Helen Eileen Beardsley (née Brandmeir, formerly North, April 5, 1930 – April 26, 2000) was the mother of the famous blended family of twenty children — eight by her first marriage to Richard North, ten stepchildren from the first marriage of her second husband Frank Beardsley, and two that she and Frank had during their marriage. She wrote a book, Who Gets the Drumstick?, about her blended family's experiences. The book was the basis for two motion pictures: the 1968 Yours, Mine and Ours starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda; and a 2005 remake of the same film with Rene Russo and Dennis Quaid.
Helen Brandmeier was born in 1930 in Seattle, Washington. Her father owned a lumber mill, which came under severe stress during the Great Depression. Helen would later describe how her observations of her father would shape her personality, and in particular how it would teach her to value independence and problem-solving.[1]
Brandmeier trained as a nurse in Seattle. In 1949, she married Richard North, then a chief petty officer in the United States Navy. Their marriage lasted for eleven years and produced eight children. In 1960, the North's were stationed at NAS Whidbey and Helen was six months pregnant with their eighth child, Teresa Rose. It was at this time that North, now a Lieutenant Junior Grade and A-3 Skywarrior bombardier navigator, died on June 7, 1960 when the A-3 he was flying in ran off the runway during takeoff at Ault Field and crashed in 5 1/2 feet of water.[2]
Following Teresa's August 1960 birth in Oak Harbor, Washington, North relocated to San Leandro, California. She then married a second time, on September 9, 1961,[3] to Chief Warrant Officer Frank Beardsley, USN, who at the time served as Personnel Officer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Mr. Beardsley was a widower himself and had ten children. The huge family that resulted presented nearly unprecedented logistical problems and thus became a national curiosity. The Beardsleys landed a celebrity endorsement contract, then sold the rights to their story to Desilu Productions, who produced the first of the two films based on their marriage. Helen Beardsley also appeared on the television show To Tell the Truth to tell the story of her family.
Frank Beardsley retired from the Navy July 1966 and opened a candy store which operated for many years, with help from the older children. Helen served on the California Governor's Commission on the Status of Women during the governorship of Ronald Reagan.
This marriage lasted until Helen Beardsley's death in Healdsburg, California, on April 26, 2000, due to complications from Parkinson's Disease. Frank Beardsley later remarried.
According to Kermit Schafer, a member of the audience on the Tonight Show provided a classic quip when the Beardsleys appeared on the show with all those children. The family had just left the stage, and the show had cut to a commercial break. Johnny Carson was in awe of the huge family and he said, "I have only two kids. I don't know how they do it. " Someone in the seats stood up and hollered, "Oh yes you do!"