Betsy Blair

Betsy Blair (born Elizabeth Winifred Boger; December 11, 1923 – March 13, 2009) was an American actress of film and stage, long based in London.

Blair pursued a career in entertainment from the age of eight, and as a child worked as an amateur dancer, performed on radio, and worked as a model, before joining the chorus of Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe in 1940. There she met Gene Kelly; they were married the following year, when she was age 17 and divorced sixteen years later in 1957.

After work in the theatre, Blair began her film career playing supporting roles in films such as A Double Life (1947) and Another Part of the Forest (1948). Her communist sympathies led to an investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Blair was blacklisted for some time, but resumed her career with a critically acclaimed performance in Marty (1955), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She continued her career with regular theatre, film and television work, mainly in Europe, until the mid-1990s.

Early life and education Blair was born in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Her father, William Kidd Boger, was a partner in a small insurance brokerage firm; her mother, Frederica Ammon, was a schoolteacher. Both were Episcopalians. At the age of eight, she was enrolled in the Swift Sisters School of Dance, and recalled performing before Eleanor Roosevelt in 1933, winning an amateur contest shortly thereafter, joining a touring amateur show, and performing on local radio, as motivating influences in her desire to pursue a dance career. Blair and Kelly's relationship blossomed, culminating in their marriage the following year in 1941 when Blair was 17 years old. She and Kelly remained married for 16 years and had one daughter, Kerry Kelly Novick (b. 1942), together before divorcing in 1957.

Blair left Rose's show to accept an offer from choreographer Robert Alton to join the chorus of Panama Hattie, an illustrious line-up which included June Allyson, Doris and Constance Dowling, and Vera-Ellen. Alton—who previously discovered Gene Kelly—had spotted her when she unsuccessfully auditioned for a part in Louisiana Purchase. During this period, she developed a strong interest in Marxism, having been introduced to Lloyd Gough by Kelly, and attended Gough's weekly Marxist study group, which Kelly did not attend. "And it was very serious. Our textbook was The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union... I was completely enthralled by the ideas."

In early 1941, Blair secured her first role in a stage play when Kelly's friend William Saroyan chose her to play the female lead role of St. Agnes of the Mice in his play The Beautiful People at the Lyceum Theatre, playing opposite Eugene Loring, and securing excellent reviews from leading critics George Jean Nathan and Richard Watts, Jr. Watts stated, "The gently sweetly sincere and completely moving gravity and innocence of Miss Blair's utterly right performance is so infinitely touching and beautiful than any studied portrayal could be, that her contribution to the work is gracefully enchanting."

In 1945, she understudied the role of Laura Wingfield, played by Julie Haydon, in the original Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie, starring Laurette Taylor.

In the 1950s, Blair was under investigation from HUAC and blacklisted for several years. She almost lost one of her signature roles, that of Marty's girlfriend in Marty (1955), but was restored to the role after Kelly threatened to pull out of It's Always Fair Weather.

Blair married Czech-born British director/producer Karel Reisz in 1963 and performed sporadically in later years, working with Costa-Gavras in 1988 on the film Betrayed and on the mini-series Scarlett in 1994. Reisz died in 2002.

In 1980, she was a member of the jury at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.

Blair filmed scenes for Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2002), initially playing the older version of Julianne Moore's character. It is unclear if she was dropped or if she withdrew from the project. In 2003, she published her autobiography The Memory of All That.

Death Blair died of cancer in London on March 13, 2009. She was survived by a daughter, Kerry Kelly Novick, three stepsons and several grandchildren. 1956 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Actress 2006 Chicago International Film Festival Career Achievement Award