Betty Hutton (Portrait Treatment) 2010

1. Hutton was born as Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921, a daughter of railroad foreman Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum. Her father abandoned the family for another woman and they did not hear from or see him again until they received a telegram, in 1939, informing them of his death from suicide. Along with her older sister Marion, Betty was raised by her mother, who took the surname Hutton and was later billed as the actress Sissy Jones.

2. The three started singing in the family's speakeasy when Betty was 3 years old. Related troubles with the police kept the family on the move, and eventually they moved to Detroit. When interviewed as an established star appearing at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother — arriving with her, and following a police escort — quipped, "At least this time the police are in front of us!"

3. Hutton made 19 films from 1942 to 1952 including a hugely popular The Perils of Pauline in 1947. Her obituary in The New York Times described her as "a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm." Hutton, however, like Garland, was earning a reputation for being extremely difficult.

4. After the 1967 death of her mother in a house fire and the collapse of her last marriage, Hutton's depression and pill addictions escalated. She divorced her fourth husband, jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, and declared bankruptcy. Hutton had a nervous breakdown and later attempted suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970. After regaining control of her life through rehab, and the mentorship of a Roman Catholic priest, Father Peter Maguire, Hutton converted to Roman Catholicism and took a job as a cook at a rectory in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She made national headlines when it was revealed she was working in a rectory.

5. A ninth grade drop-out, Hutton went back to school and earned a Master's Degree in psychology from Salve Regina University. During her time at college, Hutton became friends with Kristin Hersh and attended several early Throwing Muses concerts. Hersh would later write Elizabeth June as a tribute to her friend. Hersh would later document their relationship in further detail in her autobiography, Rat Girl.