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IMDbPro

Betsy Palmer(1926-2015)

  • Actress
  • Additional Crew
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Betsy Palmer in The Tin Star (1957)
BELL WITCH: The Movie, a family-friendly movie that scares up thrills.

Shot and mastered in High Definition, stars Betsy Palmer (Friday the 13th) as the voice of the Bell Witch.

Closely following the historically documented legend of The Bell Witch
Play trailer2:00
Bell Witch: The Movie (2007)
10 Videos
30 Photos
Betsy Palmer was probably best known for playing Jason Voorhees' mother in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), but her career as an actress began many years before.

Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek in East Chicago, Indiana, to Marie (née Love), who launched the Chicago Business College, and Rudolph Vincent Hrunek, a Czech-born industrial chemist. Palmer played a young female officer opposite Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955), and appeared in another war film the same year, The Long Gray Line (1955). Throughout the late 1950s, Palmer was recognized as a news reporter on Today (1952) on NBC, then became largely involved in television. She remained in made-for-TV films and notable guest appearances, before playing the murderous avenging mother, Mrs. Voorhees, in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980). She also continued working in television, and appearing in low-budget films like The Fear: Resurrection (1999). Palmer spent her later years between her home in New York City and Sedona, Arizona.

Betsy Palmer died of natural causes on a Friday, May 29, 2015, at a hospice care center in Danbury, Connecticut.
BornNovember 1, 1926
DiedMay 29, 2015(88)
BornNovember 1, 1926
DiedMay 29, 2015(88)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos30

Sean S. Cunningham, Adrienne King, and Betsy Palmer in The Movies That Made Us (2019)
Lucy Marlow and Betsy Palmer in Queen Bee (1955)
Joan Crawford, Lucy Marlow, and Betsy Palmer in Queen Bee (1955)
Joan Crawford and Betsy Palmer in Queen Bee (1955)
Betsy Palmer in Queen Bee (1955)
Florence Henderson, Frank Blair, Tom Brokaw, John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Joe Garagiola, Dave Garroway, Bryant Gumbel, Jim Hartz, Jack Lescoulie, Edwin Newman, Helen O'Connell, Betsy Palmer, Estelle Parsons, Jane Pauley, Gene Shalit, Barbara Walters, and Pat Weaver in Today (1952)
Jack Lemmon, Mimi Doyle, Maura Murphy, Jeanne Murray, Kathleen O'Malley, Betsy Palmer, and Lonnie Pierce in Mister Roberts (1955)
Betsy Palmer in Mister Roberts (1955)
Betsy Palmer in Friday the 13th (1980)
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer

Known for

Kevin Bacon, Adrienne King, Ari Lehman, Robbi Morgan, Betsy Palmer, and Jeannine Taylor in Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th
6.4
  • Mrs. Voorhees
  • 1980
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th Part 2
6.1
  • Mrs. Voorhees
  • 1981
Penny Dreadful (2005)
Penny Dreadful
5.8
  • Trudie Tredwell
  • 2005
James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell in Mister Roberts (1955)
Mister Roberts
7.6
  • Lieutenant Ann Girard
  • 1955

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Bell Witch: The Movie (2007)
    Bell Witch: The Movie
  • Waltzing Anna (2006)
    Waltzing Anna
  • Penny Dreadful (2005)
    Penny Dreadful
  • FreakyLinks (2000)
    FreakyLinks
  • Hang Time (1995)
    Hang Time
  • The Fear: Resurrection (1999)
    The Fear: Resurrection
  • Laura San Giacomo, George Segal, Wendie Malick, David Spade, and Enrico Colantoni in Just Shoot Me! (1997)
    Just Shoot Me!
  • Unveiled (1994)
    Unveiled
  • Still Not Quite Human (1992)
    Still Not Quite Human
  • Deep Dish TV (1992)
    Deep Dish TV
  • Columbo (1971)
    Columbo
  • Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)
    Knots Landing
  • Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)
    Murder, She Wrote
  • Goddess of Love (1988)
    Goddess of Love
  • Joe Alaskey, Maureen Flannigan, Doug McClure, and Donna Pescow in Out of This World (1987)
    Out of This World

Additional Crew

  • Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
    Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th

Soundtrack

  • I've Got a Secret (1952)
    I've Got a Secret
    • ...

Videos11

IMDbrief: Who Owns Jason? LeBron James Eyes 'Friday the 13th' Reboot
Clip 2:55
IMDbrief: Who Owns Jason? LeBron James Eyes 'Friday the 13th' Reboot
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:06
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:31
Trailer
Friday the 13th Part 2
Trailer 1:02
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part 2
Trailer 1:02
Friday the 13th Part 2
The Tin Star
Trailer 2:10
The Tin Star
Queen Bee
Trailer 2:44
Queen Bee
Bell Witch: The Movie
Trailer 2:00
Bell Witch: The Movie
Penny Dreadful
Trailer 3:46
Penny Dreadful
Bell Witch: The Movie
Featurette 28:00
Bell Witch: The Movie
In Memoriam: 2015
Video 2:42
In Memoriam: 2015

Personal details

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    • November 1, 1926
    • East Chicago, Indiana, USA
    • May 29, 2015
    • Danbury, Connecticut, USA(natural causes)
    • May 8, 1954 - September 18, 1971 (divorced, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Co-hosted, with Todd Russell, the original CBS-TV weekly game show Wheel of Fortune (1952).
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Lived with James Dean for eight months.
  • Quotes
    [Getting the role of Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980)] My agent called and said "How'd you like to do a movie?" Great! I had not done a movie in years, California? No, it's going to be shot in New Jersey, and it's ten days work, [I'll] make $1,000 a day. But there's a catch: It's a horror film. I said "Oh no! It's bad enough I'm known as a game show player on I've Got a Secret (1952). I said "Send me the script." He sent it to me, I read it, and I said "What a piece of shit!" No one's ever going to see this thing! It will come, it will go, that's the end of it. I called him, and said "I'll do it." And that's my part of story.
    • Natural blonde hair
    • Friday the 13th
      (1980)
      $10,000 ($1,000/day)

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