Betsy Drake

Betsy Drake
from the film Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)
Born	(1923-09-11)September 11, 1923 Paris, France
Died	October 27, 2015(2015-10-27) (aged 92) London, England
Other names	Betsy Drake Grant
Education	Harvard University Graduate School of Education (M.Ed.)
Occupation	Actress, writer
Years active	1948–1965
Spouse(s)	Cary Grant (m. 1949; div. 1962)

Betsy Drake (September 11, 1923 – October 27, 2015) was a French-born American actress and writer. She was also known for being the third wife of actor Cary Grant.

Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris, France. Her grandfather, Tracy Drake, and his brother had opened the Drake Hotel in Chicago on New Years Eve in 1920. The Drakes lost their money in the 1929 stock-market crash. As a result, she returned to the U.S. on the SS Île de France with her parents, brothers, and a nanny. She grew up in Chicago, Westport, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, and New York City. She went to 12 different schools, both private and public, before concentrating on theatre and acting at National Park Seminary.

She began looking for work as an actress in New York City, supporting herself by working as a Conover model. She met the playwright Horton Foote, who offered her a job as an understudy in his play Only the Heart, which enabled her to join the Actors' Equity Association and thus become a professional actress.

After coming to the attention of the producer Hal Wallis, Drake was pressured by her agent to sign a Hollywood contract. She hated Hollywood and managed to get herself released from the contract by declaring herself insane. She returned to New York City and, in 1947, read for the director Elia Kazan for the lead role in the London company of the play Deep Are the Roots. Later that year, Drake was selected by Kazan as one of the founding members of the Actors Studio.

Cary Grant first spotted her in 1947 while she was performing in London. The two, who both happened to be returning to the U.S. on the RMS Queen Mary, struck up an instant rapport. At the insistence of Grant, Drake was subsequently signed to a film contract by RKO Pictures and David Selznick, where she appeared, opposite Grant, in her first film, the romantic comedy Every Girl Should Be Married (1948). New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther called her performance “foxily amusing”.