Betsy Palmer

Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, known as a regular supporting movie and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Jason Voorhees' mother, Pamela Voorhees, in the popular slasher film Friday the 13th (1980).

Betsy Palmer
Palmer in 1960
Born
Patricia Betsy Hrunek

(1926-11-01)November 1, 1926
East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
DiedMay 29, 2015(2015-05-29) (aged 88)
Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.
EducationEast Chicago Business College
Art Institute of Chicago
OccupationActress
Years active1951–2007
Notable work
Friday the 13th
TelevisionI've Got a Secret,
anthology series,
game shows
Spouse(s)
Vincent J. Merendino
​
(
m. 1954; div. 1971)
ChildrenMelissa b. 1962[1]
Parent(s)
  • Vincent Rudolph Hrunek
  • Marie Love
RelativesJack (brother)[2]

Early life

Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek on November 1, 1926,[3] in East Chicago, Indiana, the daughter[4][5] of Marie (née Love), an adoptee, who launched the East Chicago Business College before she married,[6][7][8][1][9] and Vincent Rudolph Hrunek (1894-1969),[10][11] an industrial chemist who immigrated from Czechoslovakia, and became a stay-at-home father.[12][13][14] They moved to Hessville and she attended Warren G Harding Elementary School in Hammond.[15] She performed in school plays all through childhood, graduated from East Chicago's Roosevelt High School in 1944, then attended East Chicago Business College.[9] After graduation, she worked as a stenographer and secretary for the car foreman on the RIP track of the B&O Railroad. She hated it, she said, because she was shut off from people.[16] Some time after Palmer took an aptitude test at the Chicago YWCA, which indicated a flair for the arts, her father brought a coworker home for dinner, a former New York actor who recommended she study with David Itkin. Working days and commuting to night classes from East Chicago, she graduated from the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University).[15][17][18][19]

Acting career
Palmer in 1958

Palmer began working, in summer stock, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, then winter stock at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois, with Paul Newman, and then summer stock, in Chicago with Imogene Coca. Having saved $400, she told her parents she was changing her name to Betsy Palmer and moving to New York City with Sasha Igler, who had a job in advertising.

Palmer got her first television acting job in 1951, when she joined the cast of the 15-minute weekday television soap opera Miss Susan, which was produced in Philadelphia, and all actors traveled each day from New York City by train.[20][9] She was "discovered" for this role, by Norman Lessing, while attending a party in the apartment of actor Frank Sutton, who was married to Toby Igler, the sister of Palmer's roommate, Sasha Igler. She had been in Manhattan less than one week.

A life member of the Actors Studio,[21] Palmer's stage work included a tour of South Pacific (as Nellie Forbush) and a summer-stock season in the title role in Maggie, the 1953 musical adaptation of What Every Woman Knows by William Roy and Hugh Thomas.

In 1953, she created the role of Virginia in the original teleplay version of Paddy Chayefsky's Marty. Also in 1953, she appeared in a Studio One television broadcast of Hound-Dog Man with Jackie Cooper and others.[22] She became a familiar face on television as a news reporter on Today in 1958 (the Today Girl), and a long-running regular panelist on the quiz show I've Got a Secret. She joined the show's original run, replacing Faye Emerson in 1958 and remaining until the show's finale in 1967. She did not reprise her role in any of the various revivals of the show. Palmer was the last surviving member of the I've Got a Secret first version's cast.

Palmer appeared as Kitty Carter in The Long Gray Line (1955), starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. She also played nurse Lt. Ann Girard (the main female character) in Mister Roberts (1955), starring beside Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, James Cagney, and William Powell. In the same year, she played Carol Lee Phillips in Queen Bee, which starred Joan Crawford.[20]

Palmer starred alongside Anthony Perkins and Fonda again in the Paramount production of The Tin Star (1957).[23]

In 1958, she played undercover agent Phyllis Carter/Lynn Stuart in the film The True Story of Lynn Stuart, co-starring Jack Lord and featuring Kim Spalding as her husband, Ralph Carter.

Palmer appeared in seven Broadway shows. All the original productions had short runs, but she replaced other actresses in long-run shows, notably Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower in 1967, and Ellen Burstyn in Same Time Next Year in 1977. In 1976, Palmer was the actress whom Tennessee Williams chose to embody the frustrated lead, Alma Winemiller, in his The Eccentricities of a Nightingale.[24]

Palmer's Mercedes-Benz stopped working on the highway to her home in Connecticut after a performance in New York City, arriving home at five o'clock in the morning, so she resolved to replace her car, and later, her daughter suggested that the Volkswagen Scirocco was a cute car and it was $10,000. The offer of $1000 a day for 10 days work on location at a Boy Scout camp in New Jersey, to fund the car purchase, was a reason for taking her most famous recent role, Friday the 13th. She recounted, in an interview, that her initial reaction to the experience was: "What a piece of shit! Nobody is ever going to see this thing."[25] Despite her distaste for the film, she reluctantly consented to a cameo appearance in Friday the 13th Part 2. She ultimately came to accept and celebrate her participation in the franchise, as it made her more famous rather than infamous. Palmer was asked to reprise her role as Mrs. Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason in 2003 and agreed to return, but ultimately turned down the role after being offered a surprisingly low salary.[26]

In 1982, Palmer created the role of Suzanne Becker on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns. From 1989 to 1990, the actress appeared on Knots Landing as Virginia "Ginny" Bullock, the aunt of Valene Ewing (played by series star Joan Van Ark). Palmer acted in a Mayfield Dinner Theatre production of On Golden Pond in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1997.

In 2002, Palmer provided the voice of the title character, the ghost of a witch, for the horror film Bell Witch: The Movie, released in 2007.

In 2005, at around 79 years old, she appeared as Trudie Tredwell in the horror short Penny Dreadful,[27] and in 2007, at 81, as the older version of the title character in Waltzing Anna.[28]

Palmer appeared in the 2006 documentary, Betsy Palmer: Scream Queen Legend,[15] as part of the publicity for the 2007 release of Bell Witch: The Movie.[29][30]

Personal life

Palmer dated James Dean;[20] the two met while working on an episode of Studio One television series.

Family

Palmer married Vincent J. Merendino, an obstetrician-gynecologist, in 1954, whom she met in New York on a blind date.[31] They divorced in 1971, after 17 years and had one daughter, Melissa, born in 1962.

Death

Palmer died on May 29, 2015, at a hospice care center in Danbury, Connecticut.[32] She was 88.

Filmography
Betsy Palmer and Jackie Gleason in The Time of Your Life (1958)
Palmer on I've Got a Secret with host Garry Moore and three of Bing Crosby's sons (1961)
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1955Death TideGloria
The Long Gray LineKitty Carter
Mister RobertsLt. Ann Girard
Queen BeeCarol Lee Phillips
1957The Tin StarNona Mayfield
1958The True Story of Lynn StuartPhyllis Carter / Lynn Stuart
The Time of Your LifeKitty Duval
1959It Happened to JaneHerself (panelist)
The Ballad of Louie the LouseTina AdamsTV movie
The Last Angry ManAnna Thrasher
1968A Punt, a Pass, and a PrayerNancyTV movie
1980Friday the 13thPamela Voorhees
1981Friday the 13th Part 2
Isabel's ChoiceEllie FinemanTV Movie
1988Windmills of the GodsMrs. Hart BrisbaneTV movie
Goddess of LoveHeraTV movie
1992Still Not Quite HumanAunt MildredTV movie
1994UnveiledEva
1999The Fear: ResurrectionGrandmother
2005Penny DreadfulTrudie Tredwell
2006Waltzing AnnaAnna Rhoades(final film performance)
2006Betsy Palmer: Scream Queen LegendSelfdocumentary
2007Bell Witch: The MovieBell Witch(final film release)

Television appearances

From 1953 to 2001, Palmer was a guest star on 73 television programs, including (in no particular order):

Awards
Award Category Work Result
Fantasporto Film Festival Special Career Award Penny Dreadful Won
Golden Raspberry Award Worst Supporting Actress Friday the 13th Nominated
New England Theatre Conference (NETC) 2005 Major Award Award for Stage Work[33] Various Won
gollark: Okay, WIP political compass viewer thing!
gollark: ... actual numbers?
gollark: 2D would be very easy.
gollark: You could just send them publicly or something. But not now, I want to see if I can practically make a 3D visualization thing.
gollark: I don't really 3D graphics but I could probably glue enough libraries together to make it work.

References
  1. Rogers, John (June 1, 2015). "Actress Bestsy Palmer, killer cook in 'Friday the 13th,' dies". Chicago Sun Times. Associated Press. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. Potempa, Philip (September 4, 2010). "OFFBEAT: Readers sharing their memories, mementos of Betsy Palmer visits". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  3. "Betsy Palmer dies at 88; was killer summer-camp cook in 'Friday the 13th'". Los Angeles Times. June 1, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  4. "Betsy Palmer is shown in 1934 at age 7, photographed while visiting East Chicago neighbor and friend Camillia Plaga". townnews.com. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  5. Potempa, Philip (May 31, 2015). "Betsy Palmer". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  6. Quigg, Doc (April 17, 1960). "Betsy Palmer Proves to Be Type She Looks--Nice Lady". San Bernardino Sun-Telegram. United Press International. p. A12. Retrieved May 6, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection. Her mother founded the East Chicago Business College 36 years ago ("even before she met daddy") and she still runs it and teaches.
  7. "Calumet Trails". The Hammond Times. January 15, 1957. p. 5. Retrieved April 25, 2018 – via newspapers.com. Mrs. V. R. Hrunek, 4329 Baring Ave., director of the East Chicago Business College and mother of actress Betsy Palmer was appointed to the library board
  8. "Class of 2013". South Shore Legends. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  9. Spivak, Diane (December 20, 2013). "Betsy Palmer, Edward A. Rumely Honored as South Shore Legends". Northwest Indiana Life. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  10. "Rudolf Hrunek Dies". Kansas City Times. Associated Press. January 8, 1969. p. 3. Retrieved May 6, 2020 – via newspapers.com. Rudolf V. Hrunek, 74, a reared chemist and father of Betsy Palmer, a television personality, died at his home Monday after a long illness. A native of Prak, Czechoslovakia, he also is survived by his wife, Mrs. Marie Hrunek, and a son, Jack Hrunek of St. John, Ind.
  11. Smith, David Lee (2006). Hoosiers in Hollywood. Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 978-0871951946.
  12. Shanley, J.P. (July 8, 1956). "REALISTIC ACTRESS; Betsy Palmer Discusses Her Work on TV". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  13. Potempa, Philip (December 15, 2013). "Wall to Wall Smile: Actress Betsy Palmer inducted this week for South Shore Wall of Legends". Northwest Indiana Times.
  14. Hrunek (1969). "Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995". FamilySearch.
  15. "Betsy Palmer: A Scream Queen Legend". IMDb. August 15, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  16. Rhode, Jason (June 18, 2015). "Remember Betsy Palmer: A True Renaissance Woman". Cryptic Rock. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  17. "History". The Theatre School at DePaul University. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  18. Friday the 13th Reunion Panel, from the Friday the 13th Deluxe Edition DVD (Paramount Home Video)
  19. "Alumni". Roosevelt High School, East Chicago, Indiana. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  20. Nesteroff, Kliph (August 10, 2011). "An Interview with Betsy Palmer". Classic Television Showbiz. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  21. Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing. p. 279. ISBN 978-0025426504.
  22. Hound-Dog Man (1953) on IMDb
  23. "Actress Betsy Palmer the Czech 'All American Girl' Who Charmed Audiences for 5 Decades". tresbohemes.com. February 25, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  24. "Betsy Palmer". IBDB. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  25. Orange, B. Alan. "EXCLUSIVE: Betsy Palmer Is Friday the 13th's Mrs. Pamela Voorhees!". MovieWeb. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  26. Mike C. (May 2004). "Betsy Palmer interview". Icons of Fright. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  27. Penny Dreadful (2005) on IMDb
  28. Waltzing Anna (2006) on IMDb
  29. "Bell Witch". Big River Pictures. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  30. "Bell Witch: The Movie Debuts in United Kingdom" (Press release). July 7, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  31. Schuer, Steven H. (November 1, 1959). "Betsy Palmer Galled 'Too Happy'". Niagara Falls Gazette. Retrieved May 6, 2020 – via Tralfaz.
  32. Weber, Bruce (June 1, 2015). "Betsy Palmer, 88, Dies; From TV Panelist to 'Friday the 13th' Villainess". The New York Times. p. B19.
  33. "Major Award – Past Recipients". NETC. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
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