment-rich family, she began acting as a teen. She made regular appearances on the popular Howdy Doody television show and found work on Broadway. In 1955, she landed a starring role in Pipe Dream, a new musical from Broadway legends Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.

Though Pipe Dream was not well received generally, Hollywood still came calling for Judy. She drove across the country and started working immediately. She filmed an episode of the hit drama Perry Mason, the Howard Koch B-movie Bop Girl Goes Calypso, and the aforementioned Elvis classic.

But, Tyler would not live to see any of these projects release. While driving back to New York after Jailhouse wrapped, Judy and her husband were both killed in a car crash in Wyoming. She was only 24. Presley was apparently so distraught over her death that he refused to go to the premiere later that year.

Burial

Ferncliff Cemetery – Hartsdale, NY

Specific Location

Ferncliff Mausoleum, Unit 8, Private Memorial Room B1; Enter the mausoleum’s main entrance, Turn left, right, left, and left then look for the private room on your left with the name NISONGER above it, Judy is inurned in this room on the right-hand side.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2022 at 10:56 am and is filed under Ferncliff Cemetery with tags Actors, Ferncliff Cemetery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.