Betty Grable
Betty Grable ( December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 2 July 1973 in Santa Monica, California; actually Ruth Elizabeth Grable ) was an American actress and the most famous pin-up girl of the 1940s.
Career
Betty Grable began her career at the instigation of her mother in 1930, but it was occupied for a long time only for smaller roles. She was one of the Goldwyn Girls and worked as an extra in some Eddie Cantor films. Middle of the decade, she joined Paramount and married the former child star Jackie Coogan. By the time Grable got something better roles, but overall remained her career at the level of a supporting actress. Her breakthrough came only after 1940, when they moved to 20th Century Fox. Already her first film for the studio, gallop into happiness, an elaborately produced musical in Technicolor, established Grable as a star. From 1942 to 1951 Grable was continuously among the 10 most bankable movie stars in the country longer than any other female star. In 1943, she was even ranked number 1 like it should after her only succeed Doris Day.
A recording of the studio photographer Fran Powolny from the year 1943, the Grable in a swimsuit showed while she looks over her shoulder, was one of the most popular pin-up photographs of the time. 20th Century- Fox used this fame in 1944 for the film pin up girl. Betty Grable was mostly used from the studio in elaborate musicals, often on the side of Carmen Miranda and John Payne. The titles are almost a synopsis and films like Springtime in the Rockies, Moon over Miami or Coney Iceland Grable presented in slightly revealing costumes and with more or less catchy songs. She was the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 1948 with an estimated annual income of $ 300,000. 20th Century Fox had her legs with a million dollars insure, so that it was titled next to the nickname, "The Pin-Up Girl " now with "The Girl With the $ one million Legs". Used mostly in comedies, she showed in 1942 a surprising dramatic talent in the early film noir I Wake Up Screaming, which it established next to Victor Mature. With the beginning of the 1950s Grable had to contend not only with their weight, but also with the new star of the studio, Marilyn Monroe,. Both were side by side in How Marry a Millionaire? on. Shortly after Grable left the studio. She was still with in several movies. Later she began a very successful career as a nightclub singer, often on the side of her last husband, bandleader Harry James.
Grable was known for her humor, her kindness and a good dose of self-irony. She died at the age of 56 from lung cancer.