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Betty Grable was born on December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was her mother who pushed her to pursue an acting career by training her to sing, dance, play the saxophone and ukulele and as well make people laugh. Her father didn’t want her to be in show business, but since she wanted to be a star, Betty Grable moved to Los Angeles with her mother and sought for a movie career and enrolled at the Hollywood Professional School. Not long after, she was cast in the movie Happy Days in 1929. Betty Grable was only 13 at that time and she had to lie about her age in order to get roles in film.

Her first major role in the big screen was in 1932’s Hold ‘Em Jail. This was followed by several supporting roles until she became known to the public for her role in the film Pigskin Parade in 1936. Betty Grable finally scored on a top-billing project, Million Dollar Legs. During this time she wanted to break free from her over-manipulative mother, which led her to marrying co-star Jackie Coogan. The marriage lasted for only two years and ended in divorce.

After her marriage with Coogan, Betty Grable finally bagged a contract with 20th Century Fox and soon became their star of the decade. She starred in top-billing musicals including Down Argentine Way, Coney Island, Springtime in the Rockies, Pin up Girl, and her most popular movie, Mother Wore Tights. But Betty Grable became most famous for her iconic pin-up photo in which she posed in a one-piece bathing suit with her back on the camera. Because of this she became the champion of the GIs overseas during the World War II, and despite competition from other famous superstars such as Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner, Betty Grable stood undisputed and continued to hit the box-office until 1955. Her movies consisted mostly of singing and dancing, for she did quite a bad job in heavy dramatics.

Betty Grable was plagued with various disputes with studio executives, until she landed on less appealing roles and a few TV appearances which led her to semi-retirement. Around this time she was already on the rocks with her husband, bandleader Harry James, until they divorced in 1965. Betty Grable did a few successful performances including Hello, Dolly in 1967.

Betty Grable died of lung cancer in July 2, 1973. Her ever-famous pin up photo was later included in Life 100 Photos that Changed the World.