![Betsy Drake](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/gqHlwQmHQJqh0pfVpopDZgEZw9H.jpg)
Betsy Drake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betsy Drake (September 11, 1923 – October 27, 2015) was a French-born American actress and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant. 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”.
On Christmas Day 1949, Drake and Grant married in a private ceremony organized by Grant's best man, Howard Hughes, and deliberately chose a low-key, introspective private life. They delved into transcendentalism, mysticism, and yoga. She took up causes including the plight of homeless children in Los Angeles. In 1954, they bought the "Las Palomas" estate in the Movie Colony neighborhood of Palm Springs, California.
The couple co-starred in the radio series Mr. and Mrs. Blanding (1951). They appeared together in the comedy-drama Room for One More (1952), and Drake appeared in a number of leading roles in England and the U.S., and a supporting role in the satiric comedy film Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). Drake subsequently gave up acting to focus on her other interests, such as writing. Under the name Betsy Drake Grant, her novel Children, You Are Very Little (1971) was published by Atheneum Books. She worked as a volunteer and studied at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, and earned a Master of Education degree from Harvard University.
Drake's last screen appearance was in the documentary film Cary Grant: A Class Apart (2005), in which she reflected on Grant and their time together, and denied rumors alleging he was bisexual. Description above from the Wikipedia article Betsy Drake, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.257 |
Birthday | 1923-09-11 |
Place of Birth | Paris, France |
Also Known As | Betsy Grant, |
![Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/vzBZE9SHJFaew2Csi5DPfeJEBcN.jpg)
1957
![Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/vzBZE9SHJFaew2Csi5DPfeJEBcN.jpg)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
6.69/62
To save his career, an ad man wants a sex symbol to endorse a lipstick but in exchange, she wants him to pretend to be her lover.
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Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
![Every Girl Should Be Married](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2IQL1u0UHHoFkNpl1uc5f5jIOqj.jpg)
1948
![Every Girl Should Be Married](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2IQL1u0UHHoFkNpl1uc5f5jIOqj.jpg)
Every Girl Should Be Married
6.4/21
Anabel Sims is determined to find the perfect husband. She thinks she's found her man in Madison Brown, a handsome pediatrician. She then prepares an...
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Every Girl Should Be Married
![The Second Woman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/c6Bt8EEBcbPwSC642xQzSVSoQSd.jpg)
1950
![The Second Woman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/c6Bt8EEBcbPwSC642xQzSVSoQSd.jpg)
The Second Woman
5.5/30
In flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramoder...
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The Second Woman
![Room for One More](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2VJg810IoARDJDtZFGePRciXcsV.jpg)
1952
![Room for One More](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2VJg810IoARDJDtZFGePRciXcsV.jpg)
Room for One More
6.3/44
Anne and "Poppy" Rose have three quirky kids. Anne has a generous heart and the belief in the innocence of children. To the unhappy surprise of her hu...
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Room for One More
![Dancing in the Dark](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gJnGRgHUjFTfIuGxuzjSimK2bYN.jpg)
1949
![Dancing in the Dark](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gJnGRgHUjFTfIuGxuzjSimK2bYN.jpg)
Dancing in the Dark
5/2
Emery Slade was one of the brightest stars in Hollywood in 1932, but by 1949 his career has hit the skids. Fortunately, he is able to convince studio...
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Dancing in the Dark
![Intent to Kill](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/3khzR67h1CHzSwiCAYeNl3M9XfC.jpg)
1958
![Intent to Kill](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/3khzR67h1CHzSwiCAYeNl3M9XfC.jpg)
Intent to Kill
5.2/4
While resisting pressure from his upper-class wife to take a higher-paying job in London, a Montreal physician prepares to carry out brain surgery on...
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Intent to Kill
![Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/75XsQNtdyqK1muGkmKiTM6jyQQE.jpg)
1965
![Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/75XsQNtdyqK1muGkmKiTM6jyQQE.jpg)
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
6.2/12
When a native village is apparently terrorized by a Lion, the local sergeant enlists the help of a veterinarian working at a nearby animal study cente...
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Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
![Pretty Baby](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4sl2jutNCYkKmShhiYqIzr2Q5gG.jpg)
1950
![Pretty Baby](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4sl2jutNCYkKmShhiYqIzr2Q5gG.jpg)
Pretty Baby
6/4
A young woman living in Manhattan pretends to be the mother of an infant in order to get a seat on the subway.
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Pretty Baby
![Cary Grant: A Class Apart](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/p1wOxMYwnal4hlM06h0WnAwLiZt.jpg)
2004
![Cary Grant: A Class Apart](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/p1wOxMYwnal4hlM06h0WnAwLiZt.jpg)
Cary Grant: A Class Apart
6.7/7
Documentary that explores the life and career of leading man Cary Grant through film clips and interviews. Produced as S18E03 of the long running seri...
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Cary Grant: A Class Apart
![Next to No Time](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
1958
![Next to No Time](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
Next to No Time
8/2
Unassuming planning engineer David Webb finds himself on the Queen Elizabeth to New York with instructions to negotiate a high-powered loan. His lack...
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Next to No Time
![Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2WUBWsXRv7x0eWi2TiSO4jvsHbY.jpg)
1988
![Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2WUBWsXRv7x0eWi2TiSO4jvsHbY.jpg)
Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man
7/4
A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers.
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