Betty Hutton ( born Betty Hutton ; February 26, 1921 - March 11, 2007 ) is an American singer and lead actress at Paramount Pictures Studios at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s.
| Betty Hatton | |
|---|---|
| Betty hutton | |
 1950 Studio Photography | |
| Date of Birth | February 26, 1921 |
| Place of Birth | Battle Creek, Michigan , USA |
| Date of death | March 11, 2007 (86 years old) |
| Place of death | Palm Springs , USA |
| Citizenship | |
| Profession | actress singer |
| Career | 1938-1976 |
| IMDb | |
Content
Biography
Young years
The future actress was born on February 26, 1921 , under the name Elizabeth Jan Thornberg, in the small town of Battle Creek, in the state of Michigan . Her father exchanged a family for a new love, and Elizabeth did not hear anything about him until in 1939 they received a telegram that he committed suicide.
Left to the mercy of fate with her two young daughters, Mrs. Thornberg moved with them to Detroit , where she hoped to get a job at some car factory. But the time was difficult and unable to find work, she decided to break the law and open an underground bar, which were forbidden at that time. There she began to organize musical numbers with her eldest daughter, and when Elizabeth was three years old, she also joined them. After some time, the police came to their place, and the club had to be covered up. But not seeing another way of being, Mrs. Thornberg moved to the other end of the city, where she resumed her illegal activities.
Hollywood Debut and Success
Having matured, Elizabeth began performing in youth music groups, and once, considering herself already quite talented, she went to New York , where she hoped to get a job on Broadway , but she was never taken there. A few years later, she was noticed by musician Vincent Lopez, who helped her break into show business. Soon she began to appear in small roles in the musical shorts Warner Bros. ”, As well as on Broadway, impregnable for her a few years earlier, where her debut roles were in the musicals“ Two on the Show ” [1] and“ Panama Hatty ”, with Ethel Merman in the title role [2] . At the same time, she changed her name to Betty Hatton.
In 1942, producer Buddy De Silva, with whom she worked on Broadway, invited her to the role of Bassey Day in the musical film “ Paramount Pictures ” “Following the Fleet”, which brought the beginning actress the first success. Despite this, the studio did not immediately begin to shoot Betty in the lead roles and after that she had to be content with secondary characters a couple of times. Only in 1944, Hatton was approved for the main role in the comedy Miracle in Morgans Creek, after which she was rightfully taken the place of the main star at Paramount Pictures , thereby displacing Dorothy Lamur who previously occupied this place.
In the next twelve years of her triumph in Hollywood, Betty Hatton appeared in 19 successful films, including Waves Run Over Here ( 1944 ), Incendiary Blonde ( 1945 ) and the highly popular comedy Polina’s Misadventures ( 1947 ). Also very popular was the musical comedy Let's Dance ( 1950 ), where Betty Hatton performed with Fred Astaire . In the same year, the picture “Take the Gun, Annie!” Was released, where Hatton also played the main role, replacing Judy Garland, who was addicted to alcohol and drugs, in this post. The film became a box office hit, and the actress herself received rave reviews from critics, although the filmmakers later admitted that working with her was no easier than with Mrs. Garland.
During the Second World War, Betty Hatton participated in the USN program - she toured with other American artists at American military bases, where she performed in various entertainment programs for soldiers. In the 1940s, she also collaborated with Capitol Records and RCA Records , where she recorded some of her compositions.
In 1945, Betty Hatton married industrialist Ted Briskin, who became the father of her two daughters. In 1950, the couple divorced, and two years later, the actress again married with the choreographer Charles O'Carran.
Sunset Career
Her time as one of the leading stars in Hollywood ended after the release of the films “ The Greatest Show of the World ” ( 1952 ) and “Someone Loves Me” ( 1952 ). Following this, the actress began to quarrel with the management of Paramount Pictures , due to disagreements in her future contract. As The New York Times wrote in those years, Betty Hatton demanded that her husband Charles O'Carran take part in the filming of her next film, which the studio categorically refused. In response, Betty Hatton threw a tantrum and broke off her contract. After that, the actress only appeared on the big screen in the drama "Spring Meeting", playing there a completely unusual role for herself. As a result, the box office showed that the public is not ready to accept the actress in this way and after that, Hatton decided to end her career in the movie.
The joint life with O'Carran later also did not work out and in 1955 they divorced. In the same year, Hatton married businessman Alan W. Livingston, and after a divorce with him, in 1960 , she became the wife of jazzman Pete Candoli.
Subsequent years
In the following years, the actress began working on the radio , performing in entertainment shows in Las Vegas , and also tried herself on television. In 1959, her own comedy sitcom “The Betty Hatton Show” started on television, but he still did not get the proper popularity with the audience and was soon removed from the show. Then Betty Hatton returned to Broadway, where for some time she played in one of the musicals [3] . In 1967, she tried to return to the big movie, again signing a contract with Paramount Pictures for filming in two westerns , but after the launch of the first project, it was canceled.
Subsequently, Hatton began to have problems with alcohol and the abuse of sleeping pills, which is why in 1970 she almost committed suicide. The consequence of all this was also her divorce from Pete Candoli, after which the actress declared her complete bankruptcy.
Again, interest in Betty Hatton was fueled by comedian Joy Adam, who in 1974 spent an evening dedicated to the actress in a restaurant in New York , in the circle of her friends. Soon, the sponsor managed to raise $ 10,000 for Betty Hatton, which became an incentive for her to return. After this, the actress took a rehabilitation course, as well as mentoring with the Catholic priest Peter Magir, after which she even adopted Catholicism and began to work as a cook in his parish house.
Returning to normal life, Betty Hatton graduated from school, which she dropped out of her youth after the ninth grade, and then received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of New Port . Betty Hatton never returned to the movie, and only appeared on Broadway in the musical " Annie ", in which she played from 1977 to 1983 [4] . In the following years, she taught acting at the university, and was also the manager of a casino.
In 1996 , after the death of Magir's father, Betty Hatton returned to California with the goal of being closer to her daughters and grandchildren, and settled in Palm Springs . But as time showed, the daughters reacted very coldly to the return of their mother, and in subsequent years, Hatton almost did not see them. She spent her last years quietly and solitary in her home in California , where she died of cancer on March 11, 2007 [5] .
Her contribution to the movie was marked by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .
Notes
- ↑ Panama Hattie opening night cast at IBDB
- ↑ Two For The Show opening night cast at IBDB
- ↑ Fade Out - Fade In replacement cast members at IBDB Archived on October 20, 2012.
- ↑ Annie replacement cast members at IBDB Archived February 12, 2009.
- ↑ Severo, Richard . Betty Hutton, Film Star of '40s and' 50s, Dies at 86 , The New York Times (March 14, 2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2009.
Links
- Betty Hatton Website
- Betty Hatton on the Internet Broadway Database
- Betty Hatton on the Find a Grave website
- Betty Hatton Fan Site