Betty Grable TriviaBetty Grable’s legs were insured by her studio for one million dollars per leg at Lloyds of London. Grable’s famous bathing suit photo became the number one pin-up picture during World War II. Later, it was included as one of the 100 Photos That Changed The World. Hosiery specialists have noted the ideal proportions of her legs: thigh (18.5”), calf (12”) and ankle (7.5”) Her distant heritage includes: Dutch, Irish, German, and English. Betty Grable placed in the top ten box office draws for ten years. Betty Grable was 5′4. She wore a size 5A shoe. Betty Grable’s measurements are: 34 1/2-24-36 (self-described in 1940); 36-24-35 (time of her famous World War II pin-up poster); 36-23-35 (at a fitting in 1958). She is one of the original Goldwyn Girls, others include Lucille Ball, and Paulette Goddard. She was a sleep-walker. She suffered from demophobia: a fear of crowds. Actor Vinton Haworth was her uncle. Her 2 1/2 year relationship with George Raft ended because he couldn’t get a divorce from his Catholic wife. Neil Sedaka wrote a song in her memory titled “Betty Grable.” After her husband spent all her savings, Betty Grable did Playtex 18 hr shortie commercials in the 1960’s using her famous pin-up pose. Her ex-husband, Henry James, died on what would be their 40th anniversary. In 1946-1947 the Treasury Department noted that Betty Grable was the highest paid woman in America, earning $300,000 a year. In the biopic The George Raft Story (1961), Betty Grable was portrayed by Jayne Mansfield however, due to the fact that Grable wasn’t public domain, her character was given the alias “Lisa.” She holds the record for continuous years on the top box office draw list. At one time Betty was receiving 12,000 fan letters per week. Some of Betty Grable’s nicknames include: “The Pin-Up Girl”, “The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs” and “The Queen of Technicolor.” Betty Grable was engaged to Artie Shaw (a popular band leader) who, unbeknown to her, was secretly engaged to Judy Garland as well. Both Betty & Judy were shocked to find out one morning that Artie had eloped with Lana Turner the day after meeting her. The joke was on Artie though, he & Lana divorced four months later. Martha Raye was actually voted the girl with the million dollar legs, but she turned down the honor because she knew her studio would put her on a long publicity tour & she wanted to spend more time touring with the USO for the troops instead. So Martha told them to give the award to the runner up; Betty Grable. Betty never forgot that it was Martha's kindness that launched her career. When Betty was filming "How to Marry a Millionaire" she knew that her co-star Marilyn Monroe would take her place as the lead star at "Fox Studios", but by then she'd had her fill of stardom. Betty once again remembered what Martha had done for her, So Betty took her co-star to her long time dressing room (the best on the lot) and told Marilyn that it was her. Marilyn was shocked that Betty would offer it to her and asked Betty why. Betty replied "Honey, I've had my time in the spotlight, now it's your turn!". Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy noted on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on April 23, 2007, in an interview with Terry Gross that Grable was his inspiration for founding the Playboy empire. Grable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6525 Hollywood
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