Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable (
December 18,
1916 –
July 2,
1973) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and
pin-up girl whose sensational bathing-suit photo became the number one pinup of the
World War II era. Grable was best known for her shapely
gams (legs), which were showcased in all of her
Technicolor musicals and famously insured by her studio
20th Century Fox for one million dollars per leg.
Grable was born in
St. Louis, Missouri to John Conn Grable and Lillian Rose Hoffman. Most of her recent ancestors were American, but her distant heritage included Dutch, Irish, German and English.[
1][
2] She was propelled into acting by her mother, who insisted that one of her daughters become a star. For her first role, as a
chorus girl in the film
Happy Days (
1929), Grable was only 13 years old (legally underage for acting), but because the chorus line performed in
blackface, it was impossible to tell how old she was.
For her next film, her mother tried to get her to sign a contract using false ID, but when this was discovered Grable was fired. Grable finally obtained a role as a 'Goldwyn Girl' in
Whoopee! (1930), starring
Eddie Cantor, and had played in some 20 films by
1939, including the
Academy Award-nominated
The Gay Divorcee (1934), starring
Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers.
In
1937 she married another famous former child-actor,
Jackie Coogan, but Coogan was under considerable stress from a lawsuit against his parents over his earnings, and the couple divorced in 1940. During this period Grable gained national attention for her role in the
Cole Porter Broadway hit
Dubarry Was A Lady (1939).
The same year that she divorced Coogan, Grable obtained a contract with
20th Century Fox, becoming their top star throughout the decade, with splashy
Technicolor films such as
Down Argentine Way (1940),
Moon Over Miami (1941) ( both with
Don Ameche ) ,
Springtime in The Rockies (1942),
Coney Island (1943) with
George Montgomery ,
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) with
Robert Young ,
Pin Up Girl (1944),
Diamond Horseshoe (1945) with
Dick Haymes ,
The Dolly Sisters (1945) with
John Payne and
June Haver, and her most popular film
Mother Wore Tights (1947), with favorite costar
Dan Dailey. It was during her reign as box-office champ that Grable posed for her iconic pin-up photo, which (along with her films) soon became escapist fare among GIs fighting overseas in
World War II. Despite solid competition from
Rita Hayworth,
Dorothy Lamour,
Veronica Lake, and
Lana Turner, Grable was indisputably the number one
pinup girl for American soldiers. She was wildly popular at home as well, placing in the top ten box-office draws each year for ten years. By the end of the 1940s Grable was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood. Her post-war musicals included
That Lady in Ermine (1948) with
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.,
When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948) again with Dailey,
Wabash Avenue (1950) (a remake of Grable's own
Coney Island ) with
Victor Mature ,
My Blue Heaven (1950), and
Meet Me After the Show (1951). Studio chief
Darryl F. Zanuck lavished his number one star with expensive
Technicolor films, but also kept her busy ---Grable made nearly twenty-five musicals/comedies in thirteen years. Grable's last big hit for Fox was
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with
Lauren Bacall and
Marilyn Monroe.
In
1943 she married
jazz trumpeter and
big band leader
Harry James, by whom she had 2 children; they divorced in
1965.
Grable's later career was marked by feuds with studio heads, who worked her to exhaustion. At one point, in the middle of a fight with
Darryl F. Zanuck, she tore up her contract with him and stormed out of his office. Gradually leaving movies entirely, she made the transition to television and starred in
Las Vegas.
Grable has her own star on the
St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Betty Grable died of
lung cancer at the age of 56 and was buried in the
Inglewood Park Cemetery in
Inglewood, California.
Happy Days (
1929)
Let's Go Places (
1930)
New Movietone Follies of 1930 (
1930)
Whoopee! (
1930)
Kiki (
1931)
Crashing Hollywood (
1931) (short subject)
Ex-Sweeties (
1931) (short subject)
Palmy Days (
1931)
The Greeks Had a Word for Them (
1932)
Lady, Please (
1932) (short subject)
Hollywood Luck (
1932) (short subject)
Probation (
1932)
The Flirty Sleepwalker (
1932) (short subject)
Hollywood Lights (
1932) (short subject)
The Age of Consent (
1932)
Hold 'Em Jail (
1932)
Over the Counter (
1932) (short subject)
The Kid from Spain (
1932)
Cavalcade (
1933)
Child of Manhattan (
1933)
Melody Cruise (
1933)
What Price Innocence? (
1933)
Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (
1933)
Air Tonic (
1933) (short subject)
School for Romance (
1934) (short subject)
Hips, Hips, Hooray! (
1934)
Love Detectives (
1934) (short subject)
Elmer Steps Out (
1934) (short subject)
Business is a Pleasure (
1934) (short subject)
Susie's Affairs (
1934) (short subject)
The Gay Divorcee (
1934)
Student Tour (
1934)
By Your Leave (
1934)
The Spirit of 1976 (
1935) (short subject)
The Nitwits (
1935)
A Night at the Biltmore Bowl (
1935) (short subject)
Drawing Rumors (
1935) (short subject)
Old Man Rhythm (
1935)
A Quiet Fourth (
1935) (short subject)
Collegiate (
1936)
Follow the Fleet (
1936)
Sun-Kissed Stars at Palm Springs (
1936) (short subject)
Don't Turn 'em Loose (
1936)
Pigskin Parade (
1936)
This Way Please (
1937)
Thrill of a Lifetime (
1937)
College Swing (
1938)
Give Me a Sailor (
1938)
Campus Confessions (
1938)
Man About Town (
1939)
Million Dollar Legs (
1939)
The Day the Bookies Wept (
1939)
Down Argentine Way (
1940)
Tin Pan Alley (
1940)
Moon Over Miami (
1941)
A Yank in the R.A.F. (
1941)
I Wake Up Screaming (
1941)
Song of the Islands (
1942)
Footlight Serenade (
1942)
Springtime in the Rockies (
1942)
Coney Island (
1943)
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (
1943)
Four Jills in a Jeep (
1944)
Pin Up Girl (
1944)
Diamond Horseshoe (
1945)
The All-Star Bond Rally (
1945) (short subject)
The Dolly Sisters (
1945)
Do You Love Me (
1946) (Cameo)
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (
1947)
Mother Wore Tights (
1947)
That Lady in Ermine (
1948)
When My Baby Smiles at Me (
1948)
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (
1949)
Wabash Avenue (
1950)
My Blue Heaven (
1950)
Call Me Mister (
1951)
Meet Me After the Show (
1951)
The Farmer Takes a Wife (
1953)
How to Marry a Millionaire (
1953)
Three for the Show (
1955)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, Shower of Stars (
1955) (short subject)
How to Be Very, Very Popular (
1955)
*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Betty Grable*
Betty Grable at Classic Actresses*
Betty Grable Photo Tribute*
St. Louis Walk of Fame * http://grableonline.tripod.com/portrait-1.html
