{{short description|New Zealand singer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Beaver, singer from NZ, at Nambassa 1978.jpg|thumb|135px|right|Performance at Nambassa 1979]] '''Beverley Jean Morrison''', known professionally as '''Beaver''' (28 December 1950 – 23 May 2010), was a New Zealand jazz singer. She was an occasional actress who appeared in small roles in television and film.

==Early life== Beverley Jean Morrison was born on 28 December 1950 in Lower Hutt.<ref name="ODT_107316">{{cite web |url=http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/107316/jazz-singer-beverley-quotbeaverquot-jean-morrison-dies |title=Jazz singer Beverley "Beaver" Jean Morrison dies |date=23 May 2010 |work=Otago Daily Times |accessdate=17 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.sergent.com.au/beaver.html|title= Beaver|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501095310/http://www.sergent.com.au/beaver.html |archive-date=2007-05-01 }}</ref>

==Career== Morrison was a long-running member of the ground-breaking Blerta musical and theatrical co-operative, and later of the similar troupe Red Mole.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/redmole.htm |title=Red Mole<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=13 April 2007 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817035229/http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/redmole.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/brunton/brief/mole_chron.asp NZEPC &ndash; Alan Brunton &ndash; RED MOLE : A CHRONOLOGY OF WORKS 1974&ndash;2002<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> She played a small role in the 1985 movie ''Should I Be Good?'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/film_catalogue/features/feature_film_catalogue/Should_I_Be_Good_107.aspx |title=New Zealand Film Commission - Should I be Good |accessdate=2007-04-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001074809/http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/film_catalogue/features/feature_film_catalogue/Should_I_Be_Good_107.aspx |archivedate=2006-10-01 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.arovideo.co.nz/film.php?FilmID=2250&arovideo=66be26d05d74158acaa72400ca6c4562 Should I Be Good or Should I Be Evil? (1985) | Arovideo DVD and VHS rental and sales<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> a New Zealand film based on the Mr. Asia drug ring, and performed the theme song to the TVNZ soap opera ''Gloss'' (1987&ndash;1990). In 1990, she played the role of a local horse farrier, Jean Bailey, in the Grundy Television film ''The Rogue Stallion''.

==Awards== Her 1988 album ''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' was voted New Zealand's "Best Jazz Album" that year.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

==Personal life == Morrison had two daughters with fellow New Zealand-born actor Bill Stalker.<ref name="TVNZ_3564556">{{cite web |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/tributes-jazz-singer-beaver-3564556 |title=Tributes for jazz singer Beaver |date=23 May 2010 |work=Television New Zealand |accessdate=17 September 2011}}</ref>

She died of sarcoma at the age of 59 in Auckland.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_3729311">{{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/3729311/ |title=Beaver's remarkable voice silenced by cancer |author=Newton, Kate |date=24 May 2010 |work=The Dominion Post |accessdate=18 September 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2010.html Thedeadrockstarsclub.com] &ndash; accessed May 2010</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070501095310/http://www.sergent.com.au/beaver.html Her entry] at Bruce Sergent's [https://web.archive.org/web/20070419210601/http://www.sergent.com.au/nzmusic.html New Zealand Music] site * John Dix, [http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/beaver Beaver profile at audiocultre.co.nz] * {{IMDb name|0064755}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaver}} Category:1950 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Category:20th-century New Zealand women singers Category:Deaths from sarcoma