World War II's most popular pin-up girl, just ahead of Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable would have turned 100 years old today...
Her legs were insured for a million dollars!
She was born Elizabeth Ruth Grable in St Louis Missouri and made the trek to Hollywood at 12 years of age where she went by her nickname "Betty". Though early attempts to put her over with the public didn't quite work (Judy Garland got all the attention for Pigskin Parade despite a supporting role) fame eventually took and in a big way. By the mid 1940s she was, for a time, Hollywood's highest paid star.
Though some of her movies (often musical comedies) were box office sensations (like Mother Wore Tights, 1947) they mostly seem forgotten today with the notable exception of her swan song How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) a passing of the torch if you will, to the next generation's pin-up sensation Marilyn Monroe. Grable retired from movies at only 37 years of age, and passed away twenty years later.
Betty, Lauren, and Marilyn on the set of the smash hit "How to Marry a Millionaire"
If you've seen any of her films, which would you recommend?