BETTY GRABLE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:  
 
Betty Grable was born on December 18th, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri with the birth name Elizabeth Ruth Grable, to parents John and Lillian and she was the youngest of three children.  As a child, her mother pushed her to get involved in the entertainment industry and was determined to make her daughter a star.

By the age of three she was already enrolled in dance lessons at Clark's Dance School studying ballet and tap dancing.  When she turned thirteen her mother took her to Hollywood and was determined to get Grable into movies.   

Her mother would lie about her daughters age just to get her parts in a number of films.  She was cast in, "Whoopee" (1930), "New Movietone Follies of 1930" (1930), "Happy Days" (1929) and "Let's Go Places" (1930).  She did a total of fifty films in the 1930's, just being cast in small bit parts. 
 
In 1932, RKO Pictures signed her to a contract and she continued to work on films in minor parts.  She did get some better roles on such films as, "By Your Leave" (1934) and "College Swing" (1938).  However, she was not feeling that she was reaching her full potential.  Finally in 1940 she was cast in the film, "Down Argentine Way" and the public began to see her as a star.

This role was followed by two more films, "Coney Island" (1943) and "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" (1943).  Betty was so beautiful and male fans loved her and she posed for what became known as the most famous pin-up photo.  She was nicknamed, the girl with the million dollar legs and also, The Pin-Up Girl.  By 1947, she was the highest paid star in America.
 
She was now working with 20th-Century Fox and they actually insured her legs with Lloyds of London for a million dollars.  Her popularity held steady throughout the 1950's, however as the interest in musical films began to decline she made one more film, "How to Be Very, Popular" (1955) and then moved her focus to working as a stage actress.  Her last role was portraying the character, Billie Dawn in, "Born Yesterday" (1973) at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Along with a successful musical film and stage career, Grable also recorded a number of soundtracks some of which included, "Call Me Mister" (1951), "The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1953), "College Swing" (1965) and "Cuddle UP a Little Closer, Lovey Mine" (1974).  

Grable married twice throughout her lifetime.  First to Jackie Coogan, another famous actor who actually helped boost her popularity for the time they were together, from 1937-1940.  Betty then married a band leader, Harry James in 1943 and they had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica, before ending their marriage in 1965.
 
Betty Grable passed away at the age of fifty six on July 2nd, 1973 in Santa Monica, California after suffering from lung cancer.  She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. 
 
Grable was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.  She was also inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 2009. 

Filmography

1954-1958 Shower of Stars
1956 Ford Star Jubilee
1956 Star Stage
1955 How to Be Very, Very Popular 
1955 Three for the Show
1953 How to Marry a Millionaire 
1953 The Farmer Takes a Wife
1951 Meet Me After the Show 
1951 Call Me Mister 
1950 My Blue Heaven 
1950 Wabash Avenue 
1949 The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend 
1948 When My Baby Smiles at Me 
1948 That Lady in Ermine 
1947 Mother Wore Tights 
1947 The Shocking Miss Pilgrim 
1946 Do You Love Me
1945 The Dolly Sisters 
1945 Diamond Horseshoe 
1944 Pin Up Girl 
1943 Sweet Rosie O'Grady
1943 Coney Island 
1942 Springtime in the Rockies 
1942 Footlight Serenade 
1942 Song of the Islands 
1941 I Wake Up Screaming 
1941 A Yank in the R.A.F. 
1941 Moon Over Miami 
1940 Tin Pan Alley 
1940 Down Argentine Way 
1939 The Day the Bookies Wept
1939 Million Dollar Legs 
1939 Man About Town 
1938 Campus Confessions 
1938 Give Me a Sailor 
1938 College Swing 
1937 Thrill of a Lifetime 
1937 This Way Please 
1936 Pigskin Parade 
1936 Don't Turn 'em Loose 
1936 Follow the Fleet 
1936 Collegiate 
1935 A Quiet Fourth 
1935 Old Man Rhythm 
1935 Drawing Rumors 
1935 A Night at the Biltmore Bowl 
1935 The Nitwits 
1935 The Spirit of 1976 
1935 This Band Age 
1934 Ferry-Go-Round 
1934 By Your Leave
1934 Student Tour 
1934 The Gay Divorcee 
1934 Susie's Affairs 
1934 Business Is a Pleasure
1934 Love Detectives 
1934 Elmer Steps Out 
1934 School for Romance 
1933 Air Tonic 
1933 The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi 
1933 What Price Innocence? 
1933 Melody Cruise
1933 Child of Manhattan 
1933 Cavalcade 
1932 The Kid from Spain 
1932 Over the Counter
1932 Hold 'Em Jail 
1932 The Age of Consent 
1932 Hollywood Lights
1932 The Flirty Sleepwalker 
1932 Probation 
1932 Hollywood Luck 
1932 Lady! Please!
1932 The Greeks Had a Word for Them 
1931 Once a Hero 
1931 Palmy Days
1931 Ex-Sweeties 
1931 Crashing Hollywood 
1931 Kiki 
1930 Whoopee! 
1930 New Movietone Follies of 1930 
1930 Let's Go Places 
1929 Happy Days