Friday, December 22, 1933

Rode to school on the pass. Had play at school. Went swimming. I got out at 2 o'clock today. Stayed at Mrs. Raifert's.

Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973)

AKA "the girl with the million dollar legs" (they were insured with Lloyd's of London);
 "the quick-silver blonde," "the queen of the Hollywood musical," and "the darling of the forties."

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Betty Grable appeared as a chorus girl in her first film, Happy Days
(1929). She was only twelve years old, underage for acting, but, because the chorus line performed
 in blackface, it was difficult to tell how old she was. Her mother soon gave her a make-over
which included dyeing her hair platinum blonde.

Grable got a role as a "Goldwyn Girl" in "Whoopee!" starring Eddie Cantor. She then worked
worked her way up from small to starring roles, first for Paramount Pictures and later with
20th Century Fox. By 1943, she was named one of the "top ten movie-stars." Also in 1943,
her famous pin-up picture was taken. That resulted in Grable being cast in Pin-UP Girl (1944)
The film received poor reviews, but was a box-office hit..

Betty Grable died of lung cancer. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as
the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 2009 she was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians.