Betty Miles (January 11, 1910 – June 9, 1992) was an American

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

and stuntwoman of the late 1930s and well into the 1940s, who later became an educator. Her father, George Henry T. Henninger, was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

cattleman, and had taught her to ride horses from an early age.

Early life

Born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

as Elizabeth Harriet Henninger, she attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, graduating in 1931. While attending college, she took part in several

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

competitions, winning three. Educated, athletic, attractive, and an accomplished

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, she began acting after graduation, playing in several

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

plays through 1936. In 1937, she had her first, albeit minor, film role, in '' Nothing Sacred''.

Acting and stuntwoman career

Having an interest in

western films Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, she caught the attention of

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

when, while watching the filming of a movie scene, she noticed that the actress was having difficulty with her riding, causing several retakes. Miles offered to help her with instruction, and in doing so she showed herself to be an accomplished and talented rider, and was given a contract by Monogram. In 1941 she starred in '' Ridin' the Cherokee Trail'' with

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

and

Slim Andrews Slim Andrews (born Leonard Andrews Huntington, Jr., June 14, 1931 - January 15, 2022) was an American country music artist with seven decades of performing at the local and regional levels. He began his music career in 1942 at the age of eleven ...

. That same year she starred in another five films, including ''

The Return of Daniel Boone ''The Return of Daniel Boone'' is a 1941 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Paul Franklin and Joseph Hoffman. The film stars Wild Bill Elliott, Betty Miles, Dub Taylor, Ray Bennett, Walter Soderling and Carl Stockd ...

''. During 1943–44 she starred in another six films, three in each year, often playing opposite Tom Keene. She starred in several of the ''Trail Blazer'' serials, alongside

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitione ...

, Bob Steele, and

Ken Maynard Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occasional screenwrit ...

. Her last role was in ''

Gangsters of the Frontier ''Gangsters of the Frontier'' (also known as ''Raiders of the Frontier'' in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off t ...

''. In her films, she usually did her own riding and stunts, and often worked as a

stuntwoman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

on films. After her film career ended, she began working on tour with several circuses, alongside her friend and fellow accomplished rider and actress

Evelyn Finley Evelyn Finley (March 11, 1916 – April 7, 1989) was an American B-movie actress and stuntwoman of the 1940s through the 1980s, mostly in western films. Sometimes she is credited as ''Eve Anderson''. Biography Born in Douglas, Arizona, Finley ...

. At times during this period she taught dramatic acting classes at such studios as

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Later life

By 1946 her involvement with acting had finished, and she elected not to return to the circus. She became a teacher for the

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

public school system. She later served as the "Dean of Girls" for the

Simi Valley Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

school systems, then later held positions of a similar role in the

Turlock Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

school systems. She retired from teaching in 1976, and moved to

Hughson, California Hughson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. It is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,481 at the 2020 census, up from 6,640 at the 2010 census. History of farming Hughson is surrounded ...

, where she lived the remainder of her life to be near to her son, Lynn Rees Miles (born March 8, 1942), and her two grandchildren. She died there on June 9, 1992, aged 82.Profile of Betty Miles, stuntwoman and western heroine turned public school teacher
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Betty 1910 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California American film actresses American stage actresses American stunt performers People from Greater Los Angeles University of Southern California alumni Educators from California American women educators