Betty Furness
German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 199 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Betty Furness (1916-1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator.
Elizabeth Mary Furness was born in 1916 in Manhattan, New York City. She was the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness and his wife Florence. She attended the Brearley School and Bennett Junior College. Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of 'Alice in Wonderland'. She was a teenage model with the John Robert Powers agency. Noticed by a talent scout, she was signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios. Betty made her film debut with a bit part in Thirteen Women (George Archainbaud, 1932), starring Irene Dunne. However, her scenes were deleted before the film's release. In the following years, Furness appeared in mostly secondary roles in more than 35 films. Among her best-known films are Magnificent Obsession (John M. Stahl, 1935) with Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor, Swing Time (George Stevens, 1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Good Old Soak (J. Walter Ruben, 1937) starring Wallace Beery. At the end of the 1930s, her film career halted and she appeared on stage. She acted in Adelaide Heilbron's play, 'Something Gay', at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. At the end of the 1949s, she started to appear in TV shows.
In the USA, Betty Furness is best remembered as the highly paid television spokesperson for Westinghouse Electric Corporation. 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. Wikipedia: "Furness proved a successful spokeswoman because of her good looks and attractive, but neat and modest clothing, which she changed three times a day. She also proved strongly independent-minded about her appearance and image, refusing to adopt a stage name or wear an apron after Westinghouse offered these suggestions. She did, however, agree to wear a wedding ring on camera to appear more like a housewife. Furness also purchased all of her clothing herself, not wanting Westinghouse to decide her appearance for her. During the political party conventions in the 1952 presidential election, which was heavily sponsored by Westinghouse, Furness wore 28 different outfits, enough to become the subject of a Life Magazine story." In this function, she starred in the feature-length promotion film Ellis in Freedomland (Abby Berlin, 1952). Furness's contract with Westinghouse eventually resulted in her receiving an annual salary of $100,000 and her advertisements caused sales of the company's appliances to soar. In 1953, she appeared in her own daytime television series Meet Betty Furness, which was sponsored by Westinghouse. In 1959, a new Westinghouse president decided to drop Furness, possibly because he wished to impart his own ideas on the company, and suggested getting a new, slightly younger spokeswoman.
Betty Furness later was New York City's Director of Consumer Affairs for many years and appeared as the consumer affairs expert on NBC's Today for 16 years. In 1990, Furness was treated for stomach cancer and cut down her schedule on The Today Show to four days. NBC used this as an excuse to fire her two years later, along with a network decision to change their consumer reporting to a more tabloid-style format. Furness was not happy with her termination and cited it as an example of age discrimination. She expressed her desire to continue working, but a recurrence of stomach cancer prevented her from doing so. Betty Furness died at age 78 of stomach cancer in 1994 in New York City. She was married four times with three men. Her husbands were composer-conductorJohnny Green (1937-1943; divorced), radio announcer Bud Ernest (1945-1946 and 1946-1950; his death), and Leslie Midgley (1967-1994; her death). She had a child with Green. Her granddaughter is Liza Snyder, from the Television series Yes, Dear and Man with a Plan.
Sources: Ray Hamel (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Betty Furness
German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 199 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Betty Furness (1916-1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator.
Elizabeth Mary Furness was born in 1916 in Manhattan, New York City. She was the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness and his wife Florence. She attended the Brearley School and Bennett Junior College. Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of 'Alice in Wonderland'. She was a teenage model with the John Robert Powers agency. Noticed by a talent scout, she was signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios. Betty made her film debut with a bit part in Thirteen Women (George Archainbaud, 1932), starring Irene Dunne. However, her scenes were deleted before the film's release. In the following years, Furness appeared in mostly secondary roles in more than 35 films. Among her best-known films are Magnificent Obsession (John M. Stahl, 1935) with Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor, Swing Time (George Stevens, 1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Good Old Soak (J. Walter Ruben, 1937) starring Wallace Beery. At the end of the 1930s, her film career halted and she appeared on stage. She acted in Adelaide Heilbron's play, 'Something Gay', at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. At the end of the 1949s, she started to appear in TV shows.
In the USA, Betty Furness is best remembered as the highly paid television spokesperson for Westinghouse Electric Corporation. 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. Wikipedia: "Furness proved a successful spokeswoman because of her good looks and attractive, but neat and modest clothing, which she changed three times a day. She also proved strongly independent-minded about her appearance and image, refusing to adopt a stage name or wear an apron after Westinghouse offered these suggestions. She did, however, agree to wear a wedding ring on camera to appear more like a housewife. Furness also purchased all of her clothing herself, not wanting Westinghouse to decide her appearance for her. During the political party conventions in the 1952 presidential election, which was heavily sponsored by Westinghouse, Furness wore 28 different outfits, enough to become the subject of a Life Magazine story." In this function, she starred in the feature-length promotion film Ellis in Freedomland (Abby Berlin, 1952). Furness's contract with Westinghouse eventually resulted in her receiving an annual salary of $100,000 and her advertisements caused sales of the company's appliances to soar. In 1953, she appeared in her own daytime television series Meet Betty Furness, which was sponsored by Westinghouse. In 1959, a new Westinghouse president decided to drop Furness, possibly because he wished to impart his own ideas on the company, and suggested getting a new, slightly younger spokeswoman.
Betty Furness later was New York City's Director of Consumer Affairs for many years and appeared as the consumer affairs expert on NBC's Today for 16 years. In 1990, Furness was treated for stomach cancer and cut down her schedule on The Today Show to four days. NBC used this as an excuse to fire her two years later, along with a network decision to change their consumer reporting to a more tabloid-style format. Furness was not happy with her termination and cited it as an example of age discrimination. She expressed her desire to continue working, but a recurrence of stomach cancer prevented her from doing so. Betty Furness died at age 78 of stomach cancer in 1994 in New York City. She was married four times with three men. Her husbands were composer-conductorJohnny Green (1937-1943; divorced), radio announcer Bud Ernest (1945-1946 and 1946-1950; his death), and Leslie Midgley (1967-1994; her death). She had a child with Green. Her granddaughter is Liza Snyder, from the Television series Yes, Dear and Man with a Plan.
Sources: Ray Hamel (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.