Betty Jaynes (actress)

Betty Jaynes (born Betty Jayne Schultz,[1] February 12, 1921 – November 22, 2018) was an American operatic singer and B-movie actress from the late 1930s to mid-1940s.

Betty Jaynes
Born
Betty Jayne Schultz

(1921-02-12)February 12, 1921
Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 2018(2018-11-22) (aged 97)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma materStarrett School for Girls
OccupationSinger, actress
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1938; div. 1941)​

Bill Roberts
​
​
(m. 1943)​

Early years

The daughter of Louis C. Schultz and Stella Schultz,[2] Jaynes was born in Greeneville, Tennessee, but she attended the Starrett School for Girls[3] in Chicago. She has a brother, Robert, and two sisters, Lorraine and Marion.[4]

Career

Jaynes made her concert debut when she was 15, performing with pianist Janet Gunn at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.[5] At the same age, she made a "sensational debut" with the Chicago City Opera Company in La boheme. In a Life magazine article, she said she would "quit school and consider movies."[6] Her radio debut also occurred when she was 15, as she sang on The Ford Sunday Evening Hour on CBS in January 1937.[7]

On December 9, 1936, Probate Judge John F. O'Connell in Chicago approved Jaynes' contracts with MGM and a concert booking company. Her status as a minor required court approval, with her mother as her guardian. The MGM contract guaranteed $250 to $1,300 per week plus additional payment when she made films. The booking contract guaranteed $1,000 per concert.[8]

She began working in Hollywood on April 1, 1937.[9] She appeared as Molly Moran in Babes in Arms in 1939, then in a series of minor parts in seven MGM movies through 1944 including Meet the People, starring Lucille Ball. Her last major acting role was in 1952, in an I Love Lucy episode, "The Operetta".

Personal life

Jaynes married actor and budding baritone Douglas McPhail in June 1938. They had a daughter, and were divorced in 1941; McPhail committed suicide in 1944.[10] She married a second time in 1943, to Bill Roberts, who had been a singer for Tommy Dorsey[11] and then twice more in 1950 and 1973. She died in Santa Monica, California in November 2018 at the age of 97.[12]

References
  1. Hadden, Briton (10 February 2018). "Time". Time Incorporated – via Google Books.
  2. "High School Sophomore Under Opera Contract". The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News. Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. Associated Press. September 25, 1936. p. 20. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "15-Year-Old Girl Becomes Member Of Chicago Opera". The Journal Times. Wisconsin, Racine. International News Service. September 25, 1936. p. 1. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Shaffer, Rosalind (May 16, 1937). "Betty Jaynes Studying for Movie Debut". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. p. Part 7-Page 6. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Smith, Cecil M. (January 24, 1937). "Betty Jaynes' Concert Debut on Wednesday". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. p. Part 7-Page 3. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Their Music Makes News", Life (Time Inc.), December 21, 1936
  7. "Radio Presents Stars in New Programs". The Indianapolis Star. Indiana, Indianapolis. January 10, 1937. p. 24. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Opera's Child Star Will Get $50,000 a Year". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. December 10, 1936. p. 17. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Sheilagh Graham, Hollywood Today, February 6, 1937
  10. David K. Frasier (2005). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases. McFarland. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4766-0807-5.
  11. "Betty Jaynes, Actress, Weds a Serviceman", Associated Press in The Milwaukee Journal, March 26, 1943.
  12. Ancestry: Betty Jane Schultz profile (subscription required)


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