Betty Hutton

One of the most popular screen performers of the 1940s and early 1950s, Betty Hutton gave unfettered, go-for-broke performances in musicals like "Annie Get Your Gun" and comedies like "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1942). She battled her way out of a troubled childhood to become a star on Broadway before making her feature debut in 1942's "The Fleet's In." Audiences were charmed by her limitless energy and charm, and she soon became a top box office draw. Hutton took an extended sabbatical from the business for many years, vanishing from sight until the early 1970s, when she was found at a rectory in Rhode Island; Hutton mounted a modest comeback, marked by exceptional frankness about the personal struggles she had gone through over the years, until her death in 2007. Her unsinkable screen persona retained its popularity thanks to home video, which preserved her unique style for decades to come.