Betty Jane Rhodes (April 21, 1921 – December 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer, most active in film during the late 1930s and the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era. She was also known as Jane Rhodes.

Early years

Rhodes was born in Rockford, Illinois, on April 21, 1921. She began her broadcasting career when she was just eight years old.

Career

Film

Before Rhodes appeared on screen, she worked in films as a

ghost singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

at RKO Pictures, earning $200 per week for supplying the voice for actresses who moved their lips, pretending to sing. Paramount Pictures signed Rhodes to her first film contract as an actress at age 15. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film, '' Forgotten Faces'', in which she was credited as Jane Rhodes. In ''Forgotten Faces'', Rhodes played an adopted daughter whose father, portrayed by

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

, is arrested for killing a man with whom his wife was having an affair. This was followed by a co-starring role in the 1936 western, '' The Arizona Raiders''. The film, in which she played the younger sister of Marsha Hunt's character, marked the first time that Rhodes sang in a movie. By September 1936, Rhodes had signed a contract with

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 ...

, which planned to have her in the lead female role in an upcoming

Jungle Jim Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began on January 7, 1934, as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle J ...

serial film A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

. The six-year contract called for payments of $1,000 per week. Rhodes was widely known to wartime movie audiences for her debut performance of the classic song, "'' I Don't Want To Walk Without You''", in '' Sweater Girl'' in 1942. In 2012, Tom Vallance of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' wrote of Rhodes' performance, "Her place in the history of popular song is secured by her having introduced on screen one of the great songs of wartime longing, "''I Don't Want To Walk Without You''."

Radio

Rhodes first sang on the air on children's programs in Berkeley, California. When she was 12 years old, she sang on ''The Laff Clinic'' on KHJ in Los Angeles and joined in the program's comedy elements. She also performed on several variety programs on KHJ. In 1934, she joined the staff of

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

, also in Los Angeles. By August 14, 1934, she was top-billed on KWFB's ''Jubilee'' music and comedy program. In the summer of 1936, she sang on a program that featured Johnny Green and his orchestra. Rhodes' first nationwide broadcast exposure came in the summer of 1940 when she sang on the ''Fred Allen Show'' during its three-week stay in Hollywood. She had her own weekly show on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

during the 1950s, which aired on Saturday nights. Her appearances, as well as other early television roles, earned her the nickname, "The First Lady of Television." Rhodes also sang in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

until the 1960s. Rhodes was the regular singer on the radio show Meet Me at Parky's, the series starring

Harry Einstein Harry Einstein (May 6, 1904 – November 24, 1958), known professionally as Harry Parke and other pseudonyms, most commonly Parkyakarkus, was an American comedian, writer, and character actor. A specialist in Greek dialect comedy, he became famou ...

as his character Parkyakarkas. She portrayed Betty, the singer at Parky's restaurant.

Nightclub

When she was 14 years old, Rhodes sang at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles.

Recording

'' Cashbox'' magazine, in its December 16, 1946, issue designated Rhodes' "You'll Always Be The One I Love" as "Sleeper of the Week". Charles Dant's orchestra accompanied Rhodes on the recording, which ''Cashbox'' said, "has that trick of making you want to sit down and play the thing time and again."

Personal life

In 1945, Rhodes married Willet Brown, the co-founder of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

. She and Brown had one child during their marriage, as well as Brown's three children from his previous marriage. Brown died in 1993. Archeology was Rhodes' hobby. In 1937, she took a course at the University of Southern California, focusing on pottery and beads of early southwestern Americans.

Death

Rhodes died on December 27, 2011, at the age of 90.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Betty Jane 1921 births 2011 deaths American film actresses American television actresses American radio actresses Cabaret singers American women singers Actors from Rockford, Illinois Actresses from Illinois Musicians from Rockford, Illinois 20th-century American actresses Western (genre) film actresses 21st-century American women