Betty Farrington (May 14, 1898 – February 3, 1989) was an American character actress active from the 1920s through 1960.
Career overview
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Betty Farrington played mostly supporting and minor roles during her career, although she occasionally was given a featured or leading part, appearing in almost 100 films during her career. Some of the more notable films she appeared in include:
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...
' ''
The Lady Eve
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Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''.
Early life
Hussey was born in Providence, Rhode I ...
;
Cecil B. Demille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
and
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career ...
; the epic ''
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah are Biblical
figures.
Samson and Delilah may also refer to:
In music
* ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns
* ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown
* "Samson and Delilah" (t ...
'' (1950), with
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...
and
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...
, and starring
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
The Band Wagon
''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. However, ...
'', starring
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
and
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.
After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...
. Her final big screen appearance was in 1956's '' The Fastest Gun Alive'', starring
Glenn Ford
Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...
. Farrington made guest appearances on several television shows in the late 1950s, including '' Sergeant Preston of the Yukon'' and ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
''. She died in San Diego three months before her 91st birthday.
Filmography
(Per
AFI
AFI may refer to:
* ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol
* Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer
* AFI (band), an American rock band
** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
database)
*''
The Fall of Eve
''The Fall of Eve'' is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Frank R. Strayer, which stars Patsy Ruth Miller, Ford Sterling, and Gertrude Astor. The screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman, from a story by Anita Loos and John Emerson, and t ...
Merry Wives of Reno
''Merry Wives of Reno'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell, Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, Hugh Herbert, Frank McHugh and Ruth Donnelly. The film was released by War ...
The Florentine Dagger
''The Florentine Dagger '' is a 1935 American film noir mystery film directed by Robert Florey.
The film numbers among the first Hollywood movies in which psychoanalysis is a significant factor in the story.Smith, Richard Harland"The Florentin ...
Under Pressure
"Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...
'' (1935)
*''
Grand Exit
''Grand Exit'' is a 1935 American detective mystery film with comedy elements, directed for Columbia Pictures by Erle C. Kenton, with screenplay by Bruce Manning and Lionel Houser, based on a story by Gene Towne and Graham Baker. The leads, in ...
Theodora Goes Wild
''Theodora Goes Wild'' is a 1936 American screwball comedy film that tells the story of the residents in a small town who are incensed by a risqué novel, unaware that the book was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading fami ...
'' (1936)
*''
That I May Live
''That I May Live'' is a 1937 American crime film directed by Allan Dwan, written by Ben Markson and William M. Conselman, and starring Rochelle Hudson, Robert Kent, J. Edward Bromberg, Jack La Rue, Frank Conroy and Fred Kelsey. It was releas ...
Missing Witnesses
''Missing Witnesses'' is a 1937 American crime film directed by William Clemens and written by Kenneth Gamet and Don Ryan. The film stars John Litel, Dick Purcell, Jean Dale, Sheila Bromley, Ben Welden and William Haade. The film was released ...
Hollywood Hotel
The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood, and landmark
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible fr ...
Let Us Live
''Let Us Live'' is a 1939 American crime film directed by John Brahm starring Maureen O'Sullivan, Henry Fonda and Ralph Bellamy.
The script of the film was adapted from the 1936 Harper's Magazine story "Murder in Massachusetts" by Joseph F. ...
Four Wives
''Four Wives'' is a 1939 American drama film starring the Lane Sisters ( Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane) and Gale Page. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and is based on the story "Sister Act" by Fannie Hurst. The supporting ...
The Great McGinty
''The Great McGinty'' is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and (in her final screen appearance) Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's fir ...
'' (1940)
*''
Money and the Woman
''Money and the Woman'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by William K. Howard and written by Robert Presnell Sr.. The film stars Jeffrey Lynn, Brenda Marshall, John Litel, Lee Patrick, Henry O'Neill and Roger Pryor. The film was release ...
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
''Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, and Laraine Day. It is the eighth of a total of nine Dr. Kildare pictures made by the MGM studios. When MGM decided ...
Life with Henry
''Life with Henry'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Theodore Reed and written by Clifford Goldsmith and Don Hartman. The film stars Jackie Cooper, Leila Ernst, Eddie Bracken, Fred Niblo, Hedda Hopper and Kay Stewart. The film was relea ...
''
*''
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
''Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case'' is a 1941 American crime film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and written by Sidney Sheldon and Ben Roberts. The film stars James Ellison, Virginia Gilmore, Franklin Pangborn, Paul Harvey, Lynne Carver ...
The Trial of Mary Dugan
''The Trial of Mary Dugan'' is a play written by Bayard Veiller.
The 1927 melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first pr ...
'' (1941)
*''
Whistling in the Dark
Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...
Stardust on the Sage
''Stardust on the Sage'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by William Morgan and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, William Henry, and Edith Fellows. Written by Betty Burbridge, based on a story by Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan, th ...
'' (1942)
*''
Take a Letter, Darling
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'' (1942)
*''
This Gun for Hire
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'' (1942)
*''
Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour
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Slightly Dangerous
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Henry Aldrich's Little Secret
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'' (1944)
*''
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
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Our Hearts Were Young and Gay
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And Now Tomorrow
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Duffy's Tavern
''Duffy's Tavern'' is an American radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks ( CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast.
The program often featured ...
'' (1945)
*''
George White's Scandals
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You Came Along
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Nocturne
A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.
History
The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
Hit Parade of 1947
''Hit Parade of 1947'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Mary Loos. The film stars Eddie Albert, Constance Moore, Joan Edwards, Gil Lamb, Bill Goodwin and William Frawley. The film was released on March 2 ...
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah are Biblical
figures.
Samson and Delilah may also refer to:
In music
* ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns
* ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown
* "Samson and Delilah" (t ...
'' (1950)
*''
Dial 1119
''Dial 1119'' is a 1950 film noir directed by Gerald Mayer, nephew of Louis B. Mayer. The film stars Marshall Thompson as a deranged escaped killer holding the customers of a bar hostage. The telephone number "1119" is the police emergency number ...
The Girl in White
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Plot
Her pregnan ...
The Band Wagon
''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. However, ...
The Student Prince
''The Student Prince'' is an operetta in four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play '' Old Heidelberg''. The piece has a score with some of Romberg's most enduri ...
A stage actress named Betty Farrington was active during the late 19th and early 20th century and is described in a September 1914 '' Reading Eagle'' article as having "planned to retire this winter and spend the season at her home in Washington", but will instead appear "at the Grand Theatre Reading.html" ;"title="Reading,_Pennsylvania.html" ;"title="n Reading, Pennsylvania">Reading">Reading,_Pennsylvania.html" ;"title="n Reading, Pennsylvania">Readingon Monday evening, Sept. 14, in the leading role of the great American comedy drama, 'The Girl from Out Yonder'". The article subsequently states that, "she was the leading woman for the Orpheum Players during the latter part of the season of 1913–1914. Born in Middletown, Miss Farrington is distinctly a Pennsylvania girl". A later paragraph begins with the words, "[H]er relatives and friends in Reading have always followed her work closely…""A New Leading Woman" (''The Reading Eagle'', September 6, 1914, page 11) /ref>
There is no indication that the two Betty Farringtons were related, although the write-up in the
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
for the film actress, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, who was 16 years old in 1914, states that " e had formerly been with various stock companies and was a leading performer on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in the 1910s".