Judy Tyler
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Judy Tyler (October 9, 1933–July 4, 1957) was an American actress.
Born Judith Mae Hess in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she came from a show business family and was encouraged to study dance and acting. Her acting career began as a teenager with regular appearances on Howdy Doody as Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring from 1950 to 1952.
Like her mother, she became a chorus girl but then went on to star in a major role in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Pipe Dream. Life did a story on rising Broadway talent with Tyler on the magazine's cover as one of the up-and-coming stars. She lived with her parents in Teaneck, New Jersey when appearing on "Howdy Doody" and Broadway.
Offered an opportunity in Hollywood, Judy appeared in the film Bop Girl Goes Calypso then starred opposite Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (1957). After completing filming of the Presley movie, she and her second husband, Greg Lafayette, took a vacation. While driving through Wyoming, they were involved in an automobile accident on U.S. Route 287, just north of Rock River, Wyoming, that claimed both their lives. Sadly, Judy Tyler never got to enjoy her work in her only two films. Elvis said that he could never watch "Jailhouse Rock" because he was so saddened by her death.
Judy Tyler's cremated remains are in the Private Family Room of her husband in the mausoleum in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
