Betty Grable’s legacy and her million-dollar legs still lives on almost 50 years after her death.
The shining starlet of Hollywood’s Golden Age secured her place as one of America’s top pinup girls during World War II, where her photo was salivated over by servicemen as they manned the trenches.
Grable’s daughter Victoria Colucci recently opened up to Closer Weekly about her late mother and why the actress felt honored to be loved by the troops.
“She would just say that she was a dancer who could act,” Colucci said. “But she felt that one of her greatest accomplishments in life was bringing a little happiness to our soldiers.”
“She would get letters from soldiers and she’d reply,” she continued. “She was proud to help light up the world when it was so dark.”
Grable’s famous photo that was distributed among the GIs during the war included a snap of the actress wearing a white bathing suit. The shot was part of a promotional shoot for the 1943 film “Sweet Rosie O’Grady.” Almost three million copies were sold.
Frank Powolny worked for 20th Century Fox as their studio photographer and he was the man behind the iconic black-and-white pinup photo. During a 1982 interview, he recounted the photo session with the blonde bombshell.
“I asked Betty if she’d like to have a back shot, just to be different,” he said. “She said, ‘Yes,’ and began to clown around. ‘You want it like this?’ she asked, posing. And I said, ‘Yeah.’”
“I made only two shots of that pose,” Powolny continued. “It was the second shot that became famous.”
The “How to Marry a Millionaire” star’s body was so famous, that her legs were even insured for $1 million.
Grable made 40 films throughout her career and was the highest-paid celebrity in Tinseltown between 1943 and 1951. She reportedly earned about $300,000 a year at the time.
Her life was cut short in 1973 when she died of lung cancer at the age of 56. Just a year earlier, Grable was diagnosed with kung cancer and she had been a heavy smoker for most of her life.