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Revision as of 07:09, 30 April 2008
Betsy Palmer | |
|---|---|
| File:Mrsvor.PNG Palmer as Mrs. Pamela Voorhees | |
| Born | Patricia Betsy Hrunek |
Betsy Palmer (born November 1 1926) is an American actress. Probably best known for playing the part of madman Jason Voorhees's mother Pamela in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), she has appeared in numerous movies, TV programs and game shows.
Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek in East Chicago, Indiana, the daughter of Marie (née Love), who headed the Chicago Business College, and Vincent R. Hrunek, an industrial chemist who was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia.[1][2][3] She graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.
Palmer got her first acting job in 1951 when she joined the cast of a 15 minute long, daily soap opera, Miss Susan, which was produced in Philadelphia. She was "discovered" for this role while enjoying a party in the apartment of actor Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.). She had been in New York City less than one week.
She would later become a familiar face on television as a regular panelist on the quiz show I've Got a Secret (from 1957 to 1967).
Palmer also played nurse Lt. Ann Girard (the most prominent female character) in the all-star cast of the film Mister Roberts (1955) starring Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon and James Cagney, which became an Oscar nominee for Best Picture and won one for Lemmon.
She was the character Carol Lee Phillips in the film Queen Bee (1956) starring the legendary actress Joan Crawford. She starred alongside Fonda again as well as Anthony Perkins in the Paramount production of The Tin Star (1957), a Western that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story or Screenplay.
Ironically, if it hadn't been for the fact that she needed a new car, Palmer would not have taken her most famous role in Friday the 13th. She recounted, in an interview, that her initial reaction to the experience was: "What a piece of junk! Nobody is ever going to see this piece of crap".[4] She came to embrace her participation in the film, appearing in the 2006 documentary Betsy Palmer: A Scream Queen Legend. Palmer was asked to reprise her role as Mrs. Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason movie in 2003 but turned it down due to low offered salary.
From 1989 to 1990, the actress appeared on the CBS prime time soap opera Knots Landing as "Aunt Ginny Bullock," the aunt of Valene Ewing (played by series star Joan Van Ark).
She acted in a Mayfield Dinner Theatre production of "On Golden Pond" in 1997 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, playing the role of Ethel Thayer. Now in her 80s, Palmer continues to act. In 2005, she provided the voice of the title character, the ghost of a witch, in Bell Witch: The Movie. In 2006, she appeared in the independent horror film Penny Dreadful and in 2007 as the older version of the title character in Waltzing Anna.
TV Appearances
From 1953 to 2001, Betsy Palmer was a guest star on 73 television programs, including (in no particular order):
- Bell Witch: The Movie
- Marty (the TV Adaptation)
- Just Shoot Me!
- Murder, She Wrote
- Columbo (Death Hits the Jackpot - 1991)
- Newhart
- Charles in Charge
- The Love Boat
- Hallmark Hall of Fame
- The Mike Douglas Show
- The Joey Bishop Show
- Toast of the Town
- Password
- Kraft Television Theatre
- Philco Television Playhouse
- Lux Video Theatre
- Studio One
References
- ^ Shanley, J.P. (1956-07-08). "REALISTIC ACTRESS; Betsy Palmer Discusses Her Work on TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The name is Betsy Palmer". The Lima News. 1960-05-03.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Betsy Palmer Biography (1929-)
- ^ http://www.iconsoffright.com/iv_betsy.htm] (Other sources have claimed she said "shit" instead of "junk".
External links
For the first time, Betsy Palmer does a one-on-one sit down interview - just her and the camera. During this hour long conversation, she talks about her roles on Broadway and on television, starring in motion pictures like Mr. Roberts with Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon, Queen Bee with Joan Crawford, Friday the 13th and her latest motion picture Bell Witch: The Movie. She also candidly discusses life and her past during this once in a lifetime interview.
- Betsy Palmer Myspace Page Email Betsy, and watch some of her videos.
- Interview with Betsy Palmer on the podcast The Future And You (recorded Sept 4, 2005) (Assorted anecdotes about her career and the story of how she got her first acting job.)