The Betty Lou Gerson Story
Nonfiction
Date Published: January 28, 2023
She voiced one of Disney’s most infamous villainesses. With her husky timbre and most unforgettable cackle, Betty Lou Gerson terrified an entire generation as Disney’s original “Cruella de Vil” in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). Betty used her whiskey-soaked voice to give us an innovative portrait of elegant villainy beyond entertainment’s stereotypical “old hag” antagonists in radio, film, and television. She had a prolific radio career in both Chicago and Hollywood before the silver screen and was featured in many popular television series in the 1950s and 1960s such as Perry Mason, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Hazel. Though “Cruella” is perhaps her most recognized role, she also performed in other beloved film classics including Cinderella (1950), Mary Poppins (1964), and Cats Don’t Dance (1997).
The great irony of Betty’s story is that while her voice frightened audiences through nearly all mediums, off mic, she was in fact no villainess at all. Betty traversed through some of the most volatile eras in American history, while overcoming many personal tragedies of her own. She was among twentieth century entertainment pioneers and an iconic voice of feminism.
Author’s Note
She was a three-pronged
paragon, but only 5’2. She gave our world so much through her femininity,
creativity, and agility, but on the surface, she was just damn good at sounding
“really mean.”
In many ways, Betty Lou Gerson
was far ahead of her time in her candid approach to life. As a pioneer in
America’s early entertainment industry, she helped lay the cornerstones of
today’s multifaceted industry that spans all mediums. She suffered many
personal tragedies in her eighty-four years, yet gracefully overcame them. She
traversed through some of the most volatile eras in American history, and
continuously evolved with the times, which isn’t always an easy thing to do.
She lived through two world wars, Red Scares, the myth of the Deep South, civil
rights, and nearly outlived her entire family of origin. She was among
twentieth century pioneers in stage, radio, and television and perhaps most
notably rose to global acclaim as the voice of villainess “Cruella de Vil” in
Disney’s animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). She lived
a fascinating life that still holds countless secrets. It has been an honor to
“get to know her” in writing her biography, and I hope her contribution to our
world will continue to live in her earthly absence.
This is a chronicle of
research, but as a caveat to readers, Betty Lou Gerson was and is so much more
than any book could relay (as all biographic subjects are). While humanity can
be better understood through historic preservation, people themselves are much
more than collections of facts, records, and personal accounts. In this book, I
hope never to attempt to speak for Betty, but to simply introduce you to
her in a way that allows you to better hear her husky voice for yourself. I’m
merely turning up the volume on a compelling story that has many elements of
connection, inspiration, and grit from which we all can learn.
This work is published after
months and months of sifting through historical records, recorded interviews,
newspaper articles, and radio recordings in tandem with countless interviews,
phone calls, emails, texts, and snail mail exchanges that helped bring the
research points into technicolor. While the research presented in these pages
has been carefully conducted and compiled with the utmost intentionality, gaps
are present and due to the nature of the historical accounts collected and
presented, the entirety of any story can never be shared. I hope you will view
this as a showcase of several significant portions of Betty’s life that have
contributed toward the legacy she has left behind, and perhaps consider your
own in a new way. The majority of the content in quotations throughout this
book has come directly from either recorded or printed interviews with
quotations indicating secondary sources – some listed and some unlisted.
This biography is part record
and part experience, as all humanity is. It includes primary and secondary data
along with the unique interpretation of the researcher and writer herself. The
facts and experiential content found in the following pages are accurate in so
much as any historical account can be. There are some discrepancies on certain
records and dates, but those are generally detailed on a case-by-case basis.
The experiential accounts presented by individuals mentioned in this book have
been contributed of their own free will based on their own personal
recollections and experiences. While many of her works are detailed in the
pages hereafter, no exhaustive list of her complete works in any media exists.
As a researcher and writer, I
approach this biography with three glaring personal biases that should be
mentioned straightaway: First, I never had the privilege of meeting the star of
this bio; therefore, I have researched and written from behind a glass,
so-to-speak. Second, I am removed from the historical context by a couple of
generations; therefore, my postmodern worldview will undoubtedly be evident
throughout this work. This is significant in that my worldview as a researcher
and writer is an indirect byproduct of the eras I have studied and shared about
in the following pages. Third, I am a fan of Betty Lou Gerson’s, and my
interpretation of her career and life will certainly be based on my overall
favorable opinion of her and her contribution to our world. Not all biases are
negative, though they should be acknowledged in any effort to share information
in an ethical and veracious way.
Some of the contextual
information found in this biography may be obvious or even painfully boring to
some, leaving readers asking, “What the devil does this have to do with Betty
Lou?” but in an effort to preserve and further the particular segment of
history of which she was a part, I believe it is important to detail as much
context as possible for generations, like my own, who may be unaware of some of
the era-related implications that make her story so interesting.
Perhaps most importantly, a
very special thanks to all who made this biography possible. Thank you to all
those who have been so kind to contribute their time, memories, and support to
this project. I have been so fortunate to connect with many remarkable
individuals whose journeys intersected with Betty Lou Gerson in unforgettable
ways. Empirical research is so important in any project of this nature, but the
ways in which we touch each other’s lives is truly how “biography” is created.
One of the most rewarding elements of researching and writing this book has
been connecting with family members, friends, and colleagues of Betty’s who
have been so generous to share their stories with me. A very special thanks to
Betty’s family for their support of this writing project and for sharing the
lovely memories.
Thank you to all the stellar
people at SPERDVAC who not only personally directed me to many archive interviews
and recordings with and about Betty, but for being instrumental in creating
these archive interviews and recordings in the first place. The grand efforts
of organizations like SPERDVAC are so important for later generations, of which
I am a part, to experience a bit of time travel through the voices and the
stories of previous eras. Without SPERDVAC’s vigilant efforts in capturing
pieces of history through interviews and recordings, the beautiful, hilarious,
and heartbreaking stories (many of which you will find in this book) would have
been lost forever. While I so appreciate SPERDVAC as a whole, I also want to
specifically name a few people within the entity who have been especially
impactful in the creation of this book: Larry Gassman, Walden Hughes, and John
Tefteller.
A special thanks to the Pacific
Pioneer Broadcasters (PPB) for their archiving efforts of Les Tremayne’s
private recordings. A special thanks to David Seubert at the University of
California, Santa Barbara for his unyielding perseverance in locating the lost
archive of those recordings. If not for John Tefteller’s tip, and David
Seubert’s efforts, the wonderful interview by Alice Backes with Betty Lou
Gerson for the PPB would have been forever lost in dusty warehouse storage.
A special thanks to all the
wonderful old time radio researchers who helped guide my own research in this
project. Without the preservation work of so many researchers before me, this
biography would have been incredibly difficult if not impossible to write. Thank
you, John Dunning for your incredible work Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate
Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio 1925-1976; J. David Goldin’s RadioGOLDINdex;
OldTimeRadioDownloads.com; Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs; RUSC Old Time
Radio; Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.; and The Digital Deli. Your work is invaluable, and
I am ever grateful for your efforts to preserve this wonderful history of the
Golden Age of radio.
A special thanks to Chuck
Schaden for his preservation work in creating recordings of so many interviews
with legendary artists like Betty, and for making them available to others. A
special thanks to those wonderfully talented colleagues of Betty’s who were so
kind in sharing their memories with me such as Karen Dotrice and Joyce Meadows.
To everyone mentioned above,
thank you all for being so patient with my nosiness and excavation efforts in
gathering all the information I could about one of our favorite voices in media
history. It has been a great pleasure partnering with you in these research
efforts. Thank you for allowing history to live on through your intimate
contributions!
- Dr. Lona Bailey
About the Author
Lona Bailey is a Golden Age of Hollywood researcher and writer of "Uncredited: The Life and Career of Actress Virginia Gregg" and "The Voice of Villainy: The Betty Lou Gerson Story."
As a PhD and former therapist, Lona is passionate about telling the untold #storiesofwomen who perhaps weren’t finished using their own voices during their earthly journeys. Lona is a mother of three with a balanced perspective on the multidimensional elements involved in legacy-maintenance with particular interest in the preservation efforts of the #GoldenAgeofHollywood. Lona’s #biographic works are delicately researched and written with a candid and fair pen and plenty of room for levity.
#OldHollywood holds millions of secrets in its gothic #sensationalism; with its #darksecrets, come just as many shimmering triumphs– and Old Hollywood wouldn’t be as we know it without both.
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