Betty Furness
| Betty Furness | |
|---|---|
from the film Mama Steps Out (1937)
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| 2nd Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs | |
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In office May 1, 1967 – January 20, 1969 |
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| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Esther Peterson |
| Succeeded by | Virginia Knauer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Elizabeth Mary Furness January 3, 1916 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 2, 1994 (aged 78) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Leslie Midgley (1967–1994)(her death) Hugh "Bud" Ernst (1945–1946; 1946–1950)(his death) Johnny Green (1937–1943) |
| Children | Andrea Midgley Connors Leslie Midgley (named after husband) Peter J. Midgley Barbara Green |
Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.
Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Furness was born in New York City, the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness and his wife Florence. She attended the Brearley School and Bennett Junior College.
Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of Alice in Wonderland. She also posed for commercial advertising. She began her professional career as a model before being noticed by a talent scout and being signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the film Thirteen Women (1932) but her scenes were deleted before the film's release.
Over the next few years she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s found it difficult to secure acting roles.
In 1948 Furness was performing in the television series Studio One, which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she subsequently became closely associated with them. One of television's most recognizable series of commercials had Furness opening wide a refrigerator door, intoning, "You can be sure ... if it's Westinghouse." (The spots were so well known they were often parodied: one Mad magazine gag imagined the words on a neon sign, with a few key letters burned out: YOU CAN ..SU.E IF IT'S WESTINGHOUSE!")
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