Betty Grable

Ruth Elizabeth "Betty" Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 3, 1973) was an American actress, singer, and pin-up girl whose famous bathing-suit poster was an icon of the World War II era.

Born in Saint Louis,

Ruth Elizabeth "Betty" Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 3, 1973) was an American actress, singer, and pin-up girl whose famous bathing-suit poster was an icon of the World War II era.

Born in Saint Louis, Missouri to John C. Grable (the son of German and Dutch immigrants) and Lillian Hoffman (who was of Dutch, Irish and English descent), she was propelled into acting by her mother, who insisted that one of her daughters become a star. For her first role, as a chorus girl in the film Happy Days (1929), Grable was only 12 years old (legally underage for acting), but because the chorus line performed in blackface, it was impossible to tell how old she was. For her next film, her mother tried to get her to sign a contract using false ID, but when this was discovered Grable was fired. Grable finally obtained a role as a 'Goldwyn Girl' in Whoopee!, starring Eddie Cantor, and had played in some 20 films by 1939, including the Academy Award-nominated The Gay Divorcee, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.