Elizabeth Ruth “Betty” Grable (December 18, 1916 - July 2, 1973) was an American actress, dancer, singer, and pin-up model who became one of the most popular film stars and iconic sex symbols of the 1940s.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to stockbroker John Conn Grable and Lillian Rose Hofmann, she was the youngest of three children and was pushed toward show business from an early age, studying dance and performing in contests and minor roles as a child. Her mother moved with her to Hollywood in the late 1920s, where Grable began appearing in small film parts as a teenager, gradually gaining experience in musicals and comedies for various studios during the 1930s.​

Her breakthrough came on Broadway in 1939 with Cole Porter’s musical “Du Barry Was a Lady,” which led to a long-term contract with 20th Century-Fox and the lead in “Down Argentine Way” (1940), her first major screen success.

Throughout the early 1940s she became Fox’s top star, headlining a string of Technicolor musicals and light comedies such as “Moon Over Miami” (1941), “I Wake Up Screaming” (1941), “Sweet Rosie O’Grady” (1943), “Coney Island” (1943), “Pin Up Girl” (1944), “The Dolly Sisters” (1945–46), and “Mother Wore Tights” (1947).

At the height of her popularity, her films of the 1930s and 1940s collectively grossed over $100 million, and she ranked among the top ten box-office stars for ten consecutive years from 1942 to 1951, a record matched by few of her contemporaries. Her most famous later film was “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953), in which she co-starred with Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe in a glossy romantic comedy about three models pursuing wealthy husbands.​

During World War II, Betty Grable achieved legendary status as the era’s premier pin-up girl, thanks largely to a 1943 photograph of her in a bathing suit, posed with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, which became one of the most requested images among American servicemen.

Her studio capitalized on her wholesome yet glamorous image, emphasizing her shapely legs, which were famously insured for one million dollars and earned her the nickname “The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs.” She was often billed as an embodiment of the ideal American girl, combining athletic dancing ability with a friendly, accessible persona that distinguished her from more overtly sultry stars of the period.​

Her personal life included two high-profile marriages within the entertainment industry. She married former child star Jackie Coogan in 1937, but the union was troubled and ended in divorce in 1940, shortly before her rise at Fox.

In 1943 she married bandleader and trumpet player Harry James, with whom she had two daughters; this marriage lasted more than two decades before ending in divorce in 1965. 

Betty Grable died of lung cancer on July 2, 1973, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 56, and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in California.