Betty Hutton was born on February 26, 1921 in Battle Creek, Michigan under the birth name of Elizabeth June Thornburg. Two years later Betty's father decided that the family way of life wasn't for him, so he left the family. He committed suicide sixteen years later.
Now having to fend for themselves, Mrs. Thornburg moved the family to Detroit to find work in the numerous auto factories. But times were hard and Betty's mother decided to take advantage of Prohibition and opened a small tavern called a speakeasy. The police were always looking for any operation, both big and small. When they detected one, they swooped in and closed it down. Mrs. Thornburg was no different from the other owners, they simply moved elsewhere.
Poverty was a constant companion. In addition to that, Mrs. Thornburg was an alcoholic.
At nine years old Betty began singing publicly for the first time in a school production. Realizing the voice Betty had, her mother took her around Detroit to have her sing to any group that would listen. This was a small way of getting some money for the poor family.
When she was 13, Betty got a few singing jobs with local bands in the area. Thinking she was good enough to make the big time, she left for New York two years later to try a professional career. Unfortunately, it didn't work out and Betty headed back to Detroit.
In 1937, Betty was hired by Vincent Lopez who had a popular band that appeared on the local radio. Later, she would return to New York and it was here that her career took off.
1940 found Betty on Broadway and it was only a matter of time before her career took off to bigger heights. The following year she left New York for Hollywood, where she was to find new life in films.
She was signed by Paramount Studios and made her debut, at 21, in THE FLEET'S IN (1942), along with Eddie Bracken, William Holden, and Dorothy Lamour. When the reviews came in, they were better than expected with critics giving her good comments. She had previously appeared in musical shorts which no doubt helped her in her first feature film. Betty made one more musical film in 1942 and two more in 1943.
In 1944, Betty tried to break away from musicals to try her hand in a straight film entitled THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK. She proved, to herself, the public, and the critics, that she was marketable outside musicals.
In subsequent films, Betty was able to show her comedic side as well as her singing.
In 1948, Betty appeared in her first big box-office bomb. The film was DREAM GIRL and the film was ripped to shreds by the critics as was Betty's acting. This in turn caused the public to turn against the film. Critics, usually, can make or break a film.
It wasn't before long that Betty became unhappy with her career. In truth, her acting talent was good, but the roles weren't there. Although, she did appear in three well received films later, RED, HOT, AND BLUE (1949), ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950) and THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952), her career was winding down. Later, after filming, SOMEBODY LOVES ME in 1952, Betty was all but finished.
She had recently married Charles O'Curran that year and he wanted to direct her in an upcoming film. Paramount didn't like the idea and the temper tantrum prone Betty walked out of her contract and movies. She did concentrate on the relatively new medium of television and the stage, but she never recovered her previous form. Her final film was a minor one in SPRING REUNION (1957).
Her TV series in 1959, "The Betty Hutton Show", didn't fare too well
at all. Betty lived in quiet retirement in Palm Springs, California until her death on March 12, 2007. She was 86 years old.
Check out these photos of Miss Hutton
Betty Pic 1
Betty Pic 2
Betty Pic 3
Betty Pic 4
Betty Pic 5
Betty Pic 6
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Be sure to check out the links and webrings on the main page at the bottom. These will keep you very busy for hours and hours! Thanks to Francine Cole for the photos of Miss Hutton.
� 1999 Denny C. Jackson dejackso@iglou.com
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