Born 1916 in New York City, American actress Betty Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of Alice in Wonderland. She also posed for commercial advertising.
Furness 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, Furness 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.
Furness has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for her contribution to motion pictures at 1533 Vine Street and for her contribution to television at 6675 Hollywood Blvd. She died from stomach cancer in 1994, at age 78 in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Take a look at these vintage photos to see the beauty of young Betty Furness in the 1930s and early 1940s.
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