AKA: Betty June Thornburg, Betty Jane Boyar, Betty Darling
Nationality: American
Birthdate: 02/26/1921
Birthplace: Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
Death Date: 03/11/2007
biography
Rambunctious blonde band vocalist (billed as "America's Number One Jitterbug" in the late 1930s) who signed with Paramount in 1941 and went on to become one of the most popular musical comedy box-office stars of the 1940s. Often paired with bumbling comedian Eddie Bracken, the irrepressible, almost manically energetic, Hutton starred in a slew of successful but largely mediocre musicals shaped by her mentor songwriter B.G. 'Buddy' DeSylva, as well as biopics of speakeasy owner Texas Guinan ("Incendiary Blonde" 1945), silent film heroine Pearl White ("The Perils of Pauline" 1947) and singer
Mother moved with daughters to Detroit where she worked in an automobile factory and operated a speakeasy after husband's desertion (date approximate)
Began career dancing on tabletops with her sister at her mother's bootleg bar in Lansing, Michigan at age three
Got first professional job as a singer at a Michigan summer resort at age 13; worked with a local band composed of high school students
Made brief, unsuccessful trip to New York to break into show business at age 15
1937
Discovered by bandleader Vincent Lopez, singing at a Detroit nightclub; hired as vocalist with Lopez's band at $65 at week; used name of Betty Darling on tour (had previously been billed as Betty Jane Boyar)
