Trivia of Betty Grable

Trivia of Betty Grable (18 December 1916 - 2 July 1973)

*Betty made her debut as a chorus girl in the film ‘Happy Days’ in 1929 when she was 12 years old. Later, she was chosen for the chorus in ‘Let’s Go Places’. The law at that time required the girls to be over 15 to dance in the chorus. Betty was just 13 but her mother arranged for her false identification papers so that she could perform. However, the deception was found out and she was disqualified.

*She signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in the late 1930s. She appeared in a number of B-movies like ‘Pigskin Parade’ (1936), ‘This Way Please’ (1937), ‘College Swing’ (1938). She played college students in most of these films and was thus typecast in this role.

*In her iconic pin-up photo, Grable has her back to the camera as she looks over her shoulder, smiling coyly. While it may seem like the pose is an artistic moment of genius, the pose was actually done for a very practical reason: Grable was pregnant and flaunting a baby-bump.There are actually 2 people in the photo.

*She starred along with Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall as gold-diggers in the 1953 romantic comedy ‘How to Marry a Millionaire’. They built solid relationship behind the set.Lauren Bacall (who was known as "Betty" to her friends) and Betty Grable became instant pals.Bacall think Grable is a funniest clown she ever had the pleasure of knowing, real hooligan, and a bawdy girl.While enigmatic Marilyn Monroe was Grable remembered as a caring person.During filming "How to Marry a Millionaire", Betty Grable had to leave the set upon learning that her daughter Jessica had suffered a fall at home. Marilyn Monroe telephoned Grable later that day to ask how Jessica was. Grable recalled years after Monroe's death that Monroe was the only person from the film who called her about Jessica.

*Despite her career as an entertainer, Grable suffered from “demophobia” AKA the fear of crowds. She also was a somnambulist, AKA a sleepwalker.

*She retired from acting in 1955. Years later, in the 1960s, Grable found herself broke and out of the Hollywood studio system that had once rocketed her to fame. She had to resort to drastic measures. Using her famous pin-up pose, she did a series of commercials for Playtex Shorties just to make back some of the money her husband had lost for gambling.

*Grable character was played by Jayne Mansfield in the biography The George Raft Story (1961). However, at the time she was not in the public domain so the character's name was changed to Lisa. Grable was George Raft's ex girlfriend.