Betty Hutton

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

History, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Education

5 • 724 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

Betty Hutton was "The Incendiary Blonde" of Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s. She was known for her high energy and her big singing voice. But her biggest roles, in "Annie Get Your Gun" and "The Greatest Show On Earth," also proved to be her undoing professionally. Her personal life, filled with trauma and rejection from her earliest days, deteriorated to drugs and poverty, until a Catholic priest came along and saved her life.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic History, brought to you by the support of listeners like you.
0:11.0	If you like this podcast and would like to support our work, please visit American Catholic History.org
0:17.5	slash support. I'm Noelle Heister Crowe. And I'm Tom Crow. Today we're talking about one of my
0:23.7	favorite actresses, Betty Hutton. I love Betty Hutton films. She is so fun and full of life.
0:30.7	No matter what part she played, she threw her whole self into it, bringing an energy and passion
0:36.2	that just pulls you in. Yeah. Hutton was a Hollywood
0:39.0	superstar in the 1940s and 50s, so right in your movie, classic movie Wheelhouse. Yeah. She was
0:45.1	known for her blonde hair and her huge energy. Yep. Bob Hope once referred to her as a vitamin
0:50.5	pill with legs. Her energy was infectious and her performances were completely from the heart.
0:56.3	Yeah, she's like a living embodiment of St. Augustine's line,
0:59.4	Lord, thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rest in thee.
1:04.2	In a lot of ways, yes, she was all heart, and she was perpetually looking for rest and peace.
1:09.8	But despite tremendous success, she didn't find these until much later in life.
1:14.5	Yeah, I mean, she was a Hollywood star, what everyone dreams of.
1:17.8	But in her private life, she didn't really know peace or love for so long.
1:23.1	And the beautiful story of how that intervention happened is entirely unexpected.
1:28.8	It includes her living as the cook and a rectory for five years.
1:33.1	Hollywood star to rectory cook.
1:35.1	No one sees that coming, but the Lord does work in mysterious ways.
1:38.2	Yes, yes, he does.
1:40.3	So let's begin Betty Hutton's story.
1:43.5	Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921.
	...

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