December 18
PINUP GIRL DAY
Frances Dean, the pinup girl? That name doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Betty Grable, Hollywood’s most universally-known star and archetypal pinup girl of the 1940s. She was really named Ruth Elizabeth Grable when she was born on this day in 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. Somehow she got to Hollywood where she attended the Hollywood Professional School at the tender age of 12. Within three years, Sam Goldwyn signed the young chorus girl to a movie contract and changed her name to Frances Dean.
Frances played bit parts for Goldwyn in such movies as Whoopee!, Hold ’Em Jail and Probation; but before he could turn her into a star, RKO picked up her contract and changed her name back to Betty Grable.
The movie roles got bigger: The Gay Divorcee and Follow the Fleet being the most memorable; however, Grable was still a starlet looking for true stardom. In 1937, she and Paramount found each other, and Grable and Jackie Coogan found each other, too, in pictures (College Swing) and in love. Their marriage was short-lived, lasting only three years. Suddenly the financial troubles that plagued their marriage turned into financial success for Betty.
Darryl F. Zanuck with Fox Studios needed someone to compete with Alice Faye. Betty Grable was the perfect choice. The audience loved her refreshing good looks and her lovely legs became the talk of the town. Technicolor and musicals were the perfect venue. Ms. Grable was soon a top box-office draw. Down Argentine Way, Tin Pan Alley, Moon Over Miami, Song of the Islands, Springtime in the Rockies and Sweet Rosie O’Grady were just a few of the flicks that prompted the insuring of her famous legs (Lloyds of London held the policy for somewhere between a quarter million and a million dollars). All of this resulted in the U.S. Treasury Department’s 1946-47 report, noting that she was the highest paid woman in America, receiving $300,000 a year.
Her 1943 marriage to trumpet-player/bandleader Harry James lasted 22 years. Unfortunately, the popularity of musical movies didn’t last as long and Betty Grable’s popularity declined. However, she will always be remembered as the WWII GIs’ #1 pinup girl.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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