Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 12, 2007)
was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. She rose to fame in the 1940s as a contract player for Paramount Pictures, appearing primarily in musicals and became one of the studio's most valuable stars.[ She was noted for her energetic performance style.][
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Raised in Detroit during the Great Depression by a single mother who worked as a Rum-running, Hutton began performing as a singer from a young age, entertaining patrons of her mother's speakeasy. While performing in local nightclubs, she was discovered by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez, who hired her as a singer in his band.
In 1940, Hutton was cast in the Broadway theatre productions Two for the Show and Panama Hattie, and attracted notice for her raucous and animated live performances. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1941 after being signed by Paramount Pictures, and concurrently recorded numerous singles for Capitol Records. Her breakthrough role came in Preston Sturges's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), and she went on to receive further notice for her lead role as Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and for Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). She made her final feature film appearance in Spring Reunion (1957).
After leaving Paramount, Hutton starred in her own series, The Betty Hutton Show, from 1959 until 1960. She continued to perform in stage productions, though her career faltered following a series of personal struggles, including chronic depression, alcoholism, and prescription drug addiction. Hutton largely abandoned her performing career by the 1970s, and found employment in a Rhode Island clergy house after becoming nearly destitute. She returned to the stage temporarily replacing Alice Ghostley in the original Broadway production of Annie in 1980.
In her later life, Hutton attended Salve Regina University, where she earned a master's degree in psychology in 1986. After working as an acting instructor at Emerson College, Hutton returned to California in 1999 and resided in Palm Springs, where she died in 2007, aged 86.
Early life
Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921, in Battle Creek, Michigan, the youngest of two daughters of Percy Thornburg, a railroad brakeman, and Mabel Thornburg (née Lum).[ They did not hear of him again until they received a telegram years later, informing them of his suicide.][ ]
Hutton's formative years during the Great Depression were marked by poverty, with Hutton's mother supporting herself and her two children by working as an automobile upholstery and running an illegal speakeasy out of her home in Lansing, Michigan.[ There, Hutton and her sister regularly performed songs to entertain customers of the speakeasy.][
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Due to her mother's bootlegging of alcohol during prohibition, the family relocated frequently to evade police, eventually settling in Detroit when she was eight years old.[ Recalling her childhood, Hutton said: "Mom just ran a joint on a small scale. We'd operate until the cops got wise. Then they'd move in and close us down, and we'd move somewhere else. Marion and I would entertain the customers by dancing and singing. We really lived that way until we were 12 and 14 years old... Things were really tough. At one time we were down to one can of beans."][
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Hutton attended Foch Intermediate School in Detroit[
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Career
1938–1940: Music and Broadway
In 1938, Hutton was discovered by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez while she was performing as a singer in local Detroit nightclubs.[ Lopez recruited her as a member of his band, and she began touring with them as a singer, billed as Betty Jane.][ During her tenure with the band, Hutton established a distinctive "whoop and holler" vocal style.][ Through her work with Lopez, Hutton was hired to appear in several musical shorts for Warner Bros.: Queens of the Air (1938), Three Kings and a Queen (1939), Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939), and One for the Book (1940).
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In 1940, Hutton was cast in the Broadway production Two for the Show, which ran for 124 performances and received rave reviews.
Two for the Show was produced by Buddy DeSylva, who then cast Hutton in Panama Hattie (1940–1942). This was a major hit, running for 501 performances.
1941–1949: Paramount contract and breakthrough
When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount Pictures, he offered Hutton a contract with the studio, and she relocated to Los Angeles.[ She was first cast in a featured role in The Fleet's In (1942), starring Paramount's number-one female star Dorothy Lamour, alongside Eddie Bracken and William Holden.][ The film was popular and Hutton was an instant hit with the moviegoing public.]
Hutton was one of the many Paramount contract artists who appeared in Star Spangled Rhythm (1942). The same year, she was signed to the newly-formed Capitol Records and recorded a number of singles over the following several years, marking one of the label's earliest recording artists.
In 1942, writer-director Preston Sturges cast Hutton in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek as a dopey but endearing small-town girl who gives local troops a happy send-off and wakes up married and pregnant, but with no memory of who her husband is. The film was delayed by Hays Office objections and Sturges' prolific output, and was finally released early in 1944. The film made Hutton a major star; Sturges was nominated for a Best Writing Oscar, the film was named to the National Film Board's Top Ten films for the year, and the National Board of Review nominated the film for Best Picture of 1944, and awarded Betty Hutton the award for Best Acting for her performance. The New York Times named it as one of the 10 Best Films of 1942–1944.
Critic James Agee noted that "the Hays office must have been raped in its sleep"
Hutton was next cast in Paramount's And the Angels Sing (1944) with Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Lamour, and Here Come the Waves (1944) with Bing Crosby. Both were huge hits. DeSylva, one of Capitol's founders, also co-produced her next hit, the musical Incendiary Blonde (1945), where she played Texas Guinan. It was directed by veteran comedy director George Marshall and Hutton had replaced Lamour as Paramount's top female box-office attraction. Hutton was one of many Paramount stars in Duffy's Tavern (1945), and was top billed in The Stork Club (1945) with Barry Fitzgerald, produced by DeSylva. Hutton went into Cross My Heart (1946) with Sonny Tufts, which she disliked. She did however enjoy the popular The Perils of Pauline (1947), directed by Marshall, where she sang a Frank Loesser song that was nominated for an Academy Award: "I Wish I Didn't Love You So".
Hutton's relationship with Paramount began to disintegrate when DeSylva left the studio due to illness (he died in 1950). "After he left I started doing scripts that I knew weren't good for me."
Hutton made Dream Girl (1948) with MacDonald Carey, which she later said, "almost ruined me."
1950–1958: Annie Get Your Gun, film career decline
Hutton acted in Annie Get Your Gun (1950) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Next, she was billed above Fred Astaire in the 1950 musical Let's Dance.
She was one of several stars in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), an epic film drama directed by Cecil B. DeMille about performers in a circus which won two : Best Picture and Best Story.[ Hutton portrayed a trapeze artist in the film, and trained extensively for the role for six months, allowing her to perform many of her own stunts.]
She made Somebody Loves Me (1952), a biography of singer Blossom Seeley, with Ralph Meeker.
Hutton then clashed with Paramount. The New York Times reported that the dispute resulted from her insistence that her husband at the time, choreographer Charles O'Curran, direct her in a film.
In April 1952, Hutton returned to Broadway, performing in Betty Hutton and Her All-Star International Show. In July 1952, she announced that her husband and she would form a production company.["Betty Hutton to Produce Films, Appear on TV". Los Angeles Times. (July 18, 1952): 20.] She left Paramount in August.[Thomas, Bob (August 7, 1952). "Betty Hutton, Husband Form Own Company". The Washington Post: 22.]
Hutton transitioned to radio work, and appeared in Las Vegas, where she had a great success performing in live theater productions.[Schallert, Edwin (October 14, 1954). "Betty Hutton Terrific in 'Final' Appearance". Los Angeles Times: A12.] She had the rights to a screenplay about Sophie Tucker, but was unable to raise funds.[Television in Review: Betty Hutton: N. B. C. Stages First of Color 'Spectaculars' ' Satins and Spurs' Has Some Lusty Hoofing V. A. The New York Times. September 13, 1954: 31.] Hutton's last completed film was a small one, Spring Reunion (1957). It was a financial disappointment. She also became disillusioned with Capitol's management and moved to RCA Victor. In 1957, she appeared on a Dinah Shore show on NBC that also featured Boris Karloff; the program has been preserved on a kinescope.
1959–1964: Television work
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz took a chance on Hutton in 1959, with their company Desilu Productions giving her a CBS sitcom, The Betty Hutton Show. Hutton hired the still-blacklisted and future film composer Jerry Fielding to direct her series.[Billboard Oct 26, 1959 p. 52] They had met over the years in Las Vegas when he was blacklisted from TV and radio and could get no other work, and her Hollywood career was also fading. It was Fielding's first network job since losing his post as musical director of Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life in 1953 after hostile questioning by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. The Betty Hutton Show ended after 30 episodes.[Korman, Seymour (September 26, 1959). "Betty Hutton Turns to 'Goldie. Chicago Daily Tribune: p. A5.]
Hutton continued 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.
1965–1979: Personal and financial struggles
By the early 1960s, Hutton's career had declined significantly, attributed to her dysthymia and addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.[ Following the 1962 death of her mother in a house fire,][ She declared bankruptcy the same year.]["Landlords Sue Betty Hutton". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. March 10, 1967: B8.]
In 1967, she was signed to make a comeback starring in two low-budget Westerns for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. After losing her singing voice in 1970, Hutton had a nervous breakdown and again attempted suicide. She regained control of her life through rehabilitation, and the mentorship of a Catholic Church priest, Father Peter Maguire. Hutton converted to Catholicism, and took a job as a cook and housekeeper[ at a Clergy house in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She made national headlines when it was revealed she was practically penniless and working in a rectory. Speaking on her conversion to Catholicism, Hutton stated that she had been fascinated by the religion since childhood, though she was raised irreligious by her mother, who was an atheism.]
After an aborted comeback in 1974, she was hospitalized with emotional exhaustion.["Betty Hutton Put in Mental Hospital". Los Angeles Times. December 14, 1974: 5.]
Hutton appeared in an interview with Mike Douglas and made a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta. In September 1978, Hutton was featured on The Phil Donahue Show, where she extensively discussed her life and career.[
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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.
1980–1983: Return to Broadway and academic endeavors
In 1980, she took over the role of Miss Hannigan during the original Broadway production of Annie while Alice Ghostley was on vacation. Ghostley replaced the original Miss Hannigan actress, Dorothy Loudon (who won a Tony Award for the role).
Hutton's rehearsal of the song "Little Girls" was featured on Good Morning America. Her Broadway comeback was also included in a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning about her life, her struggle with pills, and her recovery.
A ninth-grade drop-out, Hutton went back to school and earned a master's degree in psychology from Salve Regina University in 1986.
After completing her master's degree, Hutton worked as a drama instructor at Emerson College in Boston.
Hutton's last known performance, in any medium, was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS in 1983. She became estranged again from her daughters.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Hutton was once engaged to the head of the Warner Bros. makeup department, makeup artist Perc Westmore, in 1942,
Her first marriage was to camera manufacturer Ted Briskin in September 1945.[ The couple met in a nightclub and she described their meeting as "love at first sight."][ The couple had two daughters, Lindsay ( 1946) and Candice ( 1948), before their marriage ended in divorce in 1951.]
Hutton's second marriage in 1952 was to choreographer Charles O'Curran.
She married husband Alan W. Livingston in 1955, weeks after her divorce from O'Curran. They divorced in 1960.
Her fourth and final marriage in 1960 was to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli. They divorced in 1967.
Final years and death
After the death of her mentor, Father Maguire, Hutton returned to California, moving to Palm Springs in 1999, after decades in New England. Hutton hoped to grow closer to 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, January 26, 2010, and as recently as March 18, 2017, as part of TCM's memorial tribute for Robert Osborne.
Hutton lived in Palm Springs until her death on March 12, 2007 at the age of 86 from complications of colon cancer.
Legacy
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Betty Hutton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6259 Hollywood Boulevard. Hutton was one of 500 Hollywood stars nominated by the American Film Institute for the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars as one of the greatest female stars.
In popular culture
Hutton's music have been used in popular media including the post-apocalyptic franchise Fallout where her songs "It's a Man" and "He's a demon, He's a devil, He's a doll" appeared in Fallout 4's in game soundtrack. "It's a Man" also appeared in the 2024 Fallout Episode "Target".
Hit songs
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| 1939 | "Old Man Mose" | | | with Vincent Lopez Orchestra |
| "Igloo" | 15 | Bluebird 10300 | with Vincent Lopez Orchestra |
| "The Jitterbug" | | 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" | | | |
| "It Had To Be You" | 5 | Capitol 155 | with Paul Weston Orchestra |
| "His Rocking Horse Ran Away" | 7 | 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" | 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" | 5 | 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" | 24 | RCA Victor 20-3908 | with Pete Rugolo Orchestra |
| "Can't Stop Talking" | | RCA Victor 20-3908 | with Pete Rugolo Orchestra |
| "A Bushel and a Peck" (duet with Perry Como) | 3 | RCA Victor 20-3930 | with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra |
| 1951 | "It's Oh So Quiet" | | RCA Victor 20-4179 | with Pete Rugolo Orchestra |
| "The Musicians" (with Dinah Shore, Tony Martin and Phil Harris) | 24 | RCA Victor 20-4225 | with Henri René Orchestra |
| 1953 | "Goin' Steady" | 21 | Capitol 2522 | with Nelson Riddle Orchestra |
| 1954 | "The Honeymoon's Over" (duet with Tennessee Ernie Ford) | 16 | Capitol 2809 | with Billy May Orchestra |
| 1956 | "Hit the Road to Dreamland" | | Capitol 3383 | with Vic Schoen Orchestra |
Filmography
| + Motion pictures
! width=6% | Year
! style="width:20%;" | Title
! style="width:20%;" | Role
! style="width:20%;" | 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 | Herself | film short |
| 1940 | One for the Book | Cinderella | film short |
| 1942 | The Fleet's In | Bessie Day | |
| Star Spangled Rhythm | 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 | 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 | Texas Guinan | |
| Duffy's Tavern | Herself | cameo |
| Hollywood Victory Caravan | Herself | film short |
| The Stork Club | Judy Peabody | |
| 1946 | Cross My Heart | Peggy Harper | |
| 1947 | The Perils of Pauline | Pearl White | |
| 1948 | Dream Girl | Georgina Allerton | |
| 1949 | Red, Hot and Blue | Eleanor "Yum-Yum" Collier | |
| 1950 | Annie Get Your Gun | Annie Oakley | |
| Let's Dance | Kitty McNeil | |
| 1952 | The Greatest Show on Earth | Holly | |
| Sailor Beware | Hetty Button | cameo, Uncredited |
| Somebody Loves Me | Blossom Seeley | |
| 1957 | Spring Reunion | Margaret "Maggie" Brewster | |
| + Television
! width=7% | Year
! style="width:20%;" | Title
! style="width:20%;" | Role
! style="width:20%;" | Notes |
| 1954 | Satins and Spurs | Cindy Smathers | TV musical |
| 1958 | That's My Mom | | 1 episode (unaired pilot) |
| 1959–1960 | The Betty Hutton Show | Goldie Appleby | 30 episodes |
| 1964 | The Greatest Show on Earth | Julia Dana | 1 episode |
| 1964–1965 | Burke's Law | Carlene Glory
Rena Zito | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | Gunsmoke | Molly McConnell | 1 episode |
| 1977 | Baretta | Velma | 1 episode (final appearance) |
Box-office ranking
For several years, film exhibitors voted Hutton among the leading stars in the country:
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1944 – 25th (US)
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1950 – 15th (US)
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1951 – 9th (UK)
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1952 – 14th (US),
Stage work
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Two for the Show (1940)
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Panama Hattie (1940)
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Betty Hutton and Her All-Star International Show (1952)
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(1962)
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South Pacific (1962)
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Annie Get Your Gun (1963)
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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1964)
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Fade Out – Fade In (1964) (replacement for Carol Burnett)
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Mary, Mary (1965)
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Here Today (1966)
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Here Today (1972)
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Anything Goes (1973)
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Annie (1980) (replacement for Alice Ghostley)
Radio appearances
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| with Gene Tierney - first show from Hollywood |
| with Mickey Rooney |
| with Rita Hayworth |
| with Don Ameche |
| with Bob Hope |
| with Bob Hope - sixth-anniversary special |
| "Red, Hot And Blue" |
"Suddenly, It's Spring"[ ] |
| "Somebody Loves Me" |
Awards and nominations
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| 1944 | Golden Apple Awards | Most Cooperative Actress | | |
| National Board of Review Awards | Best Acting | The Miracle of Morgan's Creek | |
| 1950 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Annie Get Your Gun | |
| Photoplay Awards | Most Popular Female Star | |
Notes
Further reading
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Betty Hutton, Backstage You Can Have: My Own Story, 2009. The Betty Hutton Estate
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The Betty Hutton Estate, Betty Hutton Scrapbook: A Tribute To Hollywood's Blonde Bombshell, 2015. The Betty Hutton Estate
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Gene Arceri, Rocking Horse: A Personal Biography of Betty Hutton, 2009, BearManor Media
External links
