Betsy Blair

Betsy Blair
Blair in November 2007
Born	Elizabeth Winifred Boger (1923-12-11)December 11, 1923 Cliffside Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	March 13, 2009(2009-03-13) (aged 85) London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1947–1994
Spouse(s)	Gene Kelly (m.1941–1957; divorced) (1 child) Karel Reisz (m.1963–2002; his death)
Children	Kerry Kelly Novick (b. 1942)

Betsy Blair (December 11, 1923 – March 13, 2009) was an American actress of film and stage, long based in London.

Blair pursued a career in entertainment from the age of eight, and as a child worked as an amateur dancer, performed on radio, and worked as a model, before joining the chorus of Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe in 1940. There she met Gene Kelly; they were married the following year, when she was seventeen years old, and divorced sixteen years later in 1957.

After work in the theatre, Blair began her film career playing supporting roles in films such as A Double Life (1947) and Another Part of the Forest (1948). Her interest in Marxism led to an investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Blair was blacklisted for some time, but resumed her career with a critically acclaimed performance in Marty (1955), winning a BAFTA Award and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She continued her career with regular theatre, film and television work until the mid-1990s.

Born Elizabeth Winifred Boger on December 11, 1923, in Cliffside Park, NJ, her father, William Kidd Boger, was a partner in a small insurance brokerage firm; her mother, Frederica Ammon, was a schoolteacher. Both were Episcopalians. At the age of eight, she was enrolled in the Swift Sisters School of Dance, and recalled performing before Eleanor Roosevelt in 1933, winning an amateur contest shortly thereafter, joining a touring amateur show and performing on local radio, as motivating influences in her desire to pursue a dance career. She joined the John Robert Powers modeling agency and by the age of twelve was in regular demand. She enrolled in the Professional Children's School but, as it was not accredited, her mother returned her to her local school so that she might eventually attend college. She graduated at fifteen, securing a scholarship to Sarah Lawrence College. However, the Board of Admission considered her too immature for entry and requested she wait one year.