How are you related to Bebe Buell?

Connect to the World Family Tree to find out

Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love

  • Build your family tree online
  • Share photos and videos
  • Smart Matching™ technology
  • Free!

Beverle Lorence Wallerstein (Buell)

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Harold Lloyd Buell and Private
Wife of Private
Ex-wife of Private
Ex-partner of Steven Tyler and Todd Rundgren
Mother of Liv Tyler

Occupation: Model, Singer, singer
Managed by: Kevin Lawrence Hanit
Last Updated:

About Bebe Buell

Bebe Buell (born Beverle Lorence Buell) is an American fashion model and singer, and Playboy magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. She is the mother of actress Liv Tyler. Buell is also known for dating and marrying rock musicians.

In 1972 while working as a teenage model in New York City, Buell met and dated rock star Todd Rundgren for several years. During and after her sometimes open relationship with Rundgren, she also became intimate with many other famous musicians, including Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, and Steven Tyler while maintaining homes with Rundgren in both New York City and the Woodstock, New York area until late 1977. Many people assumed they were married and Bebe was often referred to as Bebe Rundgren in the media. In the fall of 1976, she unexpectedly became pregnant by Tyler, and gave birth to daughter Liv Tyler on July 1, 1977. Buell allowed her daughter to believe that Rundgren was her father until the late 1980s, as Tyler was still deeply addicted to drugs at the time. Buell then moved on to Rod Stewart and in the summer of 1978, she began a tempestuous affair with the married but separated Elvis Costello which continued on and off until 1984. She was also involved with the late Stiv Bators and actor Jack Nicholson.

Buell married sometime-musician and actor Coyote Shivers in 1992. They divorced in 1999 after a year-long separation. In 2002 she married musician Jim Wallerstein of Das Damen and Vacationland fame.

In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris) entitled Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey. The book was a New York Times bestseller. The paperback was issued in 2002.

Filmmaker Cameron Crowe, in his commentary on the extended DVD of his 2000 movie Almost Famous, said he based the film's "Penny Lane" character (played by Kate Hudson) on two women he met during the early 1970s — Bebe Buell and Pennie Trumble, a.k.a "Penny Lane". He said he created some of Penny's dialogue from statements Buell had made in interviews over the years.

view all

Bebe Buell's Timeline

1953
July 14, 1953
Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
1977
July 1, 1977
New York, New York, United States