Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton passed away from colon cancer on March 12, 2007 at the age of 86. Just a month ago my daughters and I had watched her in the movie Annie Get Your Gun.
Elizabeth June Thornberg was born on February 26, 1921 in Battle Creek, Michigan. When she was two years old her father left the family and her mother went to work in Detroit. Her mother had a hard time finding work and instead opened a speakeasy (an establishment that sold alcohol during Prohibition. The bartender would tell the patrons to be quite and “speak easy”). Betty was very poor and her mother was an alcoholic. At nine she started singing publicly and at 13 she started singing with local bands. She went to New York at age 15, but could not find any work and returned to Detroit.
At the age of 17, Betty again returned to New York and was seen on Broadway. The following year she moved to Hollywood and was signed by Paramount. At 21 she starred in The Fleet’s In with William Holden, Dorothy Lamour and Eddie Bracken. She later starred in both musicals and comedies. In 1950 she starred in Annie Get Your Gun (taking over for Judy Garland) with Howard Keel. Her last film was in 1957 and her TV show The Betty Hutton Show only lasted a short while.
She played Miss Hannigan in Annie on Broadway for a short stint in 1980 and was interviewed for Private Screenings in 2000.
She retired from acting in Palm Springs, California. Betty was married briefly four times and had three children.
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I was sad to hear of Betty’s passing. She was a tremendous actress, singer, and comedian.
She will be missed by her many fans.
I have posted a piece about her on my blog. Please feel free to stop by, read it, and post your own thoughts.
http://moretexastruth.blogspot.com
texastruthblog@yahoo.com
Sorry to hear she died that way. Didn’t realize she was a Pisces (like me). I enjoyed “Annie get your gun”
when I was very young far better than most Western musicals as to me guns and singing never went together well.
How can such a wonderful human being be alienated by her own children? In an interview on AMC she revealed how she tried to get close to her kids but they looked at her like a burden because she was older. Now you are with your true family in Heaven Betty. Sing & dance away cutey!!!
Annie get your Gun is one of my fave movies.
I had heard that after retiring , Betty lived and worked as housekeeper for a Catholic Rectory in Lodi New Jersey . Any information on that inquiry ? Thanks , Tom