# Roberta Shore
**Roberta Shore** is the stage name of Roberta Jymme Schourup (born 1943), an American actress and singer who worked in film and television as a child and teen performer in the late 1950s and early 1960s, best known for playing Betsy Garth on the NBC Western series *[The Virginian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-virginian-tv-series)*. She left acting in the mid-1960s after her first marriage and has since lived in Utah under her preferred name, Jymme Frederickson.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943, Monterey Park, California (one contemporary source gives 1943); birth name Roberta Jymme Schourup[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Album/Who%27s-Who-in-Television-No-14.pdf) |
| Signature role | Betsy Garth, daughter of Lee J. Cobb's Judge Garth, on NBC's *The Virginian*, for the show's first three seasons[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/) |
| Disney work | Franceska Andrassy in *The Shaggy Dog* (1959) and Laura, Annette Funicello's rival, in the Mickey Mouse Club serial *Annette*[4](https://d23.com/a-to-z/shore-roberta/) |
| Singing | First to record "Let There Be Peace on Earth"; recordings on the Dot and Buena Vista labels; her yodel appears on the Disney soundtrack album of *It's a Small World*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) |
| Departure from acting | Left *The Virginian* to marry Kent Christensen on December 19, 1964, and moved to Salt Lake City[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/) |
| Later screen work | Ishmael's wife in *The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey* (2003), opposite her husband Ron Frederickson as Ishmael[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) |
## Name and early career
She was born Roberta Jymme Schourup in [Monterey Park, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/monterey-park-california), and raised in San Gabriel, a suburb of Los Angeles[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/). She began performing at age ten, singing country-western songs at supermarket openings with the bandleader Tex Williams, who invited her onto his weekly television show from [Knott's Berry Farm](https://www.edgepedia.org/knotts-berry-farm); at that point she took the stage name Jymme Shore[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/). She then joined *The Pinky Lee Show* (1950), which IMDb describes as NBC's top-rated daily children's program at the time[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/).
The name changed again at Disney. Because "Jymme" was often taken for a boy's name, [Walt Disney](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney) himself suggested she use Roberta; a Deseret News profile says the change was made so that Mouseketeer fans would not think Jymme was a boy[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/).
## Disney years
Disney Studios cast her as a snooty dating nemesis for [Annette Funicello](https://www.edgepedia.org/annette-funicello) in two of the star's showcases: the 1958 serial *Annette*, built from Mickey Mouse Club material, in which she played the bratty friend Laura, and the feature film *The Shaggy Dog* (1959), in which she played Franceska Andrassy opposite [Fred MacMurray](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-macmurray) and [Tommy Kirk](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-kirk)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/) • [4](https://d23.com/a-to-z/shore-roberta/). In a 2016 interview she recalled that the "mean girl" part brought her a couple of years of nasty fan mail[5](https://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2016/04/roberta-shore-interview.html).
She appeared many times in Mouseketeer-related material without being a Mouseketeer herself, having been deemed too tall, and once toured Australia with them[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/). She also performed the theme song for *The Shaggy Dog* and recorded for the Disney label, including songs that recreated her distinctive squeaky vocal effect[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/).
## The Virginian and other roles
Under contract to Universal Studios, she was originally hired for a new Bob Cummings series that lasted about two weeks, then placed in *The Virginian*, which premiered in 1962[5](https://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2016/04/roberta-shore-interview.html). As Betsy Garth, the daughter of [Lee J. Cobb](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-j-cobb)'s Judge Henry Garth, she was a regular for the series' first three seasons[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/) • [6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Complete-Encyclopedia-of-Television-Programs.1947-1976-Terrace.pdf). A contemporary television profile noted that she was seven years older than the 14-year-old Betsy she played[2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Album/Who%27s-Who-in-Television-No-14.pdf). In her interview she described the pace of the 90-minute weekly series, with two or three episodes in production at a time, and named the [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford) episode "The Evil That Men Do" as her favorite[5](https://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2016/04/roberta-shore-interview.html).
Her other screen work included ongoing roles in *The Bob Cummings Show* and *Father Knows Best*, appearances on *Wagon Train*, *[Maverick](https://www.edgepedia.org/maverick-tv-series)*, and *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*, and film parts in *A Summer Place* (1959), *Blue Denim* (1959), *Because They're Young* (1960), and an uncredited role in MGM's 1962 *Lolita*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/). AlloCiné additionally credits her as Betsy Garth in a 1970 episode of *The Virginian*'s ninth season[7](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-63551/filmographie/).
## Leaving Hollywood
Raised a strict Mormon, she spent weekends during her acting years speaking at LDS Church youth conferences, firesides, and institute programs around the country[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/). She met her first husband, the [Ogden, Utah](https://www.edgepedia.org/ogden-utah) native Kent Christensen, at a Los Angeles fireside, and they married on December 19, 1964, in the Los Angeles LDS temple. She left *The Virginian* to marry, which she described as unheard of in Hollywood at the time; the show wrote her out the following season with Betsy's marriage to a traveling minister played by [Glenn Corbett](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-corbett)[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/).
She and Christensen divorced, and her second husband, Terry C. Barber, died in 1987 of a brain tumor. She later married Ron Frederickson, a retired theater professor who spent 26 years on the faculty of Emporia State University[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/).
## Life after acting
She moved to [Salt Lake City](https://www.edgepedia.org/salt-lake-city), where she has lived for more than 30 years, and worked at one point in the 1980s as a radio disc jockey in Utah; more recently she has been a manufacturer's representative for a furniture business[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/). Her last stage appearance before a long hiatus was in 1975, in *Wait Until Dark* at Pioneer Memorial Theatre; in 2000 she returned to public performance in the Babcock Performing Readers' production of A.R. Gurney's *Love Letters*, starring with her husband, who also directed[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/).
She returned to film in 2003 as Ishmael's wife in *The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey*, with Frederickson playing Ishmael[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/). She has said she misses singing more than acting, and in later years she has made frequent appearances at Western memorabilia shows, where she has reunited with former colleagues including [James Drury](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-drury) and Tommy Kirk[3](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/).
## References
1. [Roberta Shore – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794956/bio/)
2. [Who's Who in Television No. 14, World Radio History](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Album/Who%27s-Who-in-Television-No-14.pdf)
3. [Roberta Shore, a k a Jymme Fredrickson, Deseret News, January 9, 2000](https://www.deseret.com/2000/1/9/19552116/roberta-shore-a-k-a-jymme-fredrickson/)
4. [Shore, Roberta, D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/shore-roberta/)
5. [Interview with Roberta Shore: From Disney to The Virginian, Classic Film and TV Café, April 7, 2016](https://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2016/04/roberta-shore-interview.html)
6. [The Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs 1947–1976, World Radio History](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Complete-Encyclopedia-of-Television-Programs.1947-1976-Terrace.pdf)
7. [Roberta Shore : Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-63551/filmographie/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames Q to St*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license