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IMDbPro

Betsy Blair(1923-2009)

  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Betsy Blair
This movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
Play trailer3:34
All Night Long (1962)
2 Videos
23 Photos
Betsy Blair was born in Cliffside, New Jersey, a child model before finding work as a chorus dancer at the early age of 15. She received her first mini-break on Broadway in "Panama Hattie" in 1940 delivering a single line, but by the next year she had copped the ingénue lead in William Saroyan's "The Beautiful People." At around the same time, she met dancer extraordinaire Gene Kelly and married him in 1940. Despite her background in dance, Betsy was admittedly not in the same league as a Vera-Ellen, Cyd Charisse, or Ann Miller, so she was never afforded the opportunity to glide with Gene in films. Moreover, she never even appeared in a musical film.

She made her large screen debut in 1947 and, for the next couple of years, appeared in a number of above-average dramas such as The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947), A Double Life (1947) starring Ronald Colman, The Snake Pit (1948), wherein she played a demented inmate alongside Olivia de Havilland, and a shining role in Another Part of the Forest (1948). After such promise, things came to a halt. Betsy had been involved in SAG politics as early as 1946 proposing the formation of the first Anti-Discrimination committee. Within a year the House Un-American Activities Committe began to investigate Betsy and others in the motion picture industry and what they considered left-wing extremist viewpoints. Her name appeared in the "Red Channels" and that was that. Her career was undone. By the early 1950s, all film offers had dried up. The only reason Betsy won the female lead in the 1955 cinematic classic Marty (1955) was because her husband threatened to stop shooting at MGM if they didn't let her work despite the blacklist. It would be the role of a lifetime for Betsy. As the touching plain-Jane girlfriend of Ernest Borgnine's title butcher, Betsy won the Cannes Film and British Film acting awards, not to mention an Oscar nomination. It did not help her overcome the blacklist, however.

By 1957, she was divorced from Kelly and had moved to Europe to avoid the Hollywood shun. Shortly thereafter, she lived with French actor Roger Pigaut. In 1963, she married producer/director Karel Reisz. They would remain together for almost 40 years until his death in London of a blood disorder in 2002. Betsy later published her memoirs and discussed quite candidly her life on Broadway, life with Gene Kelly, and life amid the blacklisting. She continued to live in England before passing away from cancer on 13th March, 2009. She was 85 years old.
BornDecember 11, 1923
DiedMarch 13, 2009(85)
BornDecember 11, 1923
DiedMarch 13, 2009(85)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar

Photos23

Richard Benedict, Betsy Blair, and Rosalind Russell in The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)
Richard Benedict and Betsy Blair in The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)
Betsy Blair and Rosalind Russell in The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)
Betsy Blair
Betsy Blair and José Suárez in Main Street (1956)
Betsy Blair and José Suárez in Main Street (1956)
Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)
Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)
Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)
Betsy Blair
Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)
Betsy Blair

Known for

Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)
Marty
7.7
  • Clara Snyder
  • 1955
Main Street (1956)
Main Street
7.8
  • Isabel
  • 1956
Careless (1962)
Careless
7.1
  • Amalia Brentani
  • 1962
Ethel Barrymore, Angela Lansbury, Maurice Evans, and Keenan Wynn in Kind Lady (1951)
Kind Lady
7.1
  • Ada Elcott
  • 1951

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Scarlett (1994)
    Scarlett
  • Mel Harris, Peter Horton, Timothy Busfield, Polly Draper, Melanie Mayron, Ken Olin, and Patricia Wettig in Thirtysomething (1987)
    Thirtysomething
  • Robert Young in Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair (1988)
    Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair
  • Betrayed (1988)
    Betrayed
  • American Playhouse
    American Playhouse
  • Sophie Marceau and Claude Brasseur in Descent Into Hell (1986)
    Descent Into Hell
  • Maggie
  • Flight of the Spruce Goose (1986)
    Flight of the Spruce Goose
  • Month of the Doctors
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
    Tales of the Unexpected
  • BBC Play of the Month (1965)
    BBC Play of the Month
  • Experts of Evil
  • 2nd House (1973)
    2nd House
  • Shades of Greene (1975)
    Shades of Greene
  • Daft As a Brush

Videos2

Trailer
Trailer 3:34
Trailer
MARTY (Eureka Classics) New & Exclusive HD Trailer
Trailer 1:21
MARTY (Eureka Classics) New & Exclusive HD Trailer

Personal details

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    • British Entertainment History Project interview
    • December 11, 1923
    • Cliffside Park, New Jersey, USA
    • March 13, 2009
    • London, England, UK(cancer)
    • Karel ReiszSeptember 3, 1963 - November 25, 2002 (his death)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Blacklisted because of her left-wing sympathies, although she never actually joined the Communist Party. She wanted to join, but the Party decided that she was more useful as the wife of "liberal, progressive" Gene Kelly. Nonetheless, she was blacklisted despite an Academy Award nomination for Marty (1955). She later transplanted herself to England for a long period. Played Polly Draper's character's mother on Thirtysomething (1987) originally, but Lois Smith took over the role later for reasons unknown.
  • Quotes
    "It's ridiculous that there is such a thing as prejudice. People are frightened of something different." - regarding her blacklisting.

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