More Birthday bloggin'

Today is Betty Hutton's birthday. Here's what I posted last year on this blog about the occasion:

The late George Eells, a close friend, was entertainment editor of Look Magazine back in the 50s. It's a great source of regret that I didn't carry a tape recorder around with me when we were together. He had great stories. I never ceased encouraging George to write his memoirs, but he kept begging off. I think I was still after him to do this even when he was practically on his deathbed in 1992. One story I recall concerned Betty Hutton, who turns 84 today [in 2005].

In the early 1950s, George had finished editing an advance Look feature on Hutton's appearance at NY's Palace Theater. The day following the opening, the reviews were so strong that a last minute cover shoot was arranged. Hutton was the toast of the town. But when George arrived at the appointed location of the photo session, the day following Betty's smash opening, the star was being taken away in an ambulance. Her publicist explained that his client felt that she'd given such a bad performance opening night that she'd suffered a breakdown and had to be temporarily hospitalized. THIS, after perhaps the best notices of her career. I couldn't help but recall Mort Sahl’s remark that Show Business is the only animal that eats its young. MORE