She was born Mildred Alma Betts on February 3, 1907 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Jerie had a twin brother who sadly died when he was seven months old. Her father was a farmer and there were nine other children in the family. After high school she moved to New York City to become an actress. She made her Broadway debut in the 1928 musical Hold Everything. Then Flo Ziegfeld cast her in his show Whoopee (she was credited as Jerry Rogers). The beautiful blonde also appeared in the Broadway shows Simple Simon and The Laugh Parade with Ed Wynn. Jerie began having an affair a married nightclub owner she called "Joe G." When he refused to leave his wife she fell into a deep depression and started drinking. Her only close friend in New York was actress Frieda Mierse.
By the 1932 her career had stalled and she was bankrupt. She decided to move in with her recently divorced mother in Williamsport. While there she entered a beauty contest and was named "Miss Williamsport". Jerie returned to Manhattan in 1933 for a modeling job. Her mother begged her not to go. Tragically on June 8, 1933 she committed suicide by jumping from a window on the 13th floor of the Hotel Lincoln. She was only twenty-six years old. A note for her ex-lover Joe was found in her hotel room. It said "I am thinking of you constantly. The showbusiness is bad. Oh, how I dislike Broadway. " Jerie was buried at Elimsport Cemetery in Elimsport. Pennsylvania. Her family never believed she committed suicide. They told friends that someone had pushed her out the window.
