Betty Hutton
Encyclopedia
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.
, Betty was raised by her mother, who took the surname Hutton and was later billed as the actress Sissy Jones.
The three started singing in the family's speakeasy
when Betty was 3 years old. Troubles with the police kept the family on the move. They eventually landed in Detroit, Michigan. (On one occasion, when Betty, preceded by a police escort, arrived at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother, arriving with her, quipped, "At least this time the police are in front of us!") Hutton sang in several local bands as a teenager, and at one point visited New York City
hoping to perform on Broadway
, where she was rejected.
A few years later, she was scouted by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez
, who gave Hutton her entry into the entertainment business. In 1939 she appeared in several musical shorts for Warner Bros.
, and appeared in a supporting role on Broadway in Panama Hattie
(starring Ethel Merman
) and Two for the Show, both produced by Buddy DeSylva.
, Hutton was signed to a featured role in The Fleet's In
(1942), starring Paramount's number one female star Dorothy Lamour
. Hutton was an instant hit with the movie-going public. Paramount did not immediately promote her to major stardom, however, but did give her second leads in a Mary Martin
film musical, Star Spangled Rhythm
(1943), and another Lamour film. In 1943 she was given co-star billing with Bob Hope
in Let's Face It and with the release of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
the following year, Hutton attained major stardom. By the time Incendiary Blonde
was released in 1945, she had supplanted Lamour as Paramount's number one female box office
attraction.
Hutton made 19 films from 1942 to 1952 including the hugely popular The Perils of Pauline
in 1947. She was billed above Fred Astaire
in the 1950 musical Let's Dance. Hutton's greatest screen triumph came in Annie Get Your Gun
(1950) for MGM
, which hired her to replace an exhausted Judy Garland
in the role of Annie Oakley
. The film, with the leading role retooled for Hutton, was a smash hit, with the biggest critical praise going to Hutton. (Her obituary in The New York Times
described her as "a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm.") Among her lesser known roles was an unbilled cameo in Sailor Beware (1952) with Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis
, in which she portrayed Dean's girlfriend, Hetty Button.
In 1944, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records
(she was one of the earliest artists to do so). Later she became disillusioned with Capitol's management and moved to RCA Victor.
Her career as a Hollywood
star ended due to a contract dispute with Paramount following the Oscar-winning The Greatest Show on Earth
(1952) and Somebody Loves Me
(1952), a biography of singer Blossom Seeley
. The New York Times reported that the dispute resulted from her insistence that her husband at the time, Charles O'Curran, direct her next film. When the studio declined, Hutton broke her contract. Hutton's last completed film was a small one, Spring Reunion, released in 1957, a drama in which she gave an understated, sensitive performance. Unfortunately, box office receipts indicated the public did not want to see a subdued Hutton.
Hutton got work in radio, appeared in Las Vegas
and in nightclubs, then tried her luck in the new medium of television
. In 1954, TV producer Max Liebman, of Your Show of Shows
, fashioned his first "Color Spectacular" as an original musical written especially for Hutton, Satins and Spurs. It was an enormous flop with the public and the critics, despite being one of the first programs televised nationally by NBC
in compatible color
. In 1957, she appeared on a Dinah Shore
show on NBC that also featured Boris Karloff
; the program has been preserved on a kinescope
. Desilu Productions
took a chance on Hutton 1959, giving her a sitcom ,The Betty Hutton Show
, directed by Jerry Fielding
. It quickly faded.
Hutton began headlining in Las Vegas and touring across the country. She returned to Broadway briefly in 1964 when she temporarily replaced a hospitalized Carol Burnett
in the show Fade Out – Fade In. In 1967 she was signed to star in two low-budget westerns
for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. In the 1970s she portrayed Miss Hannigan in the original Broadway
production of Annie
while Alice Ghostley
was on vacation.
Hutton's second marriage in 1952 was to choreographer Charles O'Curran. They divorced in 1955. He died in 1984.
She married for the third time in 1955. Husband Alan W. Livingston
, an executive with Capitol Records, was the creator of Bozo the Clown
. They divorced five years later, although some accounts refer to the union as a nine-month marriage.
Her fourth and final marriage in 1960 was to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli
, a brother of Conte Candoli
. Hutton and Candoli had one child, Carolyn Candoli (born 1962) and then divorced in 1967 (some accounts place the year as 1964).
After the 1967 death of her mother in a house fire and the collapse of her last marriage, Hutton's depression and pill addictions escalated. She divorced her fourth husband, jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli
, and declared bankruptcy
. Hutton had a nervous breakdown
and later attempted suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970. After regaining control of her life through rehab, and the mentorship of a Roman Catholic priest, Father Peter Maguire, Hutton converted to Roman Catholicism
and took a job as a cook at a rectory
in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
. She made national headlines when it was revealed she was working in a rectory.
In 1974, a well-publicized "Love-In for Betty Hutton" was held at New York City's Riverboat Restaurant, emceed by comedian Joey Adams
, with several old Hollywood pals on hand. The event raised $10,000 (USD) for Hutton and gave her spirits a big boost. Steady work, unfortunately, still eluded her.
Hutton appeared in an interview with Mike Douglas and a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta
. In 1977, Hutton was featured on The Phil Donahue Show
. Hutton was then happily employed as hostess at a Newport Rhode Island jai alai arena.
She also appeared on Good Morning America
which led to a 1978 televised reunion with her two daughters. Hutton began living in a shared home with her divorced daughter and grandchildren in California, but returned to the East Coast for a three week return to the stage. She followed Dorothy Loudon
as the evil Miss Hannigan in Annie
on Broadway
in 1980. Hutton's rehearsal of the song "Little Girls" was featured on Good Morning America
.
A ninth grade drop-out, Hutton went back to school and earned a Master's Degree in psychology from Salve Regina University
. During her time at college, Hutton became friends with Kristin Hersh
and attended several early Throwing Muses
concerts. Hersh would later write the song "Elizabeth June" as a tribute to her friend, and wrote about their relationship in further detail in her memoir, Rat Girl
.
Her last known performance, in any medium, was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS
in 1983. Hutton stayed in New England and began teaching comedic acting at Boston's Emerson College. She became estranged again from her daughters.
After the death of her ally, Father Maguire, Hutton returned to California moving to Palm Springs
, in 1999, after decades in New England
. Hutton hoped to grow closer with her daughters and grandchildren, as she told Robert Osborne
on TCM
's Private Screenings in April 2000, though her children remained distant. She told Osborne that she understood their hesitancy to accept a now elderly mother. The TCM interview first aired on July 18, 2000. The program was rerun as a memorial on the evening of her death in 2007, and again on July 11, 2008, April 14, 2009, and as recently as January 26, 2010.
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Hutton lived in Palm Springs, California
until her death, at 86, from colon cancer complications. Hutton is buried at Desert Memorial Park
in Cathedral City, California
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Betty Hutton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
located at 6253 Hollywood Boulevard
.
Early life
Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg (1896–1939) and his wife, the former Mabel Lum (1901–1967). While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for another woman. They did not hear of him again until they received a telegram in 1939, informing them of his suicide. Along with her older sister MarionMarion Hutton
Marion Hutton was a United States singer and actress.-Biography:Born as Marion Thornburg, the elder sister of actress Betty Hutton, their father abandoned their family when they were both young: he later committed suicide. Their mother worked a variety of jobs to support the family until she...
, Betty was raised by her mother, who took the surname Hutton and was later billed as the actress Sissy Jones.
The three started singing in the family's speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
when Betty was 3 years old. Troubles with the police kept the family on the move. They eventually landed in Detroit, Michigan. (On one occasion, when Betty, preceded by a police escort, arrived at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother, arriving with her, quipped, "At least this time the police are in front of us!") Hutton sang in several local bands as a teenager, and at one point visited New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
hoping to perform on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, where she was rejected.
A few years later, she was scouted by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...
, who gave Hutton her entry into the entertainment business. In 1939 she appeared in several musical shorts for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, and appeared in a supporting role on Broadway in Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
(starring Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
) and Two for the Show, both produced by Buddy DeSylva.
Career
When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, Hutton was signed to a featured role in The Fleet's In
The Fleet's In
The Fleet's In is a movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 Paramount film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, it was not a remake...
(1942), starring Paramount's number one female star Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
. Hutton was an instant hit with the movie-going public. Paramount did not immediately promote her to major stardom, however, but did give her second leads in a Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
film musical, Star Spangled Rhythm
Star Spangled Rhythm
Star Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1943), and another Lamour film. In 1943 she was given co-star billing with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
in Let's Face It and with the release of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
the following year, Hutton attained major stardom. By the time Incendiary Blonde
Incendiary Blonde
Incendiary Blonde is a 1945 American musical drama film of 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Filmed in Technicolor by director George Marshall, it starred actress Betty Hutton in the title role. The music was written by Robert Emmett Dolan...
was released in 1945, she had supplanted Lamour as Paramount's number one female box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
attraction.
Hutton made 19 films from 1942 to 1952 including the hugely popular The Perils of Pauline
The Perils of Pauline (1947 film)
The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American film directed by George Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White....
in 1947. She was billed above Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
in the 1950 musical Let's Dance. Hutton's greatest screen triumph came in Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (film)
Annie Get Your Gun is a 1950 American musical comedy film loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The Metro Goldwyn Mayer release, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon based on the 1946 stage musical of the same name, was directed by George Sidney...
(1950) for MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, which hired her to replace an exhausted Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in the role of Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley , born Phoebe Ann Mosey, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and timely rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.Oakley's most famous trick is perhaps...
. The film, with the leading role retooled for Hutton, was a smash hit, with the biggest critical praise going to Hutton. (Her obituary in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described her as "a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm.") Among her lesser known roles was an unbilled cameo in Sailor Beware (1952) with Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
, in which she portrayed Dean's girlfriend, Hetty Button.
In 1944, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
(she was one of the earliest artists to do so). Later she became disillusioned with Capitol's management and moved to RCA Victor.
Her career as a Hollywood
Classical Hollywood cinema
Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the early 1960s.Classical style is...
star ended due to a contract dispute with Paramount following the Oscar-winning The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture...
(1952) and Somebody Loves Me
Somebody Loves Me
"Somebody Loves Me" is a popular song, with music written by George Gershwin, and lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva. This is not to be confused with the Southern gospel song written by W.F. & Marjorie Crumley. The song was published in 1924 and featured in George White's Scandals of...
(1952), a biography of singer Blossom Seeley
Blossom Seeley
-Biography:Seeley was born Minnie Guyer, in San Francisco, California, USA. A top vaudeville headliner, she was known as the "Queen of Syncopation" and helped bring jazz and ragtime into the mainstream of American music. She introduced the Shelton Brooks classic "Some of These Days" in vaudeville...
. The New York Times reported that the dispute resulted from her insistence that her husband at the time, Charles O'Curran, direct her next film. When the studio declined, Hutton broke her contract. Hutton's last completed film was a small one, Spring Reunion, released in 1957, a drama in which she gave an understated, sensitive performance. Unfortunately, box office receipts indicated the public did not want to see a subdued Hutton.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and in nightclubs, then tried her luck in the new medium of television
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
. In 1954, TV producer Max Liebman, of Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
, fashioned his first "Color Spectacular" as an original musical written especially for Hutton, Satins and Spurs. It was an enormous flop with the public and the critics, despite being one of the first programs televised nationally by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in compatible color
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
. In 1957, she appeared on a Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
show on NBC that also featured Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
; the program has been preserved on a kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
. Desilu Productions
Desilu Productions
Desilu Productions was a Los Angeles, California-based company jointly owned by actors Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who were married to each other from 1940 to 1960....
took a chance on Hutton 1959, giving her a sitcom ,The Betty Hutton Show
The Betty Hutton Show
The Betty Hutton Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS's Thursday night schedule during the 1959-1960 season. The show was sponsored by General Foods' Post Cereals, and was produced by Desilu and Hutton Productions....
, directed by Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding was an American radio, record, film and television composer, conductor, and musical director.-Childhood and education:...
. It quickly faded.
Hutton began headlining in Las Vegas and touring across the country. She returned to Broadway briefly in 1964 when she temporarily replaced a hospitalized Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
in the show Fade Out – Fade In. In 1967 she was signed to star in two low-budget westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. In the 1970s she portrayed Miss Hannigan in the original Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
while Alice Ghostley
Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
was on vacation.
Marriages
Hutton's first marriage was to camera manufacturer Ted Briskin on September 3, 1945. The marriage ended in divorce in 1950. Two daughters were born to the couple, Lindsay Diane Briskin (born 1946) and Candice Elizabeth Briskin (born 1948).Hutton's second marriage in 1952 was to choreographer Charles O'Curran. They divorced in 1955. He died in 1984.
She married for the third time in 1955. Husband Alan W. Livingston
Alan W. Livingston
Alan Wendell Livingston , born Alan Wendell Levison, was an American businessman best known for his tenures at Capitol Records, first as a writer/producer best-known for creating Bozo the Clown for a series of record-album and illustrative read-along children's book sets, then as the executive who...
, an executive with Capitol Records, was the creator of Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...
. They divorced five years later, although some accounts refer to the union as a nine-month marriage.
Her fourth and final marriage in 1960 was to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
, a brother of Conte Candoli
Conte Candoli
Secondo "Conte" Candoli was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials...
. Hutton and Candoli had one child, Carolyn Candoli (born 1962) and then divorced in 1967 (some accounts place the year as 1964).
Life after Hollywood
Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
, and declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Hutton had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and later attempted suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970. After regaining control of her life through rehab, and the mentorship of a Roman Catholic priest, Father Peter Maguire, Hutton converted to Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and took a job as a cook at a rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...
. She made national headlines when it was revealed she was working in a rectory.
In 1974, a well-publicized "Love-In for Betty Hutton" was held at New York City's Riverboat Restaurant, emceed by comedian Joey Adams
Joey Adams
Joey Adams , born Joseph Abramowitz, was an American comedian who was inducted into the Friars Club in 1977 and wrote the book Borscht Belt in 1973.-Life and career:...
, with several old Hollywood pals on hand. The event raised $10,000 (USD) for Hutton and gave her spirits a big boost. Steady work, unfortunately, still eluded her.
Hutton appeared in an interview with Mike Douglas and a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
. In 1977, Hutton was featured on The Phil Donahue Show
The Phil Donahue Show
The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, is an American television talk show that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, and it was broadcast nationwide between 1967 and 1996.In 2002, Donahue was ranked #29 on TV Guide's...
. Hutton was then happily employed as hostess at a Newport Rhode Island jai alai arena.
She also appeared on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
which led to a 1978 televised reunion with her two daughters. Hutton began living in a shared home with her divorced daughter and grandchildren in California, but returned to the East Coast for a three week return to the stage. She followed Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon was an American comedy actress and singer. She won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in Annie.-Early life and career:Loudon was born in...
as the evil Miss Hannigan in Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1980. Hutton's rehearsal of the song "Little Girls" was featured on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
.
A ninth grade drop-out, Hutton went back to school and earned a Master's Degree in psychology from Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University is a university in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the university is a Catholic, co-educational, private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934. In 1947 the university acquired Ochre Court and welcomed its first class...
. During her time at college, Hutton became friends with Kristin Hersh
Kristin Hersh
Kristin Hersh is an American singer/songwriter who performs solo acoustic concerts; she also continues to perform as lead singer and guitarist for alternative rock group Throwing Muses and the hardcore punk-influenced power trio 50 Foot Wave...
and attended several early Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
concerts. Hersh would later write the song "Elizabeth June" as a tribute to her friend, and wrote about their relationship in further detail in her memoir, Rat Girl
Rat Girl
Rat Girl is a memoir published in 2010 by Penguin Books and written by Kristin Hersh, a guitarist, songwriter, and singer who has performed as a solo artist, and as guitarist/lead singer of the alternative rock band Throwing Muses...
.
Her last known performance, in any medium, was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
in 1983. Hutton stayed in New England and began teaching comedic acting at Boston's Emerson College. She became estranged again from her daughters.
After the death of her ally, Father Maguire, Hutton returned to California moving to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, in 1999, after decades in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Hutton hoped to grow closer with her daughters and grandchildren, as she told Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
on TCM
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
's Private Screenings in April 2000, though her children remained distant. She told Osborne that she understood their hesitancy to accept a now elderly mother. The TCM interview first aired on July 18, 2000. The program was rerun as a memorial on the evening of her death in 2007, and again on July 11, 2008, April 14, 2009, and as recently as January 26, 2010.
Death
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
until her death, at 86, from colon cancer complications. Hutton is buried at Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. It is maintained by the Palm Springs Cemetery District...
in Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Betty Hutton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
located at 6253 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
.
Hit songs
| Year | Title | Chart peak | Catalog number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | "Old Man Mose" | with Vincent Lopez Orchestra | ||
| "Igloo" | 15 | Bluebird 10300 | with Vincent Lopez Orchestra | |
| "The Jitterbug The Jitterbug "The Jitterbug" was a song sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy, together with the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion, that was cut from the soundtrack of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It was both a jazzy development of the plot and a nod to the then popular bobby-soxer dance craze... " |
Bluebird 10367 | with Vincent Lopez Orchestra | ||
| 1942 | "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In A Hurry" | |||
| "I'm Doin' It For Defense" | ||||
| 1943 | "Murder, He Says" | |||
| "The Fuddy Duddy Watchmaker" | ||||
| 1944 | "Bluebirds In My Belfry" | |||
| "His Rocking Horse Ran Away" | 7 | Capitol 155 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | |
| "It Had To Be You It Had to Be You (song) "It Had to Be You" is a popular song written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn, and was first published in 1924.The song was performed by Priscilla Lane in the 1939 film The Roaring Twenties and by Danny Thomas in the 1951 film I'll See You in My Dreams. The latter film was based loosely upon... " |
5 | Capitol 155 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | |
| 1945 | "Stuff Like That There" | 4 | Capitol 188 | with Paul Weston Orchestra |
| "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?" | 15 | Capitol 211 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | |
| "(Doin' It) The Hard Way" | Capitol 211 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | ||
| "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" is a popular song published in 1945, with music written by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The biggest-selling version of the song was recorded by Betty Hutton on June 29, 1945. The recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 220... " |
1 | Capitol 220 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | |
| "A Square In The Social Circle" | Capitol 220 | with Paul Weston Orchestra | ||
| 1946 | "My Fickle Eye" | 21 | RCA Victor 20-1915 | with Joe Lilley Orchestra |
| 1947 | "Poppa, Don't Preach To Me" | Capitol 380 | with Joe Lilley Orchestra | |
| "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" | Capitol 409 | with Joe Lilley Orchestra | ||
| 1949 | "(Where Are You?) Now That I Need You" | Capitol 620 | with Joe Lilley Orchestra | |
| 1950 | "Orange Colored Sky Orange Colored Sky "Orange Colored Sky" is a popular song, written by Milton DeLugg and Willie Stein and published in 1950.The best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole , but a number of other singers have recorded it, including Cole's daughter, Natalie.The recording by Nat King Cole was recorded... " |
24 | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... Victor 20-3908 |
with Pete Rugolo Pete Rugolo Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California... Orchestra |
| "Can't Stop Talking" | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... Victor 20-3908 |
with Pete Rugolo Pete Rugolo Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California... Orchestra |
||
| "A Bushel and a Peck A Bushel and a Peck "A Bushel and a Peck" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser and published in 1950. The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls, which opened at the 46th Street Theater on November 24, 1950. It was performed on stage by Vivian Blaine, who later reprised her role as Miss... " (duet with Perry Como Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr... ) |
3 | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... Victor 20-3930 |
with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra | |
| 1951 | "It's Oh So Quiet It's Oh So Quiet "It's Oh, So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und Jetzt ist es Still", performed by Horst Winter in 1948, written by Austrian composer Hans Lang and Erich Meder... " |
RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... Victor 20-4179 |
with Pete Rugolo Pete Rugolo Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California... Orchestra |
|
| "The Musicians" (with Dinah Shore Dinah Shore Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality... , Tony Martin Tony Martin (entertainer) Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an... and Phil Harris Phil Harris Harris and Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both and lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a fistfight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens; the cause was reported to be over Faye after Stevens and Faye had ended a romantic... ) |
24 | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... Victor 20-4225 |
with Henri René Henri René Henri René was an American-born German producer, conductor and arranger. René mother's was German and his father French; while young, his family moved to Germany, and René studied at the Royal Berlin Academy of Music. Returning to the U.S. in the mid 1920s, he began appearing with several... Orchestra |
|
| 1953 | "Goin' Steady" | 21 | Capitol 2522 | with Nelson Riddle Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s... Orchestra |
| 1954 | "The Honeymoon's Over" (duet with Tennessee Ernie Ford Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres... ) |
16 | Capitol 2809 | with Billy May Billy May William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among... Orchestra |
| 1956 | "Hit the Road to Dreamland Hit the Road to Dreamland "Hit the Road to Dreamland" is a popular song. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer.The song was introduced in 1942 in the Paramount musical film Star Spangled Rhythm where it was introduced by Dick Powell, Mary Martin, and the Golden Gate Quartet... " |
Capitol 3383 | with Vic Schoen Vic Schoen Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000... Orchestra |
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Queens of the Air | Herself | film short |
| 1939 | Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra | Herself | film short |
| Three Kings and a Queen | Herself | film short | |
| Public Jitterbug No. 1 | Public Jitterbug No. 1 | film short | |
| 1940 | One for the Book | Cinderella | film short |
| 1942 | The Fleet's In The Fleet's In The Fleet's In is a movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 Paramount film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, it was not a remake... |
Bessie Day | |
| Star Spangled Rhythm Star Spangled Rhythm Star Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the... |
Polly Judson | ||
| 1943 | Happy Go Lucky | Bubbles Hennessy | |
| Let's Face It | Winnie Porter | ||
| Strictly G.I. | Herself | film short | |
| 1944 | The Miracle of Morgan's Creek The Miracle of Morgan's Creek The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall... |
Trudy Kockenlocker | |
| And the Angels Sing | Bobby Angel | ||
| Skirmish on the Home Front | Emily Average | film short | |
| Here Come the Waves | Susan Allison / Rosemary Allison | ||
| 1945 | Incendiary Blonde Incendiary Blonde Incendiary Blonde is a 1945 American musical drama film of 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Filmed in Technicolor by director George Marshall, it starred actress Betty Hutton in the title role. The music was written by Robert Emmett Dolan... |
Texas Guinan Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American saloon keeper, actress, and entrepreneur.-Early life:... |
|
| Duffy's Tavern Duffy's Tavern Duffy's Tavern was a popular American radio situation comedy which ran for a decade on several networks , concluding with the December 28, 1951 broadcast.... |
Herself | cameo | |
| The Stork Club | Judy Peabody | ||
| Hollywood Victory Caravan | Herself | film short | |
| 1946 | Cross My Heart | Peggy Harper | |
| 1947 | The Perils of Pauline The Perils of Pauline (1947 film) The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American film directed by George Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White.... |
Pearl White Pearl White Pearl Fay White was an American film actress, the so-called "Stunt Queen" of silent films, most notably in The Perils of Pauline.-Early life:... |
|
| 1948 | Dream Girl | Georgina Allerton | |
| 1949 | Red, Hot and Blue Red, Hot and Blue (film) Red, Hot and Blue is a 1949 musical comedy film starring Betty Hutton as an actress who gets mixed up with gangsters and murder. It has no connection to Cole Porter's play of the same name... |
Eleanor "Yum-Yum" Collier | |
| 1950 | Annie Get Your Gun Annie Get Your Gun (film) Annie Get Your Gun is a 1950 American musical comedy film loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The Metro Goldwyn Mayer release, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon based on the 1946 stage musical of the same name, was directed by George Sidney... |
Annie Oakley Annie Oakley Annie Oakley , born Phoebe Ann Mosey, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and timely rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.Oakley's most famous trick is perhaps... |
|
| Let's Dance Let's Dance (1950 film) Let's Dance is a 1950 musical romantic comedy film starring Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire. A war widow returns to work with her former dancing partner, but her upper class mother-in-law is aghast that her grandson is being exposed to show business and takes legal steps to gain custody.-Cast:*Betty... |
Kitty McNeil | ||
| 1952 | The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture... |
Holly | |
| Sailor Beware | Hetty Button | uncredited cameo | |
| Somebody Loves Me | Blossom Seeley | ||
| 1957 | Spring Reunion | Margaret "Maggie" Brewster |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | That's My Mom | 1 episode (unaired pilot) | |
| 1959–60 | The Betty Hutton Show The Betty Hutton Show The Betty Hutton Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS's Thursday night schedule during the 1959-1960 season. The show was sponsored by General Foods' Post Cereals, and was produced by Desilu and Hutton Productions.... |
Goldie Appleby | 30 episodes |
| 1964 | The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth (TV series) The Greatest Show on Earth is an American drama series starring Jack Palance about the American circus, which aired on ABC from September 17, 1963, to April 28, 1964... |
Julia Dana | 1 episode |
| 1964–65 | Burke's Law Burke's Law Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud... |
Carlene Glory Rena Zito |
2 episodes |
| 1965 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Molly McConnell | 1 episode |
| 1977 | Baretta Baretta Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma... |
Velma | 1 episode |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Golden Apple Awards | Won | Most Cooperative Actress | |
| 1951 | Golden Globe Award Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign... |
Nominated | Best Motion Picture Actress – Musical/Comedy | Annie Get Your Gun |
| 1950 | Photoplay Awards | Won | Most Popular Female Star | Annie Get Your Gun |
Further reading
- Gene Arceri Rocking Horse, a Personal Biography of Betty Hutton, 2009, BearManor Media
- Betty Hutton Backstage You Can Have: My Own Story, 2009 The Betty Hutton Estate
External links
- BettyHuttonEstate The Betty Hutton Estate
- satinsandspurs.com The Betty Hutton Website
- Betty Hutton at who2.com
- Time Magazine article, April 24, 1950
- Denny Jackson's Betty Hutton Page (fan site)
- Betty Hutton at BroadwayWorld.com