Betty Grable was an American silver screen actress and World War II pin-up girl. http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/pinupart/ Elizabeth Ruth Grable was born December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. She assumed the name Betty Grable, but during her career she was ascribed two nicknames as well: “The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs” and “The Pin-Up Girl.” Betty was the number one pin-up girl among American servicemen during World War II, and in 1943 her legs were insured by Lloyd’s of London for $1,250,000, as insisted upon by her studio 20th Century Fox. http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/grable.htmlhttp://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/betty-grable.html

Betty's father was a stockbroker and her mother managed her career; at the age of 13 Betty was introduced to Hollywood. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/28037/Betty-Grable/biography She was well-trained in dancing, singing, and playing the saxophone. http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/betty-grable.html Samuel Goldwyn signed Betty in 1930; Betty mainly performed as a chorus line dancer and in bit parts around this time. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=74705|20405 http://bettygrable.net/biohttp://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/betty-grable.htmlAround 1936 she was welcomed to Paramount Pictures, and eventually signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, where she remained through 1955. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/28037/Betty-Grable/biographyhttp://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Grable,_Betty/Biography/ Betty’s forte was singing and dancing, and she usually starred in musicals. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/240413/Betty-Grable Betty declared during her career, “I'm a song-and-dance girl. I can act enough to get by. But that's the limit of my talents.” http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/bio

During World War II, a photograph of Betty wearing nothing but a swimsuit and heels while peering over her shoulder was distributed to American servicemen abroad. http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm13.html One out of every five World War II servicemen owned this poster of Betty. http://stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/betty-grable.html Betty was pregnant when the photograph was shot, which explains why she chose to be photographed from the back. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/28037/Betty-Grable/biography

Betty starred in several films, such as Pin Up Girl in 1944 and How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953 opposite Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045891/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037175/She was the highest paid actress in Hollywood at the time; in 1947 it was revealed that Betty received $300,000 a year. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/bioShe was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6525 Hollywood Boulevard. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/awards In 1955 she starred in her last film, How to Be Very, Very Popular. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/maindetails#Actress By the late 1950s Betty’s film roles had diminished considerably after she was released by 20th Century Fox, and the studios weren’t making as many musicals. http://ovationtv.com/people/36-betty-grablehttp://www.biography.com/articles/Betty-Grable-9317383 In 1965 she received a role on the Broadway show Hello, Dolly. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=74705|20405

Betty’s two marriages both ended in divorce. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=74705|20405 Her first husband was actor Jackie Coogan, whom she married on November 20, 1937; the couple divorced on October 8, 1940. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/bioBetty then married musician Harry James on July 5, 1943. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002107/bio They had two children together, Victoria Elizabeth and Jessica, before their divorce on September 10, 1965. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416548/bio http://bettygrable.net/bio Betty Grable died on July 2, 1973 in Santa Monica, California from lung cancer. http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/betty-grable.html http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=74705|20405She was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California. http://www.inglewoodparkcemetery.org/mgw.html In 1990 she was awarded a star from her hometown on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, located at 6350 Delmar. http://stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/betty-grable.html