Betty Grable

NAME Elizabeth Ruth Grable, professionally known as Betty Grable.

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Hollywood actress, singer, and dancer; best remembered as the most popular American pin-up girl of World War II, as well as for her musicals at 20th Century Fox during the 1940s.

BIRTH Born on December 18, 1916, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the youngest of three children.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Betty's father was John Conn Grable, a stockbroker. Her mother was Lillian Rose (née Hofmann) Grable. She had two siblings: Marjorie Lucille Arnold (née Grable) and John Karl "Jackie" Grable. Her second cousin was silent-film actress Virginia Pearson. The Grable children were of Dutch, English, German, Swiss German and Irish ancestry.

CHILDHOOD Nicknamed "Betty" as a child, she was pressured by her ambitious mother to become a performer from an early age. She was entered into multiple beauty contests, winning many and receiving considerable attention. Despite her success in competitions, she suffered from a fear of crowds and somnambulism (sleepwalking). At age three, she was enrolled in Clark's Dancing School to study ballet and tap dancing.

EDUCATION Betty attended the Hollywood Professional School after moving to California. She studied at the Ernest Blecher Academy of Dance. Through RKO's drama school, she attended acting, singing, and dancing classes. Her formal education was limited as her mother frequently lied about her age to secure film roles.

CAREER RECORD Grable began working in Hollywood in the early 1930s, first appearing in chorus lines. By the late 1930s she had supporting roles, and in the 1940s became 20th Century Fox’s top female star. By the early 1950s, she was one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses.

APPEARANCE Betty Grable's look was pure 1940s glamour, with nipped-in waists, high waisted tight shorts, red lips, swirling up-dos and victory rolls. Her hair was pure golden blonde and stayed that way for the majority of her career. She possessed sparkling blue eyes and a radiant smile. She was famously dubbed “the girl with the golden legs” — said to be insured with Lloyd’s of London for $1 million. Grable wore a size 4B foot, which was easy to obtain as it was generally used for samples.

Grable in the 1950s

FASHION Her fashion epitomized 1940s style with classic elements including tailored suits, elegant evening gowns, and her signature swimwear. She was known for her sophisticated wardrobe choices both on and off screen, often wearing designs that emphasized her figure while maintaining an air of wholesomeness.

CHARACTER Betty Grable was modest and unpretentious, with a natural sincerity that made her widely beloved. She downplayed her own abilities, attributing her success to “dumb luck” rather than any extraordinary talent. Grable was generous with fans and approachable on set, frequently befriending chorus girls and even strangers. 

SPEAKING VOICE Betty Grable had a distinctive, high-pitched, and slightly raspy voice, which was lively and perfectly suited for musical comedies and cheerful roles. She spoke with a light Midwestern-American accent, reflecting her St. Louis origins, and was often described as having a cheerful, friendly tone that matched her energetic and approachable screen persona. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR Grable maintained a humorously pragmatic attitude about her fame, particularly regarding her famous legs. When asked about them, she would quip: "There are two reasons why I am successful in show business and I am standing on both of them" and "They are fine for pushing the foot pedals in my car". She once told the cast during a Hello, Dolly! rehearsal: "Well, that's what a no talent does with it" after receiving applause.

RELATIONSHIPS Betty married twice. She married former child star Jackie Coogan in November 1937 at St. Brendan's Catholic Church, officiated by Reverend William L. Mullane and attended by many Hollywood stars. They briefly toured on vaudeville together. The couple divorced in 1939

Her second marriage was to jazz trumpeter and bandleader Harry James from 1943-1965. They had two daughters together: Victoria Elizabeth and Jessica James.

Grable's daughters, Victoria Elizabeth and Jessica, watch her rehearse for her TV debut on Shower of Stars (1954)

The marriage to James was initially idyllic but became troubled over time. James reportedly had drinking problems and was physically abusive, with Betty describing incidents as having a "bad session with Harry". They divorced in 1965 on grounds of mental and extreme cruelty.  (1)

After the divorce, Gable found love with dancer Bob Remick, who was 27 years her junior, and remained with him until her death in 1973.

MONEY AND FAME Betty Grable amassed considerable wealth at the height of her career. In 1946 and 1947, the U.S. Treasury Department named her the highest-paid American woman, and over the course of her career she earned more than $3 million, with annual salaries approaching $300,000 in the late 1940s. Known for her financial acumen, she invested wisely, but her marriage to Harry James was plagued by his heavy spending and gambling losses, which eroded much of her fortune. Despite her peak earnings, Grable experienced financial instability in her later years.

FOOD AND DRINK Betty enjoyed cooking and household activities. She told reporters: "I really enjoy housework, wash windows, wax floors, even do the laundry". 

She had a four-day diet that she used when working, stating: "I don't diet unless I'm working. When I'm being fitted for costumes, I always tell the wardrobe department to be prepared to make alterations". (2)

She struggled with alcohol use as a coping mechanism for the pressures of fame, though this was kept largely private during her lifetime.

MOVIE CAREER Betty Grable was, for a glorious spell in the 1940s and early 1950s, just about the biggest thing Hollywood had to offer in the realm of musical comedy. She made over 40 films, drew millions into cinemas, and had legs so famous they were supposedly insured for a million dollars — a figure that was, in the 1940s, the equivalent of insuring a small country. At 20th Century Fox, she was not just a star; she was the star, with a screen presence so sparkling you half-expected her to generate her own electricity.

Grable started out alarmingly young, shoved into show business by an ambitious mother and popping up in chorus lines and background parts before she was old enough to drive. By the late 1920s she was appearing in films like Happy Days (1929), Let’s Go Places (1930), and Whoopee! (1930). None of these made her famous, but they did prove she could turn up on cue, smile broadly, and not fall over her own feet — all useful talents in Hollywood musicals of the time.

The big moment came with Down Argentine Way (1940), a film that was such a hit it practically needed its own passport office. 

Suddenly Grable was a bona fide star, and Fox made sure to keep her very busy indeed. Hits tumbled forth: Tin Pan Alley (1940), Moon Over Miami (1941), Song of the Islands (1942), and Springtime in the Rockies (1942), which brought in over $2 million — an amount that in those days could buy every man in America a bowler hat and still leave change.

Then came the war, and with it Betty’s other great role: pin-up queen of the American armed forces. Her bathing-suit photo was reproduced an estimated five million times and, by some calculations, was owned by one out of every five U.S. servicemen. That’s an extraordinary achievement for a single photograph — essentially the Instagram post of its day, but without the filters. Meanwhile, back on screen, she headlined Coney Island (1943), Pin Up Girl (1944), and The Dolly Sisters (1945), cementing her place as the most popular actress in America and a source of enduring cheer to young men huddled in foxholes a world away.

Grable kept the hits coming after the war, notably with Mother Wore Tights (1947), followed by That Lady in Ermine (1948), When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948), and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949). She worked with everyone from Alice Faye and John Payne to Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall, somehow managing to hold her own in films that often looked like contests in who could be the most glamorous per square inch.

Her last really big film was How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), in which she co-starred with Monroe and Bacall in what was basically Hollywood’s idea of the perfect girl gang. It pulled in $8 million at the box office — proof that audiences still adored her. After a couple more films, Three for the Show (1955) and How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955), she decided to bow out of movies.

Grable didn’t disappear, though. She switched to stage work, including touring productions of Hello, Dolly!, and she performed in Las Vegas and on television, where audiences still happily turned out to see her.

MUSIC AND ARTS  Betty Grable was considered a pleasant and capable singer, with a voice well-suited for musical comedies and light popular songs. She was not regarded as one of Hollywood's most technically gifted vocalists like Judy Garland or Doris Day, but her singing was described as energetic, cheerful, and appealing. Importantly, Grable's singing was substantial enough that she did not require dubbing for her performances, which added to her wholesome and authentic charm as a musical star.

Grable was considered a talented and athletic dancer, and she starred in numerous Hollywood musicals that showcased her dance skills, especially her famous tap and jazz routines. She studied ballet and tap from a young age and her dance abilities were featured prominently in her films.

LITERATURE Grable was described as having accepted a more simplistic approach to life rather than being deeply intellectual and no specific literary interests have been widely documented. Written accounts about her life and career—such as Betty Grable: The Reluctant Movie Queen and Betty Grable: A Bio-Bibliography—are biographies written by others, not by Grable.

NATURE Betty Grable and Harry James owned a San Fernando Ranch where they raised Thoroughbred horses. She was known to enjoy outdoor activities and spent considerable time at their ranch property.

PETS Grable was fond of animals and owned several pets throughout her life. She had a French poodle named "Punk" and later owned another poodle. 

Bety Brable and Punk Source Posterazzi

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Betty was athletic and did not require special exercises to maintain her figure. 

Grable and Harry James were passionate about horse racing and breeding Thoroughbred racehorses. They owned several thoroughbreds that won races such as the California Breeders' Champion Stakes (1951) and the San Vicente Stakes (1954). The couple was often spotted at Santa Anita or Del Mar racetrack sitting in their private box. 

Grable also enjoyed golf and spent time playing during her Las Vegas years. 

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Betty Grable was raised and remained an Episcopalian throughout her life. She described her approach to religion as accepting "in sure trust, without knowing its full meaning, just as I've accepted the beauty of a blue sky, my daughters' smiles, or the quiet happiness that can fill a household of an evening". She was not dogmatic about her beliefs and felt she had "yet to come to serious thinking" about deeper spiritual matters. She did not pray for trivial things, believing one should not "pray for the trivial" and save spiritual appeals for truly important matters. (3)

POLITICS Betty Grable supported the war effort during WWII by raising money and visiting injured soldiers. She appeared in war bond drives encouraging Americans to support the war effort financially. 

She was a registered Republican and publicly supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election. Grable also participated in campaign events for Wendell Willkie.

SCANDAL While her career was largely free of major scandal, her marriage to Harry James was a frequent topic of gossip due to his extramarital affairs and alcoholism, which ultimately led to their divorce.

The most controversial aspects of her personal life were her struggles with alcohol, and her gambling habits, but these were largely kept private during her career.

MILITARY RECORD Although Betty Grable never served in uniform, she became perhaps the most cherished civilian morale-booster of World War II. Her iconic pin-up photograph — the over-the-shoulder bathing suit pose taken in 1943 to discreetly conceal her pregnancy bump — was copied an estimated five million times, with three million prints officially distributed to GIs. It was said to hang in one out of every five servicemen’s lockers, and more broadly, one in every twelve Allied soldiers carried her image.

Grable's iconic over-the-shoulder pose from 1943

Beyond the photograph, Grable threw herself into supporting the troops. Between 1943 and 1945 she personally answered more than 12,000 letters from servicemen, and she tirelessly appeared at USO shows to sing, dance, and lift spirits. Her likeness adorned the noses of more than 800 B-17 and B-24 bombers, the most famous being the B-17 Betty’s Dream, which flew 83 successful missions over Europe. In this way, she became not just a star of the screen but a symbol of home, hope, and resilience to millions of men fighting overseas.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Grable maintained her figure through an active lifestyle rather than special exercises. She was naturally athletic and engaged in dancing, which kept her in shape. However, she struggled with alcohol dependency as a coping mechanism for career pressures. She developed lung cancer in her later years, which ultimately caused her death.

HOMES Betty Grable owned and lived in several notable homes throughout her life, most famously a Spanish Colonial estate at 1015 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, designed in 1926 by Wallace Neff for Columbia Pictures founder Harry Cohn. This mansion featured seven bedrooms, eight baths, a luxurious pool, and two guesthouses. It was later owned by Madonna, Diane Keaton, and the Beckham family, highlighting its status as a Hollywood landmark. (4)

Betty Grable also spent significant time at a San Fernando ranch with Harry James, where they bred Thoroughbred horses, and she passed away in Santa Monica, California, having lived and worked extensively in the area for years.

TRAVEL Grable traveled across the U.S. for performances, war bond tours, and filming on location. Her most notable touring was with Hello, Dolly!, which opened in Chattanooga in 1966, followed by performances in numerous cities before arriving in Las Vegas, then Chicago, and finally Broadway.

DEATH Betty Grable died on July 2, 1973, at 5:15 PM in Los Angeles, California, at age 56. She succumbed to lung cancer. She was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. 

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Grable appeared in over 40 films, numerous stage productions, and several television specials. Her life and career have been the subject of several books and documentaries.

Her famous pin-up photo has been reprinted in countless histories of World War II and appeared in Life magazine's "100 Photos that Changed the World". 

After retirement from films, she continued performing in Las Vegas stage productions and nightclub acts.

She was portrayed by Kelli Garner in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe (2015).

ACHIEVEMENTS Top box-office star for 10 consecutive years (1940s–1950s).

One of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.

Icon of American popular culture and WWII morale.

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sources (1) Flickinout (2) Neglected Venus (3) Vintage Paparazzi (4) The Beverley Hills Historical Society