Conn and Lillian Grable had a pact - no more children. It was 1916 - Marjorie was 6 and their little son John had just died. But when Lillian found herself pregnant again she was not going to give up her baby- no matter what Conn said. Lillian's dream was to be a dancer. She… Continue reading Betty Grable
Category: Movies
Hall of Famous Missourians
There are seven women (out of 38 inductees) in the the Hall of Famous Missourians in our State Capitol, Jefferson City. What do you think of the women deemed "Famous" and who would you select to be included? Josephine Baker Susan Blow Rose Duchesne Betty Grable Ginger Rogers Sacajawea Laura Ingalls Wilder
Ginger Rogers
In the middle of the summer, 1911, Lela McMath gave birth to a little girl in the front room of a 2 bedroom house on Moore Street in Independence, Missouri. Shortly after, Lela divorced her husband, left her daughter with her parents and went to Hollywood to write movies. Lela's little girl, Virginia Katherine McMath, or "Ginja" would become a Hollywood legend… Continue reading Ginger Rogers
From Humansville to Hollywood
Zoe Akins wrote a play in the early 1950s called The Greeks Had a Word For It. In 1953, it was adapted for the screen as, How to Marry a Millionaire. Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauran Bacall starred in the film, and it made Marilyn Monroe popular. Zoe Akins's time in Hollywood came at… Continue reading From Humansville to Hollywood
Fannie Hurst
Fun fact: one of the 2 highest paid authors (male or female) in 1925 grew up in Missouri: Fannie Hurst. No, not from the publishing family, rather, a child born to Jewish immigrants, who grew up as a sheltered only child and graduated from Washington University in 1909. Fannie had a thirst for social knowledge.… Continue reading Fannie Hurst
Missouri Women 