Furness, Betty, 1916-1994
Biographical notes:
Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Furness was born in Manhattan, the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness and his wife Florence. She attended the Brearley School and Bennett Junior College.
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. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the film Thirteen Women (1932) but her scenes were deleted before the film's release.
In 1948, Furness was performing in the television series Studio One, which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she thus became closely associated with them.
Furness proved a successful spokeswoman because of her good looks and attractive, but neat and modest clothing, which she changed three times a day. She also proved strongly independent-minded about her appearance and image, refusing to adopt a stage name or wear an apron after Westinghouse offered these suggestions. She did however agree to wear a wedding ring on camera to appear more like a housewife. Furness also purchased all of her clothing herself, not wanting Westinghouse to decide her appearance for her. During the political party conventions in the 1952 presidential election, which was heavily sponsored by Westinghouse, Furness wore 28 different outfits, enough to become the subject of a Life Magazine story.
Furness's contract with Westinghouse eventually resulted in her receiving an annual salary of $100,000 and her advertisements caused sales of the company's appliances to soar, with the one notable exception of the dishwasher, which proved a hard sell after market research found that American women were reluctant to buy a device that would in effect completely automate their kitchen and give them nothing to do.
In 1953, she appeared in her own daytime television series Meet Betty Furness, which was sponsored by Westinghouse. In 1959, a new Westinghouse president decided to drop Furness, possibly because he wished to impart his own ideas on the company, and suggested getting a new, slightly younger spokeswoman. Despite some resistance from the company marketing department, he won out and Furness was released from her contract at the end of 1960. Her final spots for Westinghouse were seen within the CBS News coverage of the July 1960 Los Angeles Democratic Convention, the August 1960 Chicago Republican Convention and the evening of November 8 election returns. She then attempted to move into a less commercialized role in television, but found herself too closely associated with advertising to be taken seriously. During this time, she worked on radio and also on behalf of the Democratic Party.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, aware of her work for the Democratic Party, contacted Furness and offered her the position of Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs. She accepted the assignment and continued in this role until the end of the Johnson administration in 1969. During her tenure she silenced her critics by applying herself studiously to her role and learning the issues relating to consumer rights. From 1969 until 1993 she served as a board member for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. 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. In 1971, Furness was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. In 1973 she also headed the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs.
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. In 1977 her program Buyline: Betty Furness won the Peabody Award.
Furness married four times. Her first marriage was to composer-conductor Johnny Green in 1937, with whom she had one child. After her divorce from Green in 1943, she married radio announcer Hugh "Bud" Ernst Jr. twice - first in 1945, and again in 1946. Her second marriage to him lasted until his death in 1950 when, depressed over the breakup of their marriage, he shot himself after phoning a New York newspaper and declaring, "If you want a good story, come and get it". She married again in 1967 to Leslie Midgley, who survived her. Her granddaughter is Liza Snyder, from the CBS Television series Yes, Dear and Man with a Plan.
In 1990, Furness was treated for stomach cancer, and cut down her schedule on The Today Show to four days. NBC used this as an excuse to fire her two years later, along with a network decision to change their consumer reporting to a more tabloid-style format. Furness was not happy with her termination and cited it as an example of age discrimination. She expressed her desire to continue working, but a recurrence of stomach cancer prevented her from doing so. Her health continued to deteriorate until her death from stomach cancer on April 2, 1994, at age 78 in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
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Subjects:
- Actresses
- Advertising
- Consumer Advocacy
- Consumer Advocacy
- Consumer Advocacy
Occupations:
- Actress
- Consumer Activist
- Consumer Educator
Places:
- New York City, NY, US
- Manhattan, NY, US
