Discover

'Betty Grable' (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American dancer, singer, and actress.
Her sensational bathing-suit photo, with her head looking over her right shoulder, became the number-one pin-up girl of the WWII era. It was later included in ''Life'' 100 Photos that Changed the World.
Grable was best-known for her shapely legs, which were showcased in all of her 20th Century Fox Technicolor musicals and were famously insured by her studio for $1,000,000 per leg at Lloyds of London.

Contents

Biography

Filmography

Footnotes

External links

Biography

She was born 'Elizabeth Ruth Grable' in St. Louis, Missouri to John C. Grable (1883-1954) and Lillian Rose Hofmann (1889-1964). Betty was the youngest of three children.
Most of Grable's 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 movie ''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. Her mother Lillian soon gave her a make-over which included dying her hair platinum blonde.
For her next film, her mother got her a contract using a false identification. When this deception was discovered, however, Grable was fired. Grable finally obtained a role as a 'Goldwyn Girl' in ''Whoopee!'' (1930), starring Eddie Cantor. Though Grable received no billing, she led the opening number, "Cowboys." Grable then worked in small roles at different studios for the rest of the decade, including the Academy Award-nominated ''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
In 1937, she rebelled against her controlling mother and 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 – after small parts in over fifty Hollywood movies throughout the 1930s – Grable finally gained national attention on stage for her role in the Cole Porter Broadway hit ''Du Barry 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 movies 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 (in 1943) that Grable posed for her iconic pin-up photo, which (along with her movies) soon became escapist fare among GIs fighting overseas in World War II. The image was taken by studio photographer Frank Powolny, who died in 1986. [1] Despite solid competition from Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, Carole Landis 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 postwar 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. The couple had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica. They endured a tumultuous 22-year-long marriage that was plagued by alcoholism and infidelity. Betty finally divorced Harry in 1965. She soon started seeing a male dancer half her age.
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.
She died of lung cancer at age 56 in Santa Monica, California. Betty had been a heavy smoker, and often smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. Her funeral was held July 5, 1973, thirty years to the day after her marriage to Harry James -- who, in turn, died on what would have been his and Grable's 40th anniversary, July 5, 1983. She is interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.
Grable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6525 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. She also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Hugh Hefner, founder of ''Playboy'' noted on National Public Radio's ''Morning Edition'' on April 23, 2007, in an interview with Terry Gross that Betty was his inspiration for founding the Playboy empire.
Grable was known by many nicknames including "Box-Office Betty" and "The Girl With The Million Dollar Legs."

Filmography

★ ''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) ★ '' (1955) (short subject) ★ ''How to Be Very, Very Popular'' (1955)

Footnotes

1. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=geolarson2&id=I224911 ''Worldconnect.rootsweb.com''
2. http://grableonline.tripod.com/faq-2.html ''Grableonline.tripod.com''

External links

★

★

★

★ [2]

★ Betty Grable - Hollywood's Million Dollar Legs

★ Betty Grable Photo Tribute

★ Betty Grable Portraits

★ St. Louis Walk of Fame

★ ''Suspense'': Betty Grable 1949 appearance