Profile
Betty Furness
Politician + Actress + Counsel
Female
Born
Jan 3, 1916
Hometown
New York City, Ne...
Died
Apr 2, 1994
Death Place
New York City, Ne...
Political Party
Democratic Party ...
Elizabeth Mary Furness was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.
Romance
Check out the latest love interests for Betty Furness.
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Bud ErnestMarried 1945 - 1950
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Pat DiCiccoDated
Timeline
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Betty Furness.
CHILDHOOD
1916
Birth
Born on January 3, 1916.
TEENAGE
Born in New York, New York, Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of Alice in Wonderland. She also posed for commercial advertising. She began her professional career as a model before being noticed by a talent scout and being signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios.
TWENTIES
1937
21 Years Old
Furness married four times. Her first marriage was to composer-conductor Johnny Green in 1937 with whom she had one child.
1943
27 Years Old
After her divorce from Green in 1943, she married Bud Ernest twice; first in 1945, and again in 1946.
THIRTIES
1948
32 Years Old
In 1948 Furness was performing in the television series Studio One which was broadcast live.
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1950
34 Years Old
Her second marriage to him lasted until his death in 1950.
1951
35 Years Old
Furness was a regular panelist on What's My Line? in 1951, and that fall appeared in a series of live mysteries on ABC, under the weighty title Your Kaiser Dealer Presents Kaiser-Frazer "Adventures In Mystery" Starring Betty Furness In "Byline".
1953
37 Years Old
In 1953 she appeared in her own daytime television series Meet Betty Furness, which was sponsored by Westinghouse; she remained a spokesperson for the company until 1960.
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FIFTIES
In 1967 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, aware of her work for the Democrats contacted Furness and offered her the position of Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs.
1969
53 Years Old
She accepted the assignment and continued in this role until the end of the Johnson administration in 1969.
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1970
54 Years Old
She was appointed by then-Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller in August 1970 to serve as the first chairman and executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board, and served in the position until July 1971 before returning to television.
LATE ADULTHOOD
1976
60 Years Old
Signed by WNBC in New York, Furness reported on consumer issues, and specifically targeted examples of consumer fraud. In 1976 she began an association with The Today Show filling in as anchor following the departure of Barbara Walters and providing regular reports.
1977
61 Years Old
In 1977 her program Buyline: Betty Furness won the Peabody Award.
1990
74 Years Old
In 1990 Furness was diagnosed with cancer.
1992
76 Years Old
She continued working for The Today Show until she was released from her contract in 1992.
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1994
78 Years Old
Furness expressed her philosophy of never declining a job, and she believed it be the reason that she progressed through such an unconventional series of professions. During her illness she stated that she wanted nothing more than to be able to work, and, (consumer reporter to the end), once mentioned in an interview that, as far as her cancer went, "the treatment is worse than the disease", but her health continued to deteriorate until her death in New York from stomach cancer in 1994.
Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Furness.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.