Elizabeth Ruth Grable (1916-73) was the biggest musical star at Twentieth Century-Fox in the 1940s, and earlier worked for Sam Goldwyn as one of the original Goldwyn Girls. But she only made a single appearance for MGM, in 1934’s Student Tour.
Grable’s confirmed first appearance was as a thirteen-year-old in Happy Days (1930), and had roles in twenty-five pictures, many of them low-budget, during the 1930s.
Her profile was raised by a successful appearance on Broadway in Du Barry Was a Lady in 1939.
Grable replaced TCF star Alice Faye in Down Argentine Way (1940), which marked the beginning of her stardom. Subsequent highlights included Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943, Coney Island (1943), The Dolly Sisters (1945), Mother Wore Tights (1947) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
In 1941, Grable starred in her only two dramatic pictures, A Yank in the RAF and the excellent film noir I Wake Up Screaming. By the end of her career, she had appeared in almost 180 films.
Grable was a popular pinup and recognized her limitations as a singer and dancer, once stating “I became a star for two reasons, and I’m standing on them.”.
