Her mother married again in 1962. Her mother's second husband was Colin Beyer, a recent law school graduate. The couple moved to Upper Hutt. Beyer, now aged four and a half years, returned to live with her mother and stepfather. A brother, Andrew, was born in December 1963. Beyer attended Upper Hutt Primary School and from age seven, after the family moved to the Wellington suburb of Crofton Downs, Ngaio School. With marital problems developing between her mother and her stepfather, Beyer was sent to Wellesley College boarding school, where she attempted suicide amid feelings of rejection by her parents. From Form 2, she attended the school as a day pupil, as the hostel had closed. After her parents' marriage failed in 1971, financial constraints meant that a private school was no longer affordable, and Beyer attended Onslow College in Form 3. Beyer then moved with her mother and brother Andrew to Papatoetoe to be near family (her brother Raymond lived there, and her sister Joan lived in Glenfield) and friends, with Beyer attending Papatoetoe High School. Before enrolment, a legal name change by deed poll from "George Bertrand" to "George Beyer" meant that the difference in family name did not have to be explained at school. It was also seen as socially-advantageous for Beyer to be linked to her successful father. Beyer began acting while at that school and decided to make a career out of it, leaving school at 16 (against her mother's will).