Betty Hutton, dies at the age of 86

[BERIGAN]

Sad to hear she died, but kind of cool the way she planned to be buried before the press found out she had died. She was a bit over the top at times, but she really had a good voice when it came to singing a ballad....a shame more people don't know that.....

Movie musicals star Hutton dies

Betty Hutton had a reputation for speaking her mind

Actress and singer Betty Hutton, famous for starring in Hollywood musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, has died in Palm Springs, California, aged 86.

Hutton found fame as a big band vocalist before moving on to Broadway and then Hollywood, where she was a major star in the early 1950s.

The energetic "blonde bombshell" had a "vividly unique personality" on screen, Time magazine wrote in 1950.

She died of complications from colon cancer on Sunday.

Carl Bruno, a friend and the executor of her estate, said she did not want her death announced until after her funeral, which took place on Tuesday.

"She wanted anonymity as far as being buried," he said. "She didn't want that to be turned into a circus."

Hutton said she found it hard to watch her old movies

Annie Get Your Gun, the Irving Berlin musical biography of Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley, made Hutton a star in 1950.

She won the part after Judy Garland dropped out of the production due to illness.

Her other notable films included Cecil B DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952 and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, the 1944 Preston Sturges satire.

Sturges called Hutton "a full-fledged actress with every talent the noun implies".

"She plays in musicals because the public, which can do practically nothing well, is willing to concede its entertainers only one talent."

Hutton could be brash at times. "When I'm working with jerks with no talent, I raise hell until I get what I want," she told the Associated Press in 1954.

But her career faded after she walked out on a studio contract, reportedly after demanding that her then-husband should direct her films.

Personal troubles

She made only one movie after walking out on her Paramount contract, but had a TV series for a year and worked occasionally on the stage and in nightclubs.

Her personal life was rocky, including four failed marriages, financial problems and difficulties between her and her three daughters.

There were periods of alcohol and drug abuse, and an attempted suicide following a nervous breakdown in the 1960s.

She told the Associated Press in a 2000 interview that she did not like to see herself in her old movies.

"It isn't the movie I'm looking at," she said. "Professionally, my career was great, but never was the scene offstage great for me."

She had been living out a quiet retirement in California at the time of her death.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6447581.stm

[BERIGAN]

A bit more on her, and her best role. If you like old movies, and haven't seen "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", see it!

The miracle of Betty Hutton

Posted on Mar 13, 2007 10:24:30 AM

The obituaries usually mention "Annie Get Your Gun" first. Perhaps Betty Hutton would enjoy the irony.

''Annie was the heartbreak of my life,'' she said in a 2000 TV interview. The reason? The MGM cast and crew treated her shabbily after she replaced Judy Garland.

Hutton's death, at 86 in Palm Springs, Calif., was confirmed Monday. The Associated Press put "Annie" in the lead. The true high point of her career, "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," was mentioned in the 11th graph.

Oh, well. "Morgan's Creek" will be the reason movie fans pay attention to her for decades to come.

Turner Classic Movies will celebrate Hutton on Thursday by presenting three of her films:

12:30 p.m. "The Stork Club"

2:15 p.m. "The Perils of Pauline"

4 p.m. "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Best of all, TCM will repeat its priceless interview with Hutton at 7 p.m. Hutton sat for the chat on "Private Screenings" seven years ago. TCM billed the TV appearance as Hutton's first in 20 years.

''I like to make people happy,'' she said of her boisterous style.

It made for fascinating viewing because Hutton shared her fear, anguish and joy so openly. Host Robert Osborne put her at ease and complimented her on her sex appeal.

''Wow, Bob, you're crazy,'' Hutton replied.

Her rambunctious manner set her apart in Hollywood. ''That's a vitamin pill with legs,'' Bob Hope said of her.

She brought zip to such funny songs as ''Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry'' and ''Murder He Says.'' She also excelled on ballads, such as ''I Wish I Didn't Love You So.''

Though Hutton was a top star at Paramount, many of her films were forgettable. Her career highlights were "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" in 1944, "Annie Get Your Gun" in 1950 and "The Greatest Show on Earth" in 1952.

"Morgan's Creek," her best film, was daring for its time. The Preston Sturges comedy concerns a woman who can't remember the man who impregnanted her.

Hutton wowed Cecil B. De Mille with her trapeze skill to join "Greatest Show," which won the Oscar for best picture.

In the interview, Hutton talked about her alcoholic mother, her lost fortune, her failed marriages and her estrangement from her children. ''My private life has been hell,'' she says.

She walked away from Hollywood and later found peace working as a cook in a rectory, where a Catholic priest offered her guidance. ''I did not know God,'' Hutton says. ''I had worked so hard, I didn't have time.''

Thanks to TCM, we had this final chance to see and understand Hutton. On that channel, film history lives.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertain...iracle_of_.html

[Shawn]

Betty Hutton was hilarious, she is brilliant in Miracle Of Morgan's Creek.

[Nate Dorward]

And she was Wittgenstein's favourite actress!

[jazzbo]

[Brownian Motion]

She was married for a time to Pete Candoli.

[Randy Twizzle]

She was married for a time to Pete Candoli.

[sheldonm]

Randy and his unlimited source of newspaper headlines!

[Randy Twizzle]

Randy and his unlimited source of newspaper headlines!

A favorite headline from 1958: