Betty Kean

Betty Kean (December 15, 1914 – September 29, 1986) was an actress and part of the 1950s era comedy duo the Kean Sisters with her sister Jane Kean. She married four times, to actors including Jim Backus and her last husband Lew Parker. She died in 1986 of cancer in Hollywood.

Biography

Kean was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1914. She began her acting career in 1942, appearing in films like Moonlight Masquerade, Gals, Incorporated, Sing a Jingle and Hi, Good Lookin'!, among others.

During the 1950s she was part, along her sister Jane, of the comedy duo the Kean Sisters, which worked the nightclub circuit throughout the 1940s and 1950s and appeared on Broadway in the 1955 musical, Ankles Aweigh.

On television, Kean portrayed Amy Tucker on Leave It to Larry. Other TV shows on which she appeared included Naked City, The Andy Griffith Show, My World and Welcome to It, and The Love Boat.

One of her last television appearances was in the February 22, 1986, episode of The Facts of Life, “The Lady Who Came to Dinner” as a traveling vaudevillian performer whom Tootie hires for the entertainment during Blair’s 21st birthday.

Her final film credit was Dreamscape in 1984.

Personal life

Kean was married four times; to Roy Sedley from 1934 to 1936, to Frank Fay from 1937 to 1939, with whom she had one daughter, Cathy Jane Fay, to Jim Backus from 1939 to 1942 and lastly to Lew Parker from 1956 to 1972 with whom she had another daughter, Deirdre.

Death

Kean died of cancer in Los Angeles on September 29, 1986.

Selected filmography

Film

• Moonlight Masquerade (1942) - Mikki Marquette
• Gals, Incorporated (1943) - Bets Moran
• Sing a Jingle (1944) - Myrtle
• Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944) - Peggy
• Slightly Terrific (1944) - Marie Mason
• Murder in the Blue Room (1944) - Betty
• My Gal Loves Music (1944) - Peggy Quinn
• The Fifth Floor (1978) - Sophy
• The Seduction (1982) - Mrs. Caluso
• Dreamscape (1984) - Grandma

Television

• Fireside Theatre - Meet My Sister (1949) TV Episode
• Naked City - Make It Fifty Dollars and Add Love to Nona (1962) TV Episode .... Mrs. Kelvin
• The Andy Griffith Show - A Visit to Barney Fife (1967) TV Episode .... Ma Parker
• My World and Welcome to It - Seal in the Bedroom (1969) TV Episode .... Mrs. Monroe
• That Girl - That Girl's Daddy (1970) TV Episode .... Mrs. McCarty
• Happy Days - Fonzie the Father (1976) TV Episode .... Millie
• Police Woman - Night of the Full Moon (1976) TV Episode .... Charlene's Landlady
• The Bob Newhart Show - Of Mice and Men (1977) TV Episode .... Flo
• The Love Boat - Ex Plus Y/Golden Agers/Graham and Kelly (1977) TV Episode .... Mrs. Svenson
• Diff'rent Strokes - Sam's Missing (1985) TV Episode .... Sally Winkle
• The Facts of Life - The Lady Who Came to Dinner (1986) TV Episode .... Louise Le Beau

References

External links

• Betty Kean at IMDb
• Betty Kean at the Internet Broadway Database