Betty Furness
Born: 1916-01-03 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: 1994-04-02
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. She began her professional career as a model before being noticed by a talent scout and being signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the film Thirteen Women (1932) but her scenes were deleted before the film's release. Over the next few years, she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade, she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s, she found it difficult to secure acting roles. In 1948, Furness was performing in the television series Studio One, which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she thus became closely associated with them.
Filmography
1959
- Westinghouse Total Electric Home as Narrator
1958
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
1957
- The Defender (Studio One) as Self / Commercial Spokeswoman
1954
- Climax! as Beth Jaynes
- Twelve Angry Men as Herself / Commercial Spokeswoman
1952
- Pontius Pilate
- The Kill as Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
- Ellis in Freedomland as Spokeswoman for Westinghouse
- The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus as Self
1951
- A Bolt of Lightning as Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
1950
- What's My Line? as Self
- The Colgate Comedy Hour as Maggie Watson
- Your Show of Shows as Herself
- The Rockingham Tea Set as Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
1948
- Studio One as Coral, Princess Livitski
- The Philco Television Playhouse
1939
- North of Shanghai as Helen Warner
1937
- Fair Warning as Kate Farnham
- Mama Steps Out as Leila Cuppy
- The Good Old Soak as Lucy Hawley
- They Wanted to Marry as Sheila Hunter
- It Can't Last Forever as Carol Wilson
1936
- Swing Time as Margaret Watson
- Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
- The Three Wise Guys as Clarabelle Brooks
- All American Chump as Kitty Crane
- The President's Mystery as Charlotte Brown
- Mister Cinderella as Patricia 'Pat' Randolph
1935
- Calm Yourself as Mary Elizabeth Allenby
- Magnificent Obsession as Joyce Hudson
- Here Comes Cookie as Phyllis Allen
- The Keeper of the Bees as Molly
- Shadow of Doubt as Lisa
- McFadden´s Flats as Molly McFadden
1934
- Gridiron Flash as Jane Thurston
- Dangerous Corner as Mrs. Betty Whitehouse
- The Band Plays On as Kitty O'Brien
- Beggars in Ermine as Joyce Dawson
- A Wicked Woman as Yancey Stroud, aka Yancey Trice
- The Life of Vergie Winters as Joan Shadwell
1933
- Emergency Call as Alice Averill
- Headline Shooter as Miss Saunders
- Midshipman Jack as Ruth Rogers
- Lucky Devils as Ginger
- Flying Down to Rio as Belinha's Friend (uncredited)
- Let's Fall in Love as Linda
- The Great Jasper as Sylvia Bradfield
- Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men as Evangeline
- Scarlet River as Babe Jewel
- Cross Fire as Pat "Mike" Plummer
- Ace of Aces as Card Playing Party Guest (uncredited)
1932
- Renegades of the West as Mary Fawcett