Betty Furness

Betty Furness

Born: January 3, 1916
Died: April 2, 1994
in New York City, New York, USA
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.

Movies for Betty Furness...

The Defender (Studio One)
Title: The Defender (Studio One)
Character: Self / Commercial Spokeswoman
Released: February 25, 1957
Type: Movie
The pilot for the television series, "The Defenders." The story of Walter and Kenneth Pearson, a father-and-son legal team. Broadcast as two segments of "Studio One," the story relates how the Pearsons defend a young man accused of killing a woman during a robbery attempt.
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The Arena
Title: The Arena
Released: April 9, 1956
Type: Movie
Arriving in Washington, a freshman senator gets an experienced advisor who warns him not to continue a heated feud with his state's senior salon, held over from his father. But later in a drunken jag, he blurts out secret evidence that can end the career of the older man.
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Title: Climax!
Character: Ann Kilgore
Released: October 7, 1954
Type: TV
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
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Title: Climax!
Character: Beth Jaynes
Released: October 7, 1954
Type: TV
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
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Twelve Angry Men
Title: Twelve Angry Men
Character: Herself / Commercial Spokeswoman
Released: September 20, 1954
Type: Movie
Twelve Angry Men is a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series. Initially staged as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title and again for a feature film, 12 Angry Men (1957). The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Franklin Schaffner and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.
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The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus
Title: The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus
Character: Self
Released: December 22, 1952
Type: Movie
The birth of Jesus and the serene Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem.
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The Kill
Title: The Kill
Character: Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
Released: September 22, 1952
Type: Movie
Jeff and his family just moved into a small, rural community. When two sinister locals tamper with Jeff's water pump, a fight breaks out among the three. Jeff is seen as a fugitive in the eyes of this bloodthirsty community...and there seems to be no way to stop them.
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Ellis in Freedomland
Title: Ellis in Freedomland
Character: Spokeswoman for Westinghouse
Released: June 15, 1952
Type: Movie
Westinghouse claims its electric appliances "freed women from the drudgery of housework." The first half involves a dream salesman at work; the second half is focused on the "Spring Sales Event," called "Freedomland."
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Pontius Pilate
Title: Pontius Pilate
Released: April 7, 1952
Type: Movie
The story, set 15 years after the Crucifixion, of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who is depicted as a victim of circumstances.
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Title: The Colgate Comedy Hour
Character: Maggie Watson
Released: September 10, 1950
Type: TV
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
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Title: Your Show of Shows
Character: Herself
Released: February 25, 1950
Type: TV
Your Show of Shows was a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC, from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, Judy Johnson, The Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series. The series was telecast from the now-demolished International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle and the Century Theater, now demolished, in New York. During 2002, Your Show of Shows was ranked #30 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Title: What's My Line?
Character: Self - Panelist
Released: February 2, 1950
Type: TV
Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
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The Rockingham Tea Set
Title: The Rockingham Tea Set
Character: Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
Released: January 23, 1950
Type: Movie
To keep her former fiancé from leaving her, a neurotic young woman (Louise Allbritton) fakes a riding accident, and feigns paralysis of her lower body. When her graceful nurse (Grace Kelly) discovers her treachery, she resorts to a final and desperate act of revenge.
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Title: Studio One
Character: Self - Commercial Spokeswoman
Released: November 7, 1948
Type: TV
An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
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Title: Studio One
Character: Coral, Princess Livitski
Released: November 7, 1948
Type: TV
An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
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Title: The Philco Television Playhouse
Released: October 3, 1948
Type: TV
The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.
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North of Shanghai
Title: North of Shanghai
Character: Helen Warner
Released: January 24, 1939
Type: Movie
In this newspaper drama, a female reporter and a newsreel cameraman are both assigned to cover the Sino-Japanese war. They meet on the boat ride over and decide to team up. They are further assisted by a Chinese cameraman. The three of them manage to expose of spy ring operating out of the Shanghai office of the woman's newspaper.
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It Can't Last Forever
Title: It Can't Last Forever
Character: Carol Wilson
Released: July 15, 1937
Type: Movie
Russ Matthews, a theatrical agent who is not above pulling off a hoax or two or more to further the career of his clients (and himself), and a newspaper gossip-columnist, Carol Wilson, get involved with gangsters when one of Larry's radio-program future-predicting cons gets out of hand.
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The Good Old Soak
Title: The Good Old Soak
Character: Lucy Hawley
Released: April 23, 1937
Type: Movie
A small town drunk beats a teetotal banker guilty of a shady transaction.
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Fair Warning
Title: Fair Warning
Character: Kate Farnham
Released: March 5, 1937
Type: Movie
In California's Death Valley a chemistry whiz-kid helps a sheriff track the man who murdered a wealthy mine owner who had been staying at a fancy winter resort.
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They Wanted to Marry
Title: They Wanted to Marry
Character: Sheila Hunter
Released: February 5, 1937
Type: Movie
Newspaper photographer Jim Tyler sneaks into a society girl's wedding, and the bride's sister decides she prefers him to her upper-crust suitors. She even likes his pigeon, who travels everywhere with him.
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Mama Steps Out
Title: Mama Steps Out
Character: Leila Cuppy
Released: February 5, 1937
Type: Movie
A Fort Wayne, Indiana housewife (Alice Brady) drags her husband (Guy Kibbee) and daughter (Betty Furness) to Europe for culture.
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Mister Cinderella
Title: Mister Cinderella
Character: Patricia 'Pat' Randolph
Released: October 22, 1936
Type: Movie
Boston blueblood Aloysius Merriweather loves to play jokes on people and he's come up with a joy-buzzer of a doozy. He'll send barber Joe Jenkins in his place to a dinner party aimed at squeezing a few Merriweather millions. That Cinderella plan soon turns into a pumpkin coach with the wheels fallen off. Circumstances will force shave-and-a-haircut Joe to masquerade as Merriweather for much longer.The comedy comes fast and frantic in Mister Cinderella, from Hal Roach Studios.
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All American Chump
Title: All American Chump
Character: Kitty Crane
Released: October 16, 1936
Type: Movie
A country bumpkin who's a mathematical genius falls into the hands of gangsters.
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The President's Mystery
Title: The President's Mystery
Character: Charlotte Brown
Released: September 28, 1936
Type: Movie
The screenplay for this mystery is based upon a story suggested to Liberty Magazine by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is the tale of a prominent lawyer who shocks his snooty friends, family and colleagues by abruptly abandoning his successful practice and his wife to find true happiness. He soon falls in love with another woman and continues to keep a low profile until he learns that his first wife stands accused of murdering him
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Swing Time
Title: Swing Time
Character: Margaret Watson
Released: August 27, 1936
Type: Movie
Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding again and has to make $25,000 so her father allows him to marry Margaret. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky Romero.
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Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
Title: Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
Released: August 5, 1936
Type: Movie
Winners of the Lucky Stars National Dance Contest - one woman from each state of the United States - are welcomed to Palm Springs. Palm Springs being the desert playground for the movie stars, the women are introduced to the cavalcade of stars vacationing in Palm Springs at the time.
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Magnificent Obsession
Title: Magnificent Obsession
Character: Joyce Hudson
Released: December 30, 1935
Type: Movie
A playboy tries to redeem himself after his careless behavior causes a great man's death.
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Here Comes Cookie
Title: Here Comes Cookie
Character: Phyllis Allen
Released: September 10, 1935
Type: Movie
A scatterbrained heiress opens her home to a succession of unemployed actors and vaudeville performers, then decides to produce her own show, much to the consternation of her father, her sister and her sister's boyfriend, who is actually after the young girl's money.
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The Keeper of the Bees
Title: The Keeper of the Bees
Character: Molly
Released: July 14, 1935
Type: Movie
A severely traumatized World War I veteran, believing that he's living on borrowed time, comes upon a peaceful little village and meets an old man called Bee Master and his protégé, Little Scout, who try to convince him that he has more to live for than he thinks he does.
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Calm Yourself
Title: Calm Yourself
Character: Mary Elizabeth Allenby
Released: June 28, 1935
Type: Movie
A recently-fired advertising executive starts his own company, Confidential Services, to help clients solve their unusual and problematic situations.
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McFadden´s Flats
Title: McFadden´s Flats
Character: Molly McFadden
Released: March 12, 1935
Type: Movie
Dan McFadden builds an apartment house in a working-class neighborhood on New York's East Side called "McFadden's Flats." At the same time, Dan and his wife Nora send their tomboyish daughter Molly to an expensive girls' school to teach her etiquette. Molly only agrees to go after her sweetheart, Sandy MacTavish, convinces her she should. When Dan is unable to complete the apartments because of a lack of money, Sandy's father Jock, a Scottish barber and Dan's best friend, secretly backs Dan's loan at the bank, even though Jock is known for his penny-pinching ways.
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Shadow of Doubt
Title: Shadow of Doubt
Character: Lisa
Released: February 15, 1935
Type: Movie
When a Hollywood producer is murdered, the most likely suspect is a man who is smitten with the victim's fiancee.
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The Bands Plays On
Title: The Bands Plays On
Character: Kitty O'Brien
Released: December 21, 1934
Type: Movie
A judge hands four wayward boys to a college football coach who turns them into backfield stars.
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A Wicked Woman
Title: A Wicked Woman
Character: Yancey Stroud, aka Yancey Trice
Released: December 7, 1934
Type: Movie
A woman and her children escape severe poverty and abuse. She successfully betters her family's condition while living with the secret that she killed her abusive husband in order to protect her children from him.
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Dangerous Corner
Title: Dangerous Corner
Character: Mrs. Betty Whitehouse
Released: December 4, 1934
Type: Movie
Friends uncover a dark secret when they compare notes about a theft and suicide.
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Gridiron Flash
Title: Gridiron Flash
Character: Jane Thurston
Released: October 6, 1934
Type: Movie
A college football team recruits a tough convict.
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The Life of Vergie Winters
Title: The Life of Vergie Winters
Character: Joan Shadwell
Released: June 14, 1934
Type: Movie
A small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another woman and his career ascends, but he secretly continues the relationship with his true love.
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Beggars in Ermine
Title: Beggars in Ermine
Character: Joyce Dawson
Released: February 21, 1934
Type: Movie
John Dawson loses control of his factory when he is crippled in an accident caused by a rival. Destitute, he travels the country organizing the homeless to help him regain control of his steel mill.
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Let's Fall in Love
Title: Let's Fall in Love
Character: Linda
Released: December 26, 1933
Type: Movie
A carnival girl pretends to be Swedish in order to win a movie role.
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Flying Down to Rio
Title: Flying Down to Rio
Character: Belinha's Friend (uncredited)
Released: December 22, 1933
Type: Movie
A dance band leader finds love and success in Brazil.
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Ace of Aces
Title: Ace of Aces
Character: Card Playing Party Guest (uncredited)
Released: October 20, 1933
Type: Movie
A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change.
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Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Title: Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Character: Evangeline
Released: October 18, 1933
Type: Movie
Tough Aggie gives a street guy polish and a rich kid gumption.
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Midshipman Jack
Title: Midshipman Jack
Character: Ruth Rogers
Released: September 22, 1933
Type: Movie
Director Christy Cabanne's 1933 film dramatizes one year in the lives of four midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.
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Headline Shooter
Title: Headline Shooter
Character: Miss Saunders
Released: July 28, 1933
Type: Movie
A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.
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Emergency Call
Title: Emergency Call
Character: Alice Averill
Released: June 24, 1933
Type: Movie
A surgeon and an ambulance driver fight racketeers who take over their hospital.
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Cross Fire
Title: Cross Fire
Character: Pat "Mike" Plummer
Released: May 28, 1933
Type: Movie
Tom and five older respected business men run the Sierra mine. When Tom leaves for Europe to fight in WW1, everything is OK. When he returns after the war he finds his former assistant not only in control of the mine but the whole town. His former partners have fled becoming outlaws and are now robbing the mine shipments of money they believe is really theirs.
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Scarlet River
Title: Scarlet River
Character: Babe Jewel
Released: March 10, 1933
Type: Movie
Unable to find open range near Hollywood, western actor Tom Baxter and his troop head to Judy Blake's ranch to shoot their film.
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The Great Jasper
Title: The Great Jasper
Character: Sylvia Bradfield
Released: March 3, 1933
Type: Movie
Generational saga about a failed streetcar conductor, who finds success as an Atlantic City fortune teller, and his son. Drama.
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Lucky Devils
Title: Lucky Devils
Character: Ginger
Released: February 3, 1933
Type: Movie
Two Hollywood stuntmen compete for the same pretty extra.
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Renegades of the West
Title: Renegades of the West
Character: Mary Fawcett
Released: November 25, 1932
Type: Movie
A cowboy goes undercover to catch the cattle thieves who killed his father.