Betsy Blair(1923-2009)
- Actress
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.
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.