Betty Hutton Estate Website
WELCOME
This is the web destination authorized and maintained by Miss Hutton's estate. It is the site where you can find some very unique items pertaining to Betty and her career. It is also the site where individuals, organizations, and businesses can make inquiries into the use of Miss Hutton's name and/or likeness for special projects and in advertising. For instance, her estate is the place where you will need to secure final permission to use her songs in movie and ad projects after having checked first with the applicable record company for song availability.
Please direct all E-mail inquiries to:
BettyHuttonEstate@gmail.com
Drop us a line...
This
site was first published to the internet on March 1, 2010. We wanted
the site up and ready on Betty's birthday, Feb. 26, but we were
unable to meet that symbolic deadline. As time goes on, we will be
adding much more information about the woman, her life, and her
career, so you will want to check back often. In addition, if anyone has anything
unique pertaining to Betty and her career that you would personally like to share with
our viewers, please E-mail us and tell us about it. As always, we always welcome
your questions and comments. We hope you enjoy this, the official site, of actress, Betty Hutton!
You can also always send mail to us at our physical mailing address:
The Betty Hutton Estate
P.O. Box 3124, Palm Springs, CA. 92263
CURRENT NEWS
November20, 2024
Betty Hutton, sometime during the mid to late 1960s, acting very much the proper lady by laughing off the request to recreate her Annie Get Your Gun role by handling a rifle one more time for the cameras. Way to go, Betty!
November 9, 2024
A exhibit was held as a tribute to the brilliant career of famous Hollywood costume designer, Edith Head at the Bendigo Art Gallery in rural Victoria Australia. Women patrons pause to admire one of Edith Head's costumes designed for Betty Hutton (as zany character, Polly Judson) in the 1942 movie, Star Spangled Rhythm.The all-star cast musical film was a great morale boosting success for Paramount Pictures during World War II. Being only Betty's second feature film, she managed to ace the huge role and to win the admiration of movie-goers with her extraordinary comic timing. The upbeat and zany musical comedy went a long way in rushing Betty to nearly instant stardom!
November 1, 2024
Betty Hutton and her husband, Ted Briskin enjoy some relaxation time in the yard of their Los Angeles home. Betty and Ted were married in 1945 and it is believed this photo was taken shortly after their marriage.
October 16, 2024
Betty Hutton photographed serving up chow to soldiers at mealtime during a visit to Korea to entertain the troops in March of 1952.
August 26, 2024
Oh, my!
In the early 1940s, Ed Gardner, (seen here with Betty Hutton in a photo still from the 1945 Paramount movie, Duffy's Tavern which was based upon the radio show of the same name) worked as a director, writer and producer for radio programs. In 1941 he created a character for This Is New York, a program he was producing. The character, which Gardner played, became Archie of Duffy's Tavern. Gardner found overnight success and fame on radio with Duffy's Tavern, portraying the wisecracking, malapropism-prone barkeeper Archie. Speaking with a very nasal New York accent, and sounding like a regular working class New Yorker, Gardner as Archie invariably began each week's show by answering the telephone and saying, Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat, Archie the manager speaking, Duffy ain't here-oh, hello, Duffy." This was one of Paramount's 'all-star cast' films, a large scale musical based upon Gardner's popular radio show of the same name.
July 21, 2024
So much has been written about Betty's efforts to entertain the troops during WW2, and indeed Betty herself declared that being overseas to visit with and entertain the troops was the number one most important thing she accomplished during her career. So, here we see Betty entertaining the Marines (USMC) in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands on October 16, 1944. A special thanks to Alexander Astroth for forwarding these special public domain Government photos to the Betty Hutton Estate. (P.S. There are more to come...)
July 11, 2024
A very young and beautiful Betty Hutton gracing the January 1948 cover of French Cine Revue magazine.
July 7, 2024
Two days ago, on Friday July 5th, it reached a staggering 124 degrees here in Palm Springs! Needless to say, one tends to stick to home as much as possible (out of necessity). I was bored in the house and decided to go through a bunch of old Betty Hutton papers in my office. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had created a pretty cool collage in homage to Betty. I sincerely hope that your summer will be filled with mild, warm days and cool grass...
June 20, 2024
Vivian Blaine (of Guys and Dolls, both theater and film versions), along with Frank Sinatra and Betty Hutton posing for photos after appearing on an Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast, Air date: April 25, 1945.
June 5, 2024
My new, (but actually quite old) 1939 Mills Empress Jukebox in near perfect shape (for 85 years old), all lit-up and ready to play Betty Hutton songs the way they were meant to be played! If Betty were here today, I am absolutely positive she would be dancing and singing along... I have my favorite songs, mostly from the 60s and 70s, on there now as I go about collecting me some Hutton singles on vinyl. Ebay, here I come! Oh, by the way, 5 plays for only a quarter. What a bargain!
June 2, 2024
Lovely Betty Hutton.
June 1, 2024
Betty Hutton and orchestra leader, Vincent Lopez, in photos from the New York Daily News, May 4, 1938. Betty strongly suggested in her autobiography, Backstage, You Can Have, that at times Lopez showed more interest in the pleasure part of their relationship than he did in the business aspect of it.
May 19, 2024
Betty Hutton poses with her performance troupe in front of a transport plane during her visit to Korea with the U.S.O. 1952.
May 9, 2024
Betty Hutton performed with The Vincent Lopez Orchestra, as this newspaper ad verifies, at The Casino in Bemus Point, NY on Saturday the 20th of August, 1938. The Casino is still in operation today and is located on a point of land jutting out into Chautauqua Lake in Upstate NY, half way between Buffalo and Erie , PA. The Casino has a lengthy and star-studded history with many great entertainers having graced the Casino's Ballroom stage, such as Tommy Dorsey, Benny
Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway,
Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and many more.
An 18 year old Betty Hutton as she looked while appearing with the Lopez orchestra in 1938. These are studio photos taken of Betty by Chicago photographer, Maurice Seymour and were meant to be used for publicity by the Lopez orchestra.
April 12, 2024
Such a bizarre ad for the 1957 movie, Spring Reunion. The ad reads as if Betty Hutton is seeking help from a newspaper advice column. The premise seems all wrong to attract potential movie goes, but then so does the film itself. It might just be me... but let me ask you quite candidly, were the 50s really as awkward as this film exposes it to be?
Insider extra: There was rumor that the movie was made simply to be meant as a write-off for the production company run by Kirk Douglas, Bryna Productions. I know one thing first hand, Betty wished it had never been made...
Yikes, from this photo it looks as if Spring Reunion might have been some kind of a bad horror film!
April 5, 2024
Super beautiful Betty Hutton (with a huge ring) seen here in a black and white Paramount publicity photo. Stunning!
March 28, 2024
A great photo of Betty Hutton sitting in the makeup chair. Sorry, no specifics are currently known regarding the time or location for this particular photo, but was part of Betty's personal photo collection.
March 27, 2024
March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024
A nice publicity shot of Betty Hutton as Annie Oakley, holding a basket of Easter eggs and a rabbit. Happy Easter to all!
February 22, 2024
A still from a dance scene in the 1950 movie, Let's Dance, in which stars Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire take direction from film's director, Norman McLeod. See photo blurb below...
February 19, 2024
Betty Hutton on the cover of the March 30, 1953 issue of Cinema magazine, a Hebrew language Israeli publication.
February 16, 2024
Betty Hutton returns home from a very successful stint at the London Palladium in September of 1948. See the blurb that was attached to the news photo below...
February 8, 2024
Beautiful Betty Hutton
February 6, 2024
A great photo of a sign taken on the grounds of the Ringling Bros. winter headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. Mr. DeMille was given exclusive access to film and include any activity that occurred during daily life on the grounds in his circus movie, The Greatest Show On Earth.
December 27, 2023
The "Blonde Bombshell" says it best! Top: 1950s Betty in a personally autographed New Years promotional photo, The Betty Hutton Estate collection. Bottom: Betty in a WWII 1940s Paramount New Years promotional.
December 20, 2023
Betty Hutton celebrates Christmas in Palm Springs, 2006.
October 23, 2023
very early publicity photo of Betty Hutton taken shortly after her arrival in Hollywood. Autographed too!
October 21, 2023
A very nice photo of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Briskin. Betty Hutton and Ted were
married on September 2, 1945 in Chicago, Illinois in the Camellia house of the
famous Drake hotel.They are seen here departing for their honeymoon to Florida. Betty was 24 and Ted was 27 when they tied the knot. When introducing Ted
to friends in Hollywood she cooed, "Isn't he handsome? Isn't he rugged? I could never find anything
like that in Hollywood. I had to go to Chicago... Great town, Chicago. Say you
ought to try this married life. It's the only way to live."
I am sure you movie buffs will remember the talented Charles Coburn! He is seen here with Betty Hutton as she congratulates singer Toni Arden on a successful opening on Nov. 3, 1950 at The Mocambo in Hollywood. In years past I had always simply assumed that Coburn was a regal English actor who was somehow transplanted to Hollywood. No such thing... He was born in Macon, Georgia in 1887 and after a long and successful career, died in New York City in 1961. If you happen to be out of the room when he appears and speaks on screen, you can't help but rush in, take a seat and watch! Thank goodness we can still hear his wonderfully distinctive voice when watching a vast array of his fine movie performances.
Charles Coburn
October 18, 2023
A beautiful Betty Hutton with her friend and mentor, Buddy DeSylva in 1945. Unfortunately, Buddy died 5 years later in 1950. Without his constant guidance and approval, Betty's film career spiraled into a very swift decline.
October 14, 2023
We came across this wonderful photo of Betty Hutton the other day as we were going through an unmarked box of some of her miscellaneous personal effects. There are no makings on the photo to indicate a date, but there is no doubt she was visiting Hawaii. She looks so very relaxed that it is quite possible this photo was taken as she was departing the Islands for the mainland.
September 25, 2023
Actress Joan Fontaine stops by the set of Red, Hot and Blue in 1949 to pay a visit with her friend, Betty Hutton.
August 23, 2023
Betty Hutton arrives by air in London for a three week run at The London Palladium - Sept. 20, 1952.
August 6, 2023
Betty Hutton looking simply fantastic in this wardrobe/lighting test for the Paramount movie, Dream Girl 1948.
July 5, 2023
A beautiful Betty Hutton graces the July 1948 cover of Brazilian movie magazine, A Cena Muda.
June 12, 2023
Waiting for the Betty Hutton Show to begin!
Over this past weekend we received a very special email from
a man by the name of Eric Hanson. Eric’s Dad, John H. Hanson, was in the 136th
Fighter Squadron of the United States Air Force, stationed in South Korea.
Although this posting is a bit late, we will still consider it our Memorial Day
posting in honor of all those who served and continue to serve our country
today around the world.
Hanson had initially been in the Texas Air National Guard which was activated for federal service in Oct. 1950 and sent to Korea a few short months later. Sgt. John H. Hanson was stationed in Taegu, in southeastern South Korea. During his stint in South Korea, Sgt. Hanson became one of the fortunate service men to experience a live performance by Betty Hutton who came to entertain the troops near Taegu. At the time, Hanson managed to take a series of photographs during the show, and those photos have fortunately survived the years. Sgt. Hanson’s son Eric was kind to contact us and has been very generous in forwarding those same photos to us. We have included several of them here for you to enjoy.
It is very important to state that Betty constantly told us that of everything she did during her career, her interactions with and the joy she was able to impart to our stationed troops was the MOST important and rewarding thing that she ever did! We thank you, Sgt. John H. Hanson and Miss Betty Hutton for your service…
Incidentally, today, Taegu, also spelled Daegu, is a metropolitan city of over two and one half million people, making it one of South Korea's largest urban areas.
Sgt. John H. Hanson
Estate photo of Betty and The Sklarks leaving for Korea, 1952.
June 11, 2023
The Betty Hutton Estate recently made contact with a new friend and Betty fan by the name of Gail Yamamoto. Gail is a great friend to have, not only because she likes Betty Hutton, but also because she happens to live in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. (Undoubtedly Gail has a sofa in her home that has had the occasion to host stray friends visiting the expensive city from the US Mainland...)
Gail purchased a copy of Betty Hutton in Retrospect: A Collection Of Her Finest Memorabilia from us here on the website a few weeks back. At that time I told Gail what a special place Betty thought Hawaii was and also how particularly fond she had been of the Halekulani hotel on the beach in Waikiki. Betty's favorite part about the hotel was sitting (incognito) on the lanai overlooking the ocean at sunset and enjoying a Mai-Tai. Gail promised that she would try her best to get to the hotel within the coming days, book in hand and enjoy for herself a Mai-Tai on the lanai in Betty's honor.
Our great thanks to Gail for taking three very special photos for us to post and share here on the Betty Hutton Estate website. Little did we realize that the main color of the book is exactly the same color as the Halekulani drink menu (see above photo). The drink looks simply amazing and the flower lei adds that perfect Hawaiian touch! The next round of drinks is on us, Gail... so please keep that sofa open and ready!
Gail's photo of people enjoying drinks on the Halekulani lanai with Diamond Head in the background.
Betty Hutton performs for sailors at Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu.
May 19, 2023
The American Weekly Sunday newspaper supplement with "pin-up" girl, Betty Hutton gracing its cover from the week of Sept. 22, 1946. Betty's image is No.6 in an obvious continuing series of Greek themed Pin-Up Girls of History for the periodical, as seen through the eyes of artist Henry Clive. Clive came to Hollywood in the early 1920's and began painting Ziegfeld Girls, then big stars such as Gloria Swanson and Pola Negri for promotional campaigns. He was also art director for Charlie Chaplin productions and even played a villain in the Chaplin masterpiece, City Lights. So, although this cover seems rather dated for 1946, one needs to remember Clive's early beginnings in Hollywood and the way movie art was perceived in those early days. Nevertheless, by 1946 Betty was well on in her career, already on her 11th major movie by this time, and had already become a major talent at Paramount and recognized as such in all Hollywood circles.
April 5, 2023
March 27, 2023
Sorry to report that I have no specifics on this beautiful publicity photo of a young and glamourous looking Betty Hutton. I do know one thing for sure, that she more than likely had many of these photo shoots early on in her career with Paramount! The photo was left as part of Betty's extensive collection of personal memorabilia.
March 21, 2023
Betty managed to develop a wonderful and close friendship with C. B. De Mille before, during and after her appearance in his Oscar winning movie, The Greatest Show On Earth, 1952. Here Betty visits with DeMille on the set of his movie epic, Samson and Delilah, 1949 with a kiss on the cheek.
March 12, 2023
It's really so much fun to receive phone messages from multiple celebrities in one day! (not that it happens very often...) So, have a listen to the audio clip below to hear our phone messages from both Betty and Kaye Ballard. Sorry, the year is a bit fuzzy, but it appears that it was between Christmas and New Year sometime after the year 2000, but naturally, pre-Covid.
Betty and Kaye.mp3
March 3, 2023
Betty Hutton poses for a publicity photo in the Paramount studio office of friend and mentor, A. C. Lyles, c.1940s.
February 1, 2023
This photo, found in a c.1940s Hollywood star magazine, has the appropriate caption, "Betty registers typical Hutton enthusiam as she races through a mystery story..." Cost of magazine: 15 cents. Betty Hutton expression: PRICELESS!
January 10, 2023
A person really has no other option but to smile when seeing a beautiful photo of a bubbly Betty Hutton!
January 2, 2023
Could it be possible that Betty's photo was taken here while she was busy working on a personal list of New Year's resolutions??? Whatever the case, she sure was looking great in the process!
December 11, 2022
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I disclose the death of my lovely sister, Patricia Mayer. Betty and "Trish" became fast friends during Betty's final years here in Palm Springs, both speaking weekly on the phone as many times as possible, in addition to Trish's frequent visits to see us all here in California. In the beginning it crossed my mind about the possibility of some sort of a clash between the two women, mainly because of Betty's rather volatile nature at times. Nevertheless, they developed a fast mutual respect for each other and had a surprising amount in common. Betty obviously picked up rather quickly on my sister's kind nature and wholesome Mid-Western values. It became the backbone of their friendship...
December 8, 2022
November 29, 2022
Betty Hutton seen here with Don Ameche on the March 31, 1964 episode of The Greatest Show on Earth television program. GSOE was an American drama TV series about the American circus which starred Jack Palance and featured different weekly guest stars. The series aired on ABC from Sept. 17, 1963, to April 28, 1964, and was produced by Desilu.The Greatest Show on Earth faced stiff competition from two comedy programs on CBS: Petticoat Junction and the long-running The Jack Benny Program. NBC aired The Richard Boone Show at the same 9 p.m. Tuesday slot. The Greatest Show on Earth series was canceled after only one season.
October 28, 2022
We always get manage a good chuckle from foreign posters or lobby cards that attempt to summarize one of Betty's movies in a few words, especially since they typically seem to be a million miles off... In this instance, a small poster from Argentina for the 1943 movie Let's Face It with Betty and Bob Hope. They have oddly translated the name of the film to El Caradura - someone quite shameless or with no respect! Bob Hope is listed as, un lobo uniformado, - the uninformed wolf. Betty is granted the title of, la domadora del lobo, - the wolf tamer! To be fair, I guess we would need to watch the entire movie in order to decipher where they meant to go with all of this. But for now, I think I'll stick with the original English intention!
September 1, 2022
Brazilian magazine, A Cena Muda (The Scene Changes) with Betty Hutton gracing its cover. Issue No. 28, September 7, 1946. The magazine was published from 1921 - 1955.
August 10, 2022
Beautiful and vibrant Betty Hutton seen here at the prime of her career as a major Hollywood movie star.
August 5, 2022
A beautiful looking Betty Hutton seen here at an unknown function with choreographer husband, Charles O'Curran (on left). Betty was married to Charlie for nearly four years before they divorced in 1955. It was husband Charlie that Betty had wanted to to become involved in directing a new film, Topsy and Eva, for her at Paramount. When the studio top brass refused to allow O'Curran to direct the film, Betty walked out on her contract.
July 23, 2022
This photo of Betty has a definite 1950s vibe to it, and was actually a publicity photo for Betty's upcoming TV series, The Betty Hutton Show, 1959. Betty certainly looked stunning and all grown up with her revealing low-cut dress and long gloves.
July 15, 2022
A nice, colorful magazine ad of Betty Hutton for Frederics Tru-Curl Permanent Wave kits, "The nearest thing to natural curly hair"... The Ad includes a large photo of Betty, as seen in The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, indicating the advertisement is from the same year as the movie, 1944.
June 3, 2022
An impressive photo still from The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, 1944. Diana Lynn, Betty Hutton, and Eddie Bracken costar in this Preston Sturges screwball comedy great!
April 1, 2022
Happy Spring!
March 30, 2022
These are just a few of the hundreds of delightfully animated facial expressions Betty Hutton revealed to the audience while singing, "Murder, He Says" during the taping of Command Performance: Strictly GI in 1943. Command Performance was a weekly radio show that answered
requests from American servicemen and was then piped overseas to our troops during WWII. This particular episode was a special filmed broadcast of a Command Performance episode. In this one, Betty Hutton sings
"Murder, He Says" and Judy Garland does "Somewhere over the Rainbow."
Also, Lana Turner cooks a sizzling three inch Porterhouse steak on stage, all for the boys! Bob Hope is the delightful host of this episode from Camp Roberts,
CA. Watch the full video program below...
March 28, 2022
We can't help but feel that this scene from the 1944 movie, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, written and directed by the great Preston Sturges, has to rate as a favorite for a large number of Betty Hutton fans! It sure rates high on our list... Speaking of lists, the film ranks #54 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list of the top 100 funniest films in movie history. Also, in 2001, Morgan's Creek was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library Of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
February 27, 2022
During Betty's return to Michigan in 1950 for the opening of her film, "Let's Dance"
with Fred Astaire, she made a special stop at her old school, Foch Intermediate, to pay a visit to her favorite teacher, Mrs. Deborah Jones. In this photo, Betty is seen "studying" with a very pleased student in Mrs. Jones' 7-B Arithmetic class as Mrs. Jones looks on. Read more about Betty's eventful trip back home to Michigan in, Backstage, You Can Have, Betty's autobiography available at Amazon.
February 26, 2022
Happy Birthday, Dear Betty! You are missed so very much on this special day...
February 7, 2022
An entry in the May 1946 edition of Screenland magazine's Here's Hollywood gossip column by Weston East (gotta love that name!) stated:
"Too bad Betty Hutton and her new husband, Ted Briskin, couldn't have settled their first quarrel without reporters and most of Hollywood sitting in. But the bombastic Betty lost no time in letting everyone know. Twenty-four hours later all was sweetness and light again. A difference of opinion regarding the demands of Betty's career seemed to be the basic reason."
To put even more attention on the spat, Betty was featured on the cover of that month's Screenland edition with the blurb attached, Betty Hutton now starring in the new Paramount film, Cross My Heart. Photo of cover below...
One short month later, in the very same gossip column of the June 1946 issue of Screenland, readers were entertained with this entry:
"Such devotion between Betty Hutton and Ted Briskin, now that they've buried the hatchet. He's showering her with presents, flat silver, jewelry and furs. They're also drawing up plans to make their house larger. On the blue prints opposite one designated spot, Betty wrote with her eyebrow pencil, 'Either bedroom or nursery.' As it turns out, it'll be the nursery, and Betty couldn't be happier."
Now, I ask you, could anything be more important for small-town America to have reported to them from Hollywood?
In all seriousness, Ted Briskin was justifiably not pleased with the time that Betty's work took away from their home life, but Betty had absolutely no intention of giving up that career of hers. In the end, Betty's career won out and the marriage unfortunately ended in divorce in 1951, as did three more consecutive Hutton marriages yet to come, and all for much the same reason. Betty did mention to us on several occasions that she deeply regretted her split from Teddy, because as she fondly stated, "He was the one..."
Betty Hutton and husband, Ted Briskin.
February 2, 2022
Caption supplied with this photo: Betty Hutton, Paramount's blonde star who will soon be seen in Incendiary Blonde, lives in a hillside home in Hollywoodland with her mother, Mrs. Mable Hutton. For the past six months her four year old nephew, John Philbin, son of her sister Marion, has been staying with them while his parents have been on a Vaudeville tour. From the roadside the house looks like a small bungalow, but don't let that fool you --- it extends down the side of the hill for three floors.
January 23, 2022
This photo is, in my estimation, shear Hutton perfection! Betty, doing what she did best, performing at a USO show during WW2. If you take a good look at the faces of the guys watching her, you will know exactly why what she did was so meaningful to her!
January 21, 2022
Imagine if you can, just for a moment, what it would be like to walk into a room and instantly be the center of attention with all eyes upon you; each and every person scrutinizing your every word and movement. Sounds rather enticing to be in such a position, but also a bit scary, right? Some are born ready and up for the challenge, others are not. Betty was one of those who found the limelight simply suffocating. She told us often in her older age how she wished people could just accept her as Betty, with no preconceived ideas or expectations of Betty Hutton the Hollywood star. She gave it her best shot in the business and did really well, but in the end Betty paid a heavy price for attempting to go along with something that she just really had no desire for... stardom.
January 16, 2022
Betty Hutton in a rather nice publicity photo from her television "spectacular", Satins and Spurs for NBC. Satins and Spurs, was a 90 min. musical comedy which debuted on Sep. 12, 1954. Betty's was the very first in a series of these so called, spectaculars for NBC which were to be broadcast in full color, regardless of the fact that few American households had a color TV set in 1954. Betty played a rodeo queen who falls for a magazine writer, played by Kevin McCarthy.
December 23, 2021
Betty Hutton is seen here social distancing on the ski slopes, not because of Covid 19, but because she is such a hazard on the slopes! Everyone please have a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season... The Betty Hutton Estate
December 16, 2021
Here is a really nice publicity photo of Betty Hutton leaning out of a window that has a flower box adorned with American flags. Posting this photo would probably be more appropriate in July than it is only a week before Christmas, nevertheless, this is a photo we were not ever familiar with! It makes us wonder just how many thousands of Betty Hutton photos are circulating out there that none of us have seen before... Happy July 4th, Santa!
December 13, 2021
While Betty was still alive, she attempted to keep the address of her personal residence here in Palm Springs as private as possible. She therefore felt rather safe in using our post office box for fan mail and the like as a substitute for providing the real thing. Well, in today's mail in the box at the post office, Betty received an "invitation" for a new credit card! Is it possible that she applied for one, all those many years ago, and is just receiving the application? I know the mail has gotten horribly slow... but this seems rather crazy, don't you think?
December 1, 2021
An unusually creative publicity still from Betty's second movie, Star Spangled Rhythm, 1942. By her second movie, a World War II morale booster, Betty was already an undeniable and major presence on the Paramount big screen! From left to right, Gil Lamb, Betty Hutton, Victor Moore and Eddie Bracken. Star Spangled Rhythm was also the first film released by Paramount to be shown for 8 weeks.
November 16, 2021
No, this is not a photo of Betty Hutton after having joined the NRA late in life... This is actually a photo of the honest to goodness, real life Annie Oakley. She is seen here in 1922 with a rifle that had been given to her by, none other than, Buffalo Bill! Annie Oakley was born in 1860, making her about 62 years of age when this photo was taken. She died 4 years later in 1926 at the age of 66. The additional photo below depicts Annie Oakley and her husband, Frank Butler... Yes, the Frank Butler, second best sharpshooter in the world (after Annie)!
November 3, 2021
Years have passed... and after all is said and done, we are still left wondering just how things might have played out had Judy Garland indeed fulfilled her role as Annie Oakley in the 1950 movie, Annie Get Your Gun. Personally, we couldn't be more pleased with the way things turned out! Then again, we also find it nearly unimaginable to think of anyone but Judy Garland playing Esther Smith in, Meet Me In St. Louis. Somehow things usually have a way of turning out as they are meant to...
November 2, 2021
A rare view of Betty Hutton, taking a coffee break during script reading rehearsals for her 1957 movie, Spring Reunion. Spring Reunion turned out to be Betty's final movie... Photo from Betty's private photo collection...
October 18, 2021
Betty Hutton, still making the same kind of waves in the 2020s and she did in the mid 1940s...
October 13, 2021
September 24, 2021
A really beautiful photo of a youthful Betty Hutton, one we have not seen before, found recently on an internet search...
August 28, 2021
Still photo from the 1950 movie, Let's Dance, starring Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire.The 5 minute dance number shown in this photo was completed in one take and without any stops. Mr. Astaire told Betty that this had been the only instance in his long and storied dance film career that such an event had been filmed in one take!
August 23, 2021
Wonderful photo from The Pittsburgh Press, dated Sept.8, 1943 of members of the Hollywood Bond Cavalcade, including Betty Hutton, as they leave Los Angeles on the first leg of their War Bond Tour to raise funds for the war effort.
April 19, 2021
In 1950, Betty returned home to her native Michigan for the premiere of her 15th Paramount film, Let's Dance, with Fred Astaire. It was also a grand affair for Betty and her mother, Mabel to reconnect with the people and place that they literally had to escape from because the Feds, at the time, were hot on Mabel's trail with bootlegging charges. This photo is from the Dec. 1950 issue of The Oldsmobile Newsletter. The caption for the photo reads as follows: Betty Hutton, screen star, recently came home to Lansing on "Betty Hutton Day" with her mother, Mrs. Mabel Thornburg who worked in the Oldsmobile plant from 1925-1928. What a triumphant return for a radiant looking 29 year old Betty, not to mention a very proud mother Mabel...
April 15, 2021
Facebook has a new ad out focusing on their Group platform, a place where people of common interests can gather and share that interest. This ad is for a group of deaf basketball players (the Deafhoops group) and uses Betty Hutton's, It's Oh So Quiet song to assist in getting their message across. Please watch the video above...
April 9, 2021
I have to admit, I had a great laugh after finding this hidden little gem! This is a small Spanish lobby card for Betty's American-made movie,The Angel's Sing 1944. The funny part is that the movie had been renamed to something that can loosely be translated to, Demons In Skirts... I suppose that's one surefire way to attract a new sort of crowd to a film originally intended for a totally different audience!
April 4, 2021
Betty Hutton in hair and makeup, getting ready for another performance... I know this photo, but can't place the location, event, or time at present (possible effects from Covid 19 vaccine???). Anyone with information about this photo, please help!
March 16, 2021
A beautiful and very young Betty Hutton...
February 20, 2021
A wonderfully historic photo of a very young Betty Hutton, in New York City during her Vincent Lopez Suave Swing Band days, probably c.1939. Betty would have been all of 18 years of age...
February 5, 2021
This promises to be a real treat for those of you who count yourselves among our growing league of hard-core Hutton fans... a 1943 letter to the editor of (a) magazine in which Betty's mentor, Buddy DeSylva talks about bringing Betty to Hollywood and her potential stardom. A true slice of Hutton history! Please click here for a larger view...
February 2, 2021
Remembering Betty in our home, today and every day!
January 26, 2021
After a long day at Hollywood's Paramount studios, Betty Hutton relaxes at home with a good book and a box of chocolates... it strikes me that in a strange way, Betty's life was sort of like a box of chocolates!
January 12, 2021
Look who seems to be enjoying a copy of TV/Stage Magazine with our favorite, Betty Hutton on its cover!
January 8, 2021
The Sahara marquee announcing one of Betty Hutton's many Las Vegas shows!
December 29, 2020
Wishing everyone a more kind and gentle 2021!
December 27, 2020
Fun movie stills of Betty Hutton along with fellow cast members, Diana Lynn, Mimi Chandler, Dorothy Lamour and Raymond Walburn from the delightfully entertaining 1944 movie, And The Angels Sing.
December 21, 2020
Beautiful Betty Hutton!
November 22, 2020
This is a really wonderful vintage photo from Betty's private collection that was shot while on the set filming Cross My Heart, 1946. Betty is seen here as a mirror reflection and is receiving some sort of direction from an unknown crew member. Cross My Heart remains my personal all-time favorite Betty Hutton movie, but is also the most difficult film of Betty's to come by!
November 17, 2020
It was clear to me by early this morning that today was not going to be just another ordinary day in lock-down at our house... Do something to make your day a special one and please wear a mask!
November 6, 2020
The Greatest Show On Earth 1952. Tonight on TCM! Check your local listings...
October 30, 2020
Very nice 1940s Max Factor ad, featuring Betty Hutton!
August 23, 2020
Very nice posed publicity photo of Betty Hutton taken at the time of her short 3 week stint as Miss Hannigan on Broadway in the musical "Annie", Sept.1980.
July 26, 2020
Several fun and interesting photos of Betty Hutton and fellow actors (Berry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore) taken behind the scenes or off-camera during the filming of The Stork Club, 1945.
June 3, 2020
Betty Hutton entertains the crowd at The Mocambo Nightclub on Sunset in West Hollywood while dancing with in-house dance instructor, Bill Daniels. 1940s
The Mocambo, with its Latin American themed decor, was an immediate success upon opening on Jan. 3, 1941. Along the interior walls were glass cages holding live cockatoos, macaws, parrots and various other birds. With big band music, the club became one of the most popular dance-till-dawn spots in
town. On any given night, the room would be filled with leading men and women from the Hollywood motion picture world. Early in 1957, club operator and co-owner Charlie Morrison died at his home in Beverly Hills, and signaled the eventual end of an era. The Mocambo remained in business for one final year, before closing its doors for good on June 30, 1958. (photo, 1941)
May 22, 2020
Yet another stunning photo of the beautiful Betty Hutton!
April 17, 2020
Two great examples of ephemera from Betty Hutton's performing days in Las Vegas are shown below... The first is an ad for Betty performing at the Sahara's Congo Room with co-stars from her TV series, The Betty Hutton Show. The second is the inside content of the program from Betty's engagement at The Painted Room at Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn. Click Here to see a larger version of The Desert Inn program!
January 25, 2020
Opening night, Oct. 14, 1953 of Betty Hutton and Her All-Star International Show at the RKO Palace at Broadway and 47th St. in Manhattan. Trio Charlival was a Parisian male dance group, making their American Theatre debut, courtesy of Lou Walter's Latin Quarter. Los Chavales were The Kids From Spain, a singing and instrumental group of 11 young men. Betty came on during the second part of the show, along with The Skylarks, and the show ran from Oct. 14 thru Nov. 10th, 1953.
January 24, 2020
Betty participated in a televised 90 minute tribute to DeMille, The World's Greatest Showman: The Legend of Cecil B. DeMille, which aired on Dec. 1, 1963. A visibly older Betty took to the trapeze for the first time since The Greatest Show on Earth to recreate a scene from the movie as a part of the DeMille tribute.
January 12, 2020
With all the speculation concerning Betty's "bad deal" by having her best onstage Cole Porter number in Panama Hattie (1940) pulled by Ethel Merman during the show's stint on Broadway, it seems slightly weird that Betty was also part of Merman's Panama Hattie cast bowling league! Here is Betty and Merman putting on their very best for the camera... and it appears to me that Betty wins, hands down!
*********
Years later, Betty stops her performance, to the delight of the audience, to sign an autograph for an adorning young fan at the edge of the stage! One more reason to love Betty...
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November 28, 2019
On behalf of Betty, The Betty Hutton Estate would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Now, get in that kitchen and rattle some pots and pans...
November 25, 2019
Betty having lunch in a swanky Los Angeles eatery with her friend and Brentwood neighbor, Joan Crawford. (Date and location unknown)
November 18, 2019
Wardrobe screen-test photo of Betty Hutton for the 1950 movie, Annie Get Your Gun.
October 17, 2019
Cover of the 1946 Winter edition of Movie Play magazine, featuring Betty Hutton! Only 25 cents...
September 18, 2019
Look who showed up along with my morning coffee... Looks like it's going to be one of those Betty Hutton Wednesdays!
August 12, 2019
A breathtakingly beautiful photo of Betty Hutton...
July 27, 2019
Bubbling Betty Hutton in the process of cutting another track to vinyl in the recording studio, early 1950s.
July 6, 2019
The January 1948 issue of Belgian Hebdo Magazine, featuring Betty Hutton along with leading-man, Arturo De Cordova in Paramount's Incendiary Blonde.
July 2, 2019
A nice candid photo of the front of an Olympia Theater showing a screening of Betty Hutton's newest film for 1946, Cross My Heart, bubbling with mirth, music and MURDER! The city location for this particular theater is unknown, due to the fact that several Olympia Theaters exist throughout the United States. It would be much too easy to simply claim that this is Olympia, Washington!
Cross My Heart was a wonderful "sleeper" of a Betty Hutton movie, and happens to be among my very favorites! If you have not seen this little gem of a movie, make sure you do...
June 25, 2019
June 12, 2019
Simple and clean Danish movie poster for the Betty Hutton, Bing Crosby, and Sonny Tufts feature film, Here Come The Waves. The movie was released in the USA in 1944, but this poster was from 1947, indicating that it obviously took a few years after WWII to be released in Europe.
June 1, 2019
Scene from the 1945 movie, The Stork Club with, (from left to right) Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Betty Hutton, and Bill Goodwin. Betty Hutton plays a hat-check girl at the Stork Club who saves the life of a
drowning man (Fitzgerald). A wealthy man, he decides to repay her by
anonymously giving her a bank account, a luxury apartment and a charge
account at a department store. When her boyfriend (DeFore) returns from
overseas, he thinks she is a kept woman. Bill Goodwin plays Sherman Billingsley, real-life owner of the Stork Club. More than 700 photographs of the real Stork Club, then at 3 East 53rd St.in Manhattan, were taken to help the set designers at Paramount recreate the club to perfection on their Hollywood back-lot, just for the
movie!
May 25, 2019
May 17, 2019
Paramount Pictures Inc. payroll check made out to Betty Hutton, dated December 9, 1943 in the amount of $958.55 If this was a monthly check, it was an outrageously large sum of money in 1943. If it was a bi-weekly or weekly check, it was a small fortune! Betty's first house in Brentwood, overlooking the polo field, cost her $64,000 dollars around that time. She outbid her good friend, Cary Grant for the purchase of the house. Grant backed out after refusing to pay such an "exorbitant" price! It really was an expensive home for the time, as the median home value in California then was around $3,500. Those same Brentwood homes, yes some are still standing today, are now in the millions!
April 12, 2019
Betty Hutton greets adoring fans upon her arrival at Dublin's Collinstown Airport during a brief promotional tour of Ireland in 1952. The film "Sailor Beware", in which
she had a cameo role, was running in Dublin theaters at the time.
March 24, 2019
A great candid photo taken by a member of the audience of Betty Hutton being called up on stage during a performance by Sophie Tucker. Location and date uncertain... (possibly Miami in 1952, but no way of confirming this)
March 9, 2019
Have a look at the newly released Official Promo Video for the second season of the smash hit BBC America series, Killing Eve using Betty Hutton's song, It's Oh So Quiet (Blow A Fuse). Released on March 8, 2019. The new season begins April 7th.
March 1, 2019
Breathtakingly Beautiful Betty! On a scale of 1 to 10,
The Betty Hutton Estate gives this photo of Betty a 15+
February 10, 2019
We were going through a box of old Hutton memorabilia which included various cassette tapes (remember those?), and stumbled across a taped radio program that Betty participated in during August of 1988. The program is called, The Great Sounds, and is hosted by longtime radioman, Ray Otis. Betty talks about her life and career, and several of her most popular songs are played throughout the program. We edited and enhanced the audio tracks, which happen to be both entertaining and informative, so please enjoy! (2 tracks, approximately 50 minutes)
The Great Sounds Radio Program - Featuring, Betty Hutton, with host Ray Otis, Aug. 20, 1988 - Track 01.mp3
The Great Sounds Radio Program - Featuring, Betty Hutton, with host Ray Otis, Aug. 20, 1988 - Track 02.mp3
February 7, 2019
Nice promotional photo of Paramount's most lucrative comedy duo during the 1940s, Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken.
February 1, 2019
Photo of Betty Hutton taken during the "Sewing Machine" segment from the 1947 movie, The Perils Of Pauline.
January 31, 2019
A wonderful photo of Betty Hutton with entertainer, Jimmy Durante from the 1950s. Two entertainers who certainly gave everything for their craft.
January 21, 2019
Beautiful Betty Hutton!
January 2, 2019
Baby faced seventeen year old Betty Hutton, as she appeared while traveling with the Vincent Lopez orchestra as girl singer, 1938.
November 25, 2018
Was there ever anyone who could entertain the troops like Betty Hutton? Betty Hutton, once again, entertaining her beloved troops!
Betty Hutton, once again, entertaining her beloved troops!Betty is seen here doing what she enjoyed doing BEST ... entertaining!
In this photo, Betty thrilled thousands of applauding sailors when she
went into her song and dance; only one of the many acts presented as
part of her USO Camp Show #370 at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Pearl
Harbor, Oct. 24, 1944
November 20, 2018
Some wonderful photos from Betty Hutton's private collection of her being hauled aloft in a clam shell crane bucket to kick off the 2nd Liberty Loan Bond Drive during World War 2. The buildings in the background appear, to the best of my knowledge, to be on the Paramount Studio grounds in Hollywood. I believe that this was Paramount's advertising ploy to show their support for the drive, and for Betty's part in it. Anyone who might have more information on this particular event, we would greatly appreciate your input. Some wonderful pictures of Betty Hutton in her early 20s!
November 8, 2018
Watch this wonderful video clip of Betty and Billy De Wolfe interacting on a train... from the 1947 movie, The Perils of Pauline, a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star, Pearl White's rise to fame.
November 2, 2018
Betty Hutton, young and beautiful, early 1940s.
September 27, 2018
Beautiful Betty!
September 19, 2018
Photo still from the 1943 movie, Let's Face It, starring Bob Hope and Betty Hutton. This was the one and only movie project that the two worked on together. After the movie wrapped, Bob Hope told Betty that she was simply too good at comedy for the two of them to work together again. Bob was used to getting all the laughs, so it was probably a bit disconcerting for him to handle such comedic competition comfortably. Betty told us this story, but added, they continued as lifelong friends, in spite of the hold put on what could have been an enormously successful working relationship.
This scene had to produce one of the funniest lines from a comedy movie, EVER... As Betty continues to twist the scarf around Bob's neck, Bob yells out, "Someone catch my eyes!"
September 3, 2018
A nice fan photo shot at the premier festivities for Betty Hutton's movie, Somebody Loves Me in New York City on Sept. 24, 1952. Betty played vaudevillian, Blossom Seeley in the movie.The photo below shows Betty with the real Blossom Seeley, along with her husband and show partner, Benny Fields.
August 19, 2018
A wonderful video clip that we snagged from Betty Hutton's 1957 guest performance on the Nat King Cole Show. Betty sings her beautiful, (Where Are You?) Now That I Need You song for the television audience.
August 4, 2018
Betty Hutton, looking particularly stunning in this c.1940s Paramount publicity photo.
July 26, 2018
Publicity/Hollywood gossip photo showing Betty Hutton dining with comedian, Phil Silvers, in 1949. It was not a romantic liaison, but rather, more than likely, a meetings of two great comedic minds...
July 22, 2018
we trust everyone is enjoying watching Betty in this afternoon's screening of Annie Get Your Gun on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
Nice poster with some hints of classic mid-century design for Let's Dance, the 1950 movie starring Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire. The two black and white photos are stills from the movie.
Watch the latest promo for the new season 4 of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead, featuring Betty Hutton's It's Oh So Quiet song! Beware, this is not for the faint of heart... Like the subject matter or not, you must admit, it is a unique use of one of Betty's most popular songs used in promotional advertising !
July 19, 2018
July 13, 2018
Wonderful early fashion/publicity photo of Betty Hutton, more than likely taken shortly after her arrival in Hollywood at Paramount.
July 8, 2018
Betty Hutton holds up an award of achievement that she received from Emerson College in Boston for contributing with distinction to the field of musical theater, 1985.
June 22, 2018
We are so pleased to present our new find, this rare film of Betty Hutton entertaining the troops in Korea in 1952. In this 5 minute film, you have the unusual opportunity to experience Betty still on camera, but not in a scripted movie. Watch Betty doing what she loved best of all, entertaining! Enjoy... (no sound)
June 21, 2018
Betty Hutton looking like a million bucks during the 1940s...
June 15, 2018
Betty appearing rather pensive in this promotional still...
June 10, 2018
Betty Hutton performs with Dinah Shore on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show for NBC. Original color photo from May 17, 1957.
Watch a video segment from The Dinah Shore Chevy Show that corresponds to the color photograph of Betty and Dinah above. It's great to watch, but it makes you truly wish that the video was in wonderful vivid color too, doesn't it?
June 7, 2018
Betty is seen in the above photograph during a singing program on CBS Radio in Hollywood, shortly after arriving on the West Coast from the Broadway stage in New York City, May 1,1940. This was prior to Betty becoming a true Paramount star, and in truth, she appeared a bit rough around the edges...
Betty as she appeared at the height of her movie career with Paramount; a true Hollywood beauty!
May 17, 2018
Photo of an apparently happy Betty Hutton, along with her 4th and final husband, Pete Candoli, performing together in London on April 22, 1961.
Six short years later, Betty's life took a turn for the worse as it slumped into major turmoil. On New Year's Eve, 1962, Betty's Mother was burned to death in a fire in her Los Angeles apartment, started by a burning cigarette while Mable lay intoxicated. Then in November of 1966, Betty was watching the Rona Barrett gossip show on television, only to learn that her husband, Pete Candoli, was secretly engaged to singer Edie Adams. (Adams had spilled the beans to Dinah Shore...) Subsequently, Betty attempted suicide, sought psychiatric help, filed for bankruptcy, was divorced for the 4th time, and continued to spiral downward in a life of prescription drug abuse. Within a short period of time, Betty was homeless. In 1970, Betty met Carl Bruno and Gene Arnaiz who took her in to their home and nursed her back to health. By 1974, Betty was touring back East in a show when she relapsed and ended up in a rehab center. There, Betty met Father Peter Maguire, the man she credits with saving her life...
April 24, 2018
Wonderful color Lobby Card from The Fleet's In, 1942. The Fleet's In was Betty's very first major motion picture!
April 23, 2018
Betty wasn't the star of her very first major motion picture for Paramount, The Fleet's In, 1942, but people certainly did stand up and take notice of Betty as a "star in the making". Betty is seen here along with Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, and Eddie Bracken. The Fleet's In was one of those feel-good wartime movies, made to help lighten up the severity of America's role in WW2.
March 23, 2018
Photo of a very young Betty Hutton in May of 1940 in Los Angeles, California.
Excellent color promotional photograph taken while Betty was filling in for several weeks in September 1980 as Miss Hannigan, the hard drinking orphanage matron, in the Broadway musical, Annie.
March 2, 2018
Beautiful B&W promotional photo of Betty Hutton, 1949!
February 23, 2018
Monday, February 26th will be Betty Hutton's Birthday! Betty would have been 97 this year... We miss and love you, dear Betty!
Betty's mother, Mabel Hutton, presents Betty with a Birthday cake. Year uncertain, but from all signs, this appears to be from the late 1940s.
February 7, 2018
The quintessential Betty Hutton!
February 4, 2018
Swedish Filmjournalen magazine (FILM JOURNAL), June,1950 issue with Betty Hutton's photo on the front cover touting her newest film, Annie Get Your Gun.
January 27, 2018
A lovesick Betty Hutton as silent film star, Pearl White, in the 1947 movie, The Perils Of Pauline. Betty is seen in this beautiful movie still with her co-star, and object of her affections, John Lund.
January 18, 2018
Wonderful still photograph of Betty Hutton shot during the filming of her 1945 movie, Incendiary Blond.
January 17, 2018
We
have always thought this to be a very special magazine cover image of
Betty Hutton because of its great glamor factor! This particular cover
is from the July 1947 issue of Screen Romances magazine which details
Betty's new film, The Perils Of Pauline.
January 5, 2018
One of the few good things to come out of the 1948 Betty Hutton movie, Dream Girl, was this look on Betty's face as captured in a photo still. Don't worry, and we are not being disloyal, Betty thought the movie was a real stinker as well! See Betty's thoughts on the making of Dream Girl, as well as how she felt about all her other movies, in her autobiography, Backstage You Can Have.
October 20, 2017
Crowds gather under a marquee advertising Betty Hutton's movie, The Stork Club, directed Hal Walker on New Year's Eve, 1946. Broadway in Times Square, New York City.
A Rise To Stardom
The Making of Hollywood's
"Blonde Bombshell"
There
are plenty female stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age who can be given
top rankings for being superb beauties and memorable actresses; but
there were only a few great entertainers who were in the same league
with Betty Hutton. Betty had a dynamic energy that transferred well onto
stage and screen and did much to calm and entertain war-weary audiences
during the 1940's.
Betty is well remembered today for her assertive and humorous novelty tunes that showcased her explosive energy, still, her film roles endure as her most permanent legacy. Because of her high spirits, she became known as the "Blonde Bombshell". Her reign at the top of the film world was a brief 11 years (1942-1952). During that time, she made 20 major feature films. At her peak, she was viewed as a national treasure; one of the most beloved stars and biggest box office attractions on the silver screen. Moviegoers in 1950 named her the year’s Best Actress in a Photoplay magazine poll. Variety even named her 1952's number one female box office attraction. Yet, one year later, her career in film was all but over. Due to a dispute with studio bosses over not allowing her second husband to direct her next film, Betty and Paramount abruptly ended their long and extremely prosperous relationship. Hutton continued to work in radio, appeared several times a year in Las Vegas nightclubs, and eventually tried her luck on the new medium of television; still her career never regained its momentum.
An original musical TV spectacular written especially for Betty, Satins and Spurs (1954), was not well received; despite being one of the first television programs televised nationally by NBC in color. In 1959, Betty took a chance by financially backing her own television sitcom, The Betty Hutton Show. The show lasted for only one season. Fortunately, her greatest performances are forever captured on film and continue to delight movie buffs throughout the world today.
Betty was
known as the "Blonde Bombshell" because of her bombastic style and
personality. Betty Hutton died at home in Palm Springs, Ca. on March 11,
2007 at the age of 86.
Betty
was born Betty June Thornburg on February 26, 1921, in Battle Creek
Michigan. Her father, a railroad worker, abandoned the family shortly
after Betty was born. In order to support her two daughters, mother
Mabel began to bootleg; running several successful speakeasies during
the Prohibition Era. When she was only three, Betty and her older
sister, Marion, began singing for the patrons. Their family situation
was made even worse by the Great Depression and by Mabel’s growing
dependence on alcohol. Trouble with police kept the family on the move.
Eventually they ended up in Detroit, virtually penniless, before Mrs.
Thornburg became employed for a brief time at an auto assembly plant.
Hutton continued singing wherever she could to assist her family financially. By the age of 15, she decided it was time to go to New York and give the big city a try. Told that she'd never make it on the stage, she headed home. After returning to Detroit, at age 16, Betty finally got her big break. It appeared she was on her way to a successful career as a band vocalist when orchestra leader Vincent Lopez spotted the teenager singing in a Detroit nightclub and signed her for $65 a week.
Betty soon began making a name for herself in the entertainment world.
During 1939, she appeared in several movie musical shorts and in 1940
she left Lopez for a role in the Broadway musical revue, Two For The Show. Soon after, producer B.G. DeSylva signed her for a part in his Broadway musical, Panama Hattie.
When DeSylva took over the production reins at Paramount studios in
late 1941, he promised to take Betty along to Hollywood. There she got
her first featured role in the movie musical, The Fleet's In
(1942), along with Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, and Eddie Bracken. With guidance from Buddy DeSylva, Betty was instantly on her way to a
successful film career in Hollywood.
From the early 1940's to the mid 1950's, Betty Hutton was a true Hollywood movie star. Nevertheless, four failed marriages, an inability to manage money, and a reputation for being difficult to work with all eventually took their toll. The final straw for Betty’s short but illustrious career in Hollywood was her disagreement with studio execs that led to walking out on her contract. An unfortunate addiction to prescription drugs quickly descended upon the fallen star.
In the 1970's, with the help of a Rhode Island priest, Betty managed to turn her unhappy personal life around. She went on to earn a college degree from Salve Regina, a Catholic college for women in Newport, Rhode Island. By the late 1980's she was teaching acting to students at Boston's Emerson College.
In 2000, Betty did an hour-long interview for Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Private Screenings: Betty Hutton was an intimate portrait, and marked Betty’s first television interview in 20 years. The show seemed to have a magical effect on everyone who saw it; from her loyal fans to people who had never ever heard of Betty Hutton before. Until the time of her death in 2007, whenever Turner reran Betty’s Private Screenings episode, fan mail poured in from around the country with notes of love and respect for the “Blonde Bombshell”. Betty continued to live in quiet retirement in Palm Springs, California until her death on March 11, 2007 at the age of 86.
Betty at her glamorous best!
Betty Hutton is shown here in an MGM studio photo for Annie Get Your Gun, 1950. She was 29 years old.
Betty shows off the newly released video tape of her movie, "Annie Get Your Gun" - April 4, 2001 at home in Palm Springs.
Betty seen here in a publicity photo for "Annie Get You Gun". 1950
Betty's
smile had a way of lighting up her entire face; something that transferred well onto film and made a theater audience instantly adore
her. Photo from on the set of Red, Hot and Blue, 1949.
The lovely Betty we all remember!
Betty's Autobiography Is Finally Here
Betty Hutton was the top
grossing female star at Paramount during much of the 1940s. At the top
of her career, she was one of the most celebrated actresses in
Hollywood, starring in such movies as "Annie Get Your Gun" and "The
Greatest Show On Earth". Without warning, her career and world collapsed
virtually overnight. Betty's tumultuous childhood came back to haunt
her, and along with it, an addiction to prescription pills that almost
ended her life. Betty disappeared from the public eye, until in 1974,
when she was discovered living with and caring for priests in a Catholic
rectory in Rhode Island. Interest in her and her life returned to the
forefront. She began writing this book in 1970, as a means to explain
the chain of events that
led to her downfall. Sadly, she never finished writing it. After her
death in 2007, the Betty Hutton Estate picked up where she left off, and
has finally completed her book. Almost 40 years after it was first
started, Betty's real story is ready to be told! Includes 70 photos...
The book is for sale
exclusively online at Amazon.com.
Cover of "Backstage You Can Have: My Own Story" by
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton
Executor, Carl Bruno
(left), of the Betty Hutton Estate and co-author of "Backstage You Can
Have" and co-author Michael Mayer speak at a book signing held at the
Rancho Mirage, Ca. library on November 17, 2009.
Turner Classic Movie's Robert Osborne introduces Betty's book on TCM after the showing of The Fleet's In.
Executor, Carl Bruno
(left), of the Betty Hutton Estate and co-author of "Backstage You Can
Have" and co-author Michael Mayer speak at a book signing held at the
Rancho Mirage, Ca. library on November 17, 2009.
As of August 2014, there is a new, Third Edition of Betty Hutton's autobiography, Backstage You Can Have. This edition has a total of 142 photos, twice the number of photos of any previous edition of the book! Same great story, newly enhanced... Check the new edition out at Amazon.com.
We are very pleased to announce the release of a new photo book on Betty and her career, called, The Betty Hutton Scrapbook: A Tribute To Hollywood's Blonde Bombshell.
The final draft of this 116 page book has been in the works for quite
some time. The new picture book, which contains both color and B&W
photos, is available currently only through Amazon.com. Please click here to go directly to the book's Amazon.com page!
The book is divided into sections that begin with Betty's rise to stardom, the glamor shots, Betty on stage, Betty with other celebrities, her movies, and finally her post Hollywood days of obscurity. This new release is sure to please any Hutton fan! Many of the included photos are previously unreleased and are exclusively from Betty's estate. Below are pictures of the front and back covers of the book. We worked diligently with Amazon to create a photo book that would be of great quality at an affordable price...116 pages, soft glossy laminated cover, 8.5x8.5 inches, $31.95
The book is divided into sections that begin with Betty's rise to stardom, the glamor shots, Betty on stage, Betty with other celebrities, her movies, and finally her post Hollywood days of obscurity. This new release is sure to please any Hutton fan! Many of the included photos are previously unreleased and are exclusively from Betty's estate. Below are pictures of the front and back covers of the book. We worked diligently with Amazon to create a photo book that would be of great quality at an affordable price...116 pages, soft glossy laminated cover, 8.5x8.5 inches, $31.95
"Let's Dance"
Betty's Triumphant Return To Michigan
One of
the most interesting periods during Betty's Hollywood days has to be
her return to Michigan in 1950 for the opening of her film, "Let's Dance",
with Fred Astaire. Why so interesting? Well, since Betty grew up in
poverty in several cities within Michigan during the depression, her
recollections of the place were not all that good. At one point, with two
small children in tow, Betty's mother, a bootlegger, was chased out of
Lansing with the police hot on her trail. Now, in 1950, Betty and her
mother were arriving in Lansing as local heroes and celebrities! Kind of
a Cinderella story... don't you think? For the full story, you will
want to read Chapter 13 in Betty's autobiography, "Backstage, You Can Have".
Amazing! Photos from Betty's career just don't get
much better than during this stop on the Michigan tour.
much better than during this stop on the Michigan tour.
Betty and her Mother are introduced by Michigan Governor Williams at a lunchon given by, "The Red Stocking", a local charity in Lansing.
The Mayor of Lansing accompanied Betty to the house she lived in as a child, complete with a plaque placed by The Lansing Historical Society.
Betty and her Mother, Mabel, argue about where things used to be placed in their old Lansing home, while tenant Larry Maisel looks on in amusement (or quite possibly in amazement).
Betty is shown here in front of the theater in Lansing, Michigan where "Let's Dance" had its world premiere!
Pure Hutton glamor!
Warming up the audience... Betty and her mother, Mabel, on-stage in Lansing prior to the very first public
screening of, "Let's Dance".
screening of, "Let's Dance".
Hutton fans mobbed Detroit's, Grinnell Music Co. store where Betty went to sign autographs. She even staged an impromptu show for fans from a counter top!
Betty saying hello to her Foch Intermediate school, (Detroit) math teacher, Mrs. Deborah Jones (Nov. 24, 1950).
Betty's seat in the classroom of Mrs. Deborah Jones.
Betty giving some humorous words of wisdom, no doubt, to Mrs. Deborah Jone's class!
OK, Betty, cheating from the smart kid is NOT ALLOWED!
Betty gets ready to entertain the students at her Detroit school.
One of our very favorite photos of Betty here at BettyHuttonEstate.com,
Betty doing what she loved best for the students!
Betty doing what she loved best for the students!
His Rocking Horse Is Solid Gold
Betty's song His Rocking Horse Ran Away was so successful, musical team Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen had a special jewelry pin created and presented it to Betty in appreciation. It is a rocking horse. From it a chain leads to a little boy who appears to be flying off of his horse. Both rocking horse and boy are pinned separately from each other to appear as if the boy is in flight after having been thrown from the horse. The pin is solid gold and both the horse and boy have diamond eyes.
Where it all began...
The house Betty Hutton was born in, No.12 Stone Avenue
Battle Creek, MI.
Battle Creek, MI.
Foch Intermediate School in Detroit, Michigan where
Betty went to school.
Betty went to school.
Betty in New York City, around 1939. (Vincent Lopez era).
Where Betty's meteoric rise to fame all began... Paramount!
Carl Bruno, Executor of the Betty Hutton Estate, and A.C. Lyles of Paramount take a walk on the studio lot after enjoying lunch at the commissary.
People lined up and waiting to be discovered at Paramount's main gate in the good old days of Hollywood's studio system.
Official Betty Hutton
- Commemorative Poster -
created by The Betty Hutton Estate following Betty's death in 2007
Remembering Dear
Betty
This is the last photo ever taken of Betty Hutton, January 2007.
Flowers adorned Betty's Hollywood star hours after her death was officially announced by her estate.
Betty's star, as it appears today on Hollywood Blvd. in LA.
Headstone at Betty's grave-site, adorned with "pennies from heaven" left by adoring fans - Cathedral City, California
Betty At Home In Palm Springs
Betty at home in Palm Springs (early 2002) with Estate
Executor, Carl Bruno (middle photo) and Michael Mayer.
Executor, Carl Bruno (middle photo) and Michael Mayer.
Satins and Spurs
The following photos are from the Betty Hutton 1954 live NBC Color Spectacular, "Satins and Spurs". This was the first color SPECTACULAR for NBC and much hullabaloo
surrounded the telecast. This program inaugurated NBC's Brooklyn Color
Studio 1, a former Warner Brothers East Coast film sound stage.
Satins and Spurs was an original musical about Cindy Smathers (Hutton), a rodeo star who appears at Madison Square Garden in New York City and becomes the subject of a Life magazine photo essay about a country girl in the big city. The photographer at first makes her feel like such a rube but eventually they fall in love and the pictures land Cindy the lead in a Broadway musical. Songs by Ray Evans & Jay Livingston, all sung by Betty Hutton.
This production aired on September 12, 1954. It was the first full-scale musical comedy written especially for television, but was criticized by the media and not well received by the public.
Satins and Spurs was an original musical about Cindy Smathers (Hutton), a rodeo star who appears at Madison Square Garden in New York City and becomes the subject of a Life magazine photo essay about a country girl in the big city. The photographer at first makes her feel like such a rube but eventually they fall in love and the pictures land Cindy the lead in a Broadway musical. Songs by Ray Evans & Jay Livingston, all sung by Betty Hutton.
This production aired on September 12, 1954. It was the first full-scale musical comedy written especially for television, but was criticized by the media and not well received by the public.
Rare Betty Images
from the 1949 movie,
Red, Hot and Blue!
Classic comedy images and a few production photos of Betty Hutton as Yum-Yum Collier in Red, Hot and Blue, 1949.
Betty and Eddie
Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken are shown here together in an early photo taken on the Paramount lot. Were they comedic friends or foes? Read about their relationship in Betty's autobiography, Backstage You Can Have!
The Perils Of Pauline
The next four Betty Hutton images from the 1947 film, The Perils of Pauline! show Betty with actor, John Lund, film director, George Marshall, and comic genius, Billy DeWolfe.
Betty at The Stage Door Canteen
The following photos are of Betty and service men at the Stage Door Canteen. We are assuming it is the New York establishment, due to the fact that the photos say "Stage Door" Canteen. The Canteen in Hollywood was called simply "Hollywood Canteen". All the photos are from 1944. If anyone has any identifying information so we can clarify the location, please write to us!
On March 2, 1942 the New York Stage Door Canteen opened its doors in the basement of the 44th Street Theater. Founded by the American Theatre Wing, the organization that hosts Broadway’s Tony Awards, Stage Door Canteen was open nightly from 6 p.m. to midnight. Admission was free to all servicemen.
Two thousand men filled the tiny 40-foot by 80-foot room each night. The Stage Door Canteen provided a space for millions of Allied servicemen to receive star-treatment―top-notch entertainment, dinner and dancing.
No alcohol was permitted, but on an average night the Canteen served: 2000 sandwiches, 3000 slices of cake or doughnuts, 1000 half pints of milk, 80 gallons of fruit juice and cider, 25 lbs. of candy, 6 crates of fruit and a whopping 5,000 cigarettes.
New York’s Stage Door Canteen was followed by the opening of Stage Door Canteens in Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The Hollywood Canteen opened as an American Theater Wing affiliate on October 3, 1942.
OK, we now understand the reason you went to the Stage Door Canteen, Betty! I guess you were just doing your job; entertaining the troops...
More Of Betty At War
In The Pacific!
Betty loved being with and entertaining the troops!
Johnston Atoll, a United States territory, is a remote group of islands
covering 50 square miles. Chief among them is Johnston Island, with its
now abandoned military base. In 1926, an executive order established
Johnston Atoll as a federal bird refuge, but control was transferred to
the U.S. Navy in 1934 and the impressive runway still seen today was
established. Soon after, the former wildlife reserve became a nuclear
weapons test site.
Johnston Island is one large airstrip in the Pacific!
This photo and the following two are of Betty and troupe on an unidentified island in the Pacific. Anyone with information as to which island this might be, please email us!
Betty with the locals.
Betty receives some hand crafted gifts from the island's people.
Here's A Special Treat!
Watch
this 7 minute video segment from an interview done by Hollywood
columnist Mike Connolly in Betty's Los Angeles home in 1955. The complete video is 27 minutes in length.
Betty Hutton with Hollywood columnist, Mike Connolly.
MEMORIAL VIDEO
The following is a video clip of the Memorial Service held for Betty Hutton at St. Theresa church in Palm Springs on March 23, 2007. A.C. Lyles, long-time Hutton friend and Paramount Studio exec. gave the eulogy. This video clip is small and of less than desirable quality, but it is all here!
WATCH THIS...
A wonderful video clip from It Had To Be You, A Musical Evening with Betty Hutton, starring Crystal Poppell as Betty Hutton. This was a show to benefit For The Children, a Coachella Valley non-profit organization we are members of that assists and mentors foster and adoptive children and their families in and around Palm Springs. The show was taped at the performance on May 17, 2009 at the Riviera Resort in Palm Springs, California. The show was presented by The Betty Hutton Estate.
Sailor Beware
Paramount Theater in New York City sporting a gigantic sign announcing the engagement of the 1952 movie, "Sailor Beware". Betty had an un-billed cameo in the movie as Dean Martin's girlfriend, Hetty Button!
BETTY AT WAR!
We have had wonderful response from viewers to Betty's WW2 photos! Remember to check out our Betty At War gallery (here).
Greatest Show On Earth
View this amateur video footage taken during the Greatest Show On Earth circus parade in Sarasota, Florida in 1952. Shots of Betty on a float are toward the end. The parade was filmed and used in the movie, The Greatest Show On Earth.
Watch our video of rare Betty Hutton performance footage!
This
is a video we made a few years back with some rare footage that was
sent to us over the years by various Hutton fans who shot the actual clips as Betty was performing! Some of the
video is from the Palace Theater in NYC. There is also footage of
Betty with then husband, Alan Livingston, in Las Vegas. We believe the
video with her husband to be the evening of November 9, 1954 when she
announced her "retirement" from show business at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. The look on her face is all telling...
Happy Birthday, Betty
When February rolls around, it's time once again to celebrate Betty's Birthday! Watch our video made in honor of Betty's Birthday. Betty sang us her now famous opening number at home in Palm Springs on February 26, 2005 (the day of her actual Birthday). That is followed by Betty performing the same song in front of an audience on "Jukebox Saturday Night", 1983.
Hope you all enjoy...
Cake we had made for Betty on her 84th Birthday, February 26, 2005.
Betty's Star Being Installed on the
Palm Springs Walk of Stars,
February 25, 2013
Palm Springs Walk of Stars,
February 25, 2013
A first look at Betty's
new star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on Palm Canyon Dr. in
Downtown Palm Springs as it is being installed on the sidewalk on
Monday, February 25, 2013.
A closer look at Betty's new star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on Palm Canyon Dr. in Downtown Palm Springs as it is being installed.
The star is located
directly across the street from the historic Plaza Theater on Palm
Canyon Dr. Betty's star is located right next to Loretta Young's star.
Betty's Star Ceremony,
February 26, 2013
Betty's Star Installation Ceremony on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars
took place at 11:00am on February 26, 2013. The star dedication was
coordinated with Betty's 92nd birthday. It started out as a cool
morning, but temperatures quickly climbed into the mid 70s under a
bright Southern California sun. Everyone in attendance was able to fully enjoy the ceremony as
they relaxed in the warm sun on the sidewalk where the star was
unveiled. For additional pictures from the event, please see the Betty Star Ceremony page. It was indeed a special day for all who attended!
Betty's
new star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on Palm Canyon Dr. in
Downtown Palm Springs at is looked immediately after being unveiled on
Monday, February 26, 2013.
"Can't Stop..."
Watch the wonderful and talented Broadway actress Audra McDonald sing Betty's song, "Can't Stop Talkin' About Him" for the President and Mrs. Obama at the White House. We have had the pleasure to see her perform several times in New York and are so happy that she is taking on one of Betty's novelty tunes. She does one extraordinary job in our opinion!!
Betty On Her Birthday
Listen to Betty speak on the occasion of her 84th Birthday
in 2005! Betty talks casually with friends
Carl Bruno and Mike Mayer.
in 2005! Betty talks casually with friends
Carl Bruno and Mike Mayer.
(NOTE: At the time, Betty was in an assisted living facility due to a broken arm from a fall. Betty makes reference to a man from the front
desk who wants cake. He is from the main office in the care facility.)
"No You Can't, Yes I Can"
Have a look at this Charter Communications commercial that was completed in August of 2012, using a clip of Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun. We think it is a fun ad because it is fits right in with Betty's sense of humor!
Betty In Korea
The Betty Hutton Estate has been gifted with a very special scrapbook that was compiled for Betty following her USO camp tour to Japan and Korea in February and March of 1952. The book was compiled by artist, Ted Sally. The scrapbook includes certificates, letters, photos, and additional memorabilia, all in 27 jam-packed pages. The book is a whopping two feet high, by 20 inches wide (see below). There are several photos missing, but not enough to be detrimental to the entire book. This is in relatively good condition for being 60+ years old. If you would like to see all the pages from the scrapbook, click here.
A.C. Lyles
We are extremely sad to report the passing of Betty's dear friend and mentor, Mr. A. C. Lyles from Paramount Studios. A. C. worked at Paramount for three-quarters of a century, rising from mail boy to producer. Most recently he acted as goodwill ambassador at the studio. Mr. Lyles died at home in Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 2013. He was 95.
Betty in 2005
Betty is seen here on the occasion of her 84th Birthday in Palm Springs, 2005.
Casa Manana
It can probably be said that Betty Hutton was truly discovered at Billy Rose's Casa Manana
in Manhattan. Lopez's orchestra was playing there in 1938, and Betty
Hutton was Vincent Lopez's girl singer at that time. Betty "accidentally"
brought the house down when performing as a fill-in for an act that was a
no-show. Billy Rose agreed to put Betty on the stage by herself that
evening, and all evenings after that. That was the beginning of Betty's
notoriety in New York City. Her appearances at the Casa Manana led directly to a part in the Broadway show, Panama Hattie!
Program cover from Billy Rose's Casa Manana - 1938
From within the pages of the Casa Manana program - showing Betty Hutton as one of the headliner performers.
Betty Hutton and Vincent Lopez at Billy Rose's Casa Manana.
Betty's Song in TV Ad
Really fun 2014 Travelodge, UK commercial using Betty's "It's Oh So Quiet" song in a new advertising campaign!
"Somebody" In Chicago
A really fine color photo showing Betty Hutton arriving at the Chicago Theater for the Chicago, IL premiere of Somebody Loves Me.
Betty arrived in Chicago from the West Coast on Thursday, Sept. 4,
1952. The next day, on Friday, Sept. 5, 1952, a parade was held thru the
downtown loop, and the entourage arrived at the theater for the
premiere showing. For more information, see the Chicago newspaper
article below, dated Sept. 6, 1952.
Not So Quiet?
Watch
this new video that we now add to the increasingly long list of
international TV commercials using a Betty Hutton song in their content.
This one was done recently for Ikea Canada! Enjoy...
Betty with Bob Hope in a hilarious scene from the 1943 movie, "Let's Face It". It
was a brassy comedy in which a rather loud Betty Hutton competed with
Bob Hope for laughs in this wartime comedy of soldiers hired as male
companions.
Betty Hutton is
seen here in a candid shot, probably shot by a fan, as she was leaving
Lucy's El Adobe Cafe in Hollywood, ca: late 1940's. Lucy's is located
right across the street from Paramount Studios on Melrose.
In the photo below, Betty is seen relaxing in her dressing room at Paramount during a lull in filming of the movie, The Stork Club. The photo was taken on May 23, 1945. NOTE: The book she is reading is entitled, Picasso.
Betty
Hutton causes a near riot at the London Palladium in September of 1949,
much to the delight of the Skyrockets dance orchestra and their
conductor, Woolf Phillips!
A really fine photo of Betty, taken in 1938 at Billy Rose's Casa Manana in Manhattan. The caption on the Associated Press photo states, New
York, Oct. 29 - Flat feet? Phooey, says jitterbug queen! Miss Betty
Hutton, 17, of Detroit, who's been singing and doing jitterbug dances
every night since last January in a Manhattan nightclub, took exception
last night to statements of Dr. Edward Ward of Saginaw, Mich., that the
modern dance hysteria will pay its adherents in broken down feet and
thick ankles.
Photos From Korea
We received a wonderful letter and photos from a woman by the name of
Barbara Edwardy in Texas. Barbara's late father-in-law, Bill Edwardy,
was a photographer while
serving in the military during WW2. In fact, he took numerous
photographs of Betty
when she visited Kimpo, Korea to entertain the troops in 1952. Barbara
was kind enough to share with us some of the photos which were taken by
Bill Edwardy while he served as the base photographer during Betty's
visit to Korea in 1952. Thanks, Barbara, for the great addition to our
collection!
The first two photos show photographer , Bill Edwardy (see red circles), as he photographed Betty while she performed on stage.
The following 8 photos of Betty were taken by photographer, Bill Edwardy, in Korea in 1952.
London Palladium, 1948
Betty Hutton's visit to Britain, and her first ever appearance at the London Palladium in 1948, corresponded with the premiere of her film, Dream Girl. Upon appearing at the Palladium, critics described Betty as "a big strong, lively girl, always eager to please" but complained that her voice was so loud "she deafened the first two rows of the auditorium".
The Palladium show contained much of the "lively horseplay" of her American appearances. The London Orchestra, however, was less enthusiastic about Hutton's clowning. One critic described how, after Hutton had leapt on to the back of the conductor, kissing him and sweeping him off his feet, "a look of alarm swept across the faces of the more accessible bandsmen".
Newspaper article from August 22, 1948.
Betty
Hutton and husband, Ted Briskin together on the deck of the Queen Mary
as the great ocean liner prepares to dock at Southampton, England on
Sept. 6, 1948.
Betty Hutton is pictured drinking a cup of tea during
rehearsals at the Palladium in London.
rehearsals at the Palladium in London.
Betty Hutton receives a congratulatory hug from friend,
Dinah Shore following her first night at the Palladium.
Dinah Shore following her first night at the Palladium.
Betty Hutton is pictured dancing with her husband
Ted Briskin, a Chicago businessman, at a night club
Ted Briskin, a Chicago businessman, at a night club
supper after her first show at the Palladium.
Entertaining In Korea
We received a letter from the proud son of a Marine who was stationed in Korea when Betty was there to entertain the troops. SSgt
Allen J. Repashy was with the 1st Marines when he snapped these photos
of a joyful Betty Hutton, doing what she did best for our guys overseas.
A big thank you to Allen Repashy for thinking of The Betty Hutton
Estate when deciding to share his Dad's wonderful photos! See all the
new photos posted from
SSgt Allen J. Repashy on our Betty At War page here !
SSgt Allen J. Repashy on our Betty At War page here !
The troops of the First Marine Division file into The Montezuma Bowl, a naturally formed outdoor amphitheater, to await the arrival of La Hutton.
Look
at the turn out! We know for sure that it made Betty proud to be able
to do her part to bring a bit of home to our troops on foreign soil...
There she is! Betty Hutton arrives on stage and, as usual, she has the service men hanging in the trees!
The Flashback Story
This is a rare look at an episode of The Betty Hutton Show in which Betty's Mother (Mabel), her Sister (Marion), and two daughters participate. There was a nasty writers strike on at the time in Hollywood, so Betty took it upon herself to write this episode, which is semi-autobiographical in nature. Unfortunately, it comes as no real surprise that The Betty Hutton Show lasted only one season... This is the episode entitled, "The Flashback Story" that originally aired on April 14, 1960.
This is a video that we, the Betty Hutton Estate, put together in 2009 to use during
Book Signing events (Betty's autobiography). The purpose was to refresh the memory of Betty fans
as well as to inform potential new fans about the life and career of
Betty. The video, although rather basic in quality and content,
was very well received by those who saw it. We guess Betty had a lot to do with that!
Betty Hutton was always larger than life! A photo from The Greatest Show On Earth and Betty's graduation from Salve Regina in Rhode Island. Years apart, but still the same wonderful spirit...
Have a look at Betty's appearance on The Nat 'King' Cole Show. The episode originally aired on December 3, 1957. Such great fun!
The
Betty Hutton Estate is pleased to share with you the video of Betty's
Memorial Service, held 12 days after her death, on March 23, 2007. The
video has been reworked to eliminate much of the religious content and
to leave the tribute parts of the program intact. The video opens with Betty's own music playing in the background. Carl Bruno, Executor of the Betty Hutton
Estate reads several letters sent to Betty Hutton from WW2 servicemen
long after the War that were precious to her. A.C. Lyles (since deceased), Paramount Studio Executive from Hollywood
remembers Betty Hutton with candor and humor. And finally, Southern
California's iconic gay cabaret entertainer, Rudy de la Mor (since deceased) gets the
"congregation" together to sing, "There's No Business, Like Show
Business", with one last standing ovation for Betty Hutton!
Listen
to Carl Bruno, executor of The Betty Hutton Estate, speak on a local
Palm Springs TV talk program about the life and career of Betty Hutton
shortly after her death.The program was Conversations With Gloria Greer. She got her start as an interviewer in
Los Angeles. She began covering Coachella Valley events
for the trade publication, Variety, in 1961. For more than 50 years, Greer was a reporter, editor, talk show hostess
and publisher in multiple desert media. She became an iconic Coachella Valley figure by covering the celebrities of the desert. Before her death served as
society editor for Palm Springs Life magazine. This program about Betty Hutton originally aired on April 4, 2007.
Hollywood Victory Caravan was a short subject produced by Paramount and released in 1945. It was basically a 20 minute piece of WWII propaganda designed to sell war bonds. DON'T WORRY - If you just want to see the part with Betty Hutton, it
shows very early in the video. The views of Paramount Studio's main gate (Bronson Gate from way back
then are also well worth the watch! See the original poster below for a list of all the Stars in the production!
What a wonderful candid photo of Betty Hutton! If
we had to pick just one photo that showed Betty just as she was at the
height of her fame; not Betty Hutton the
movie star, but Betty as she most likely saw herself and others close
to her saw her, it would have to be this one, freckles and all! Date and
location unknown, most likely late 1940s - early 1950s.
Two really fine photos of Betty Hutton from the mid 1950s taken during a performance at The Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. After Betty's movie career at Paramount
came to an abrupt end, she took to playing various nightclubs and
theater engagements throughout the United States and Europe, where she
managed to packed the houses! Later, Betty tried her hand in television.
"Betty Celebrates Summer" Publicity Photos
Preserved In Time...
Several
beautiful photographs of Betty Hutton that we recently transferred from
original negatives. The transfer revealed original vivid color that no one has seen in these same photos in many, many years!
Betty
and her Mother, Mabel in a beautiful color photo that was part of a
session taken for a story on Betty and her family life that appeared in
Modern Screen Magazine, May 1947.
We have added this NEW Betty Hutton tribute video, using all color images of Betty from her movie career at Paramount in Hollywood. Enjoy!
Cover of Life, featuring Betty Hutton along with other famous Hollywood actresses in a story about movie nostalgia,
February 19, 1971 issue.
February 19, 1971 issue.
The following two production photos of Betty Hutton were taken during the filming of The Perils Of Pauline, 1947.
Two really nice snapshots of Betty, taken backstage at the studio between filming of scenes.
Betty
Hutton seen here in a nice 1977 photo taken during an interview at the
Hollywood Hills home of the Executor of her Estate, Carl Bruno.
The
first time we have seen this beautiful Betty Hutton photo in its
original and brilliant color! Having the original negative is a good
thing... Betty gets a manicure, location and date unknown, but probably
early 1950s.
Private Screenings: Betty Hutton
In this landmark interview from 2000, Betty talked with TCM network host, Robert Osborne, about the best and
worst moments of her career, including her experiences on the set of Annie Get Your Gun,
and the personal off-camera troubles that led her to leave the
limelight. Betty candidly discussed her failed marriages, her children and her choice to live in seclusion for 25 years. She also spoke of the deep relationship she developed with Father Maguire at the Rhode Island rectory and the personal discoveries she made with his guidance.
This Private Screenings interview marked Betty's first television appearance in 20 years. Of all the Private Screenings interviews that Robert Osborne did over the years, Betty's interview was reportedly his favorite due to her complete honesty and her willingness to be totally transparent!
Robert speaks on Betty's book, Backstage You Can Have, after the Nov. 4, 2009 showing of "The Fleet's In" on TCM.
Beautiful screen shots of Betty Hutton from The Greatest Show On Earth, 1952. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar for that year, the only Best Picture Oscar ever for Cecil B. DeMille!
We
have managed to put together this small collection of candid Betty
Hutton photos. These are about as candid as any photo can get of someone
with the camera savvy of Betty! Although they are both informal and
impromptu, it is somehow difficult to believe that someone as
professional as Betty could ever really have a photo taken without their
knowledge! Enjoy...
On July 14, 2002, Paramount celebrated their 90th Anniversary at the studio in Hollywood. Betty Hutton was invited, but declined that invitation. A few weeks later, friend and mentor, A. C. Lyles sent Betty this touching note and photo of the flower arrangement that Betty sent to the studio for their festivities. The note reads as follows:
August 1, 2002
Dear Betty -
I've called you several times - but no answer. I talked to Carl and told him how much we missed you at our 90th. Your flowers were beautiful. I had them at the front of the commissary so everyone at the studio could see and enjoy. I had the enclosed picture made so you can see, too. I've been out of town - I'll try to reach you again tomorrow - and tell you how many of your friends asked about you at the party. Chuck Heston sends his warmest regards - and said lovely words about you. - Betty, you would have been Queen of the Evening! I missed you most of all! -
Much love - xxx - A.C.
August 1, 2002
Dear Betty -
I've called you several times - but no answer. I talked to Carl and told him how much we missed you at our 90th. Your flowers were beautiful. I had them at the front of the commissary so everyone at the studio could see and enjoy. I had the enclosed picture made so you can see, too. I've been out of town - I'll try to reach you again tomorrow - and tell you how many of your friends asked about you at the party. Chuck Heston sends his warmest regards - and said lovely words about you. - Betty, you would have been Queen of the Evening! I missed you most of all! -
Much love - xxx - A.C.
we
always manage a good chuckle when we see this photo taken during the
filming of an intimate kitchen table scene being "spied" upon by
voyeuristic director,
Preston Sturges and his film crew peeking out from behind a
disappearing wall panel. Welcome to the sometimes not so magical magic
of Hollywood film making! Photo of Betty Hutton, along with Diana Lynn,
Eddie Bracken, and William Demarest in the 1944 Paramount movie, The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek. Director Sturges is at the far right in the wall opening.
Wonderful photo of a youthful Betty Hutton from her 1939 appearance in the "Old Man Moses" Vitaphone short
film with Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra. Betty got her first big
break as girl singer with the Lopez Orchestra. Betty was 18 years of age
in 1939! The complete short film shows directly below the photo...
Betty Hutton at 18 years of age, in 1939.
Yes,
here is a photograph of Betty Hutton and her sister Marion from the
1920s at Park Lake in Bath, Michigan. For those of you familiar with the
story, Betty's mother thought that the two girls would benefit from
some time in the country. That's when Mother Mable rented a cottage at
Park Lake. Shown here are many of the friends the two girls made while
living at the lake and going to school there. For more information, you
might enjoy reading Chapter 2 of Betty's autobiography, "Backstage You Can Have: My Own Story".
Marion Hutton is top row, second from left. Betty is to the right of
Marion! Betty wrote "you" on Marion's picture and a difficult to see
"me" on her own...
Here's a bit of fun! It's something that we are calling, Betty's "Mugshots". So far we have 12 of them. If anyone has any more from the series, please let us know! Check them out here ...
(As of 9/6/2017, we now have 13!)
(As of 9/6/2017, we now have 13!)
