Betty Grable

 Betty Grable, December 18. 1916, St. Louis, MO - July 2, 1973, Santa Monica, CA. She was married 1937-1939 to actor Jackie Coogan, then to band leader Harry James from 1943-1965 and they had two daughters, Victoria Elizabeth James, and Jessica James. Betty Grable Her mother had her learning tap dancing from age three and they went to Hollywood. Betty was gorgeous and she was more than a capable singer and dancer. At age 13, she was getting parts as her mother lied about her age. Throughout the thirties, Betty was employed whether it was as a chorus girl with a close-up in Eddie Cantor's "Palmy Days" or as a girl gone wrong in "Probation" 1932. She was the romantic interest for Bert Wheeler in "Hold 'Em Jail" 1932 at RKO, she had an uncredited role in "Cavalcade", the Best Picture winner for 1933, and a good role with Nancy Carroll in "Child of Manhattan", and she did a specialty number, "Knock Knees" with Edward Everett Horton in "The Gay Divorcee"1934. In 1935, she was cast as Mary Robert in the Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey comedy, "The Nitwits", a comedy mystery.

Grable was on her way as an entertainer in light musical comedy. She would become a famous war-time pinup, and her lights would be insured for a million dollars. Like Rita Hayworth, Martha Raye, and Ann Sheridan, Grable's name is synonymous with the 1940s. It is interesting to see her earlier career.