Penny Singleton
Encyclopedia
Penny Singleton was an American film actress. Born Marianna Dorothy Agnes Letitia McNulty in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(commonly known as Dorothy McNulty) she was the daughter of an Irish-American newspaperman Benny McNulty — from whom she received the nickname "Penny" because she was "as bright as a penny".
During her sixty year career Singleton appeared as the comic strip heroine Blondie Bumstead
in a series of 28 motion pictures
from 1938 until 1950 and the popular Blondie
radio program from 1939 until 1950.
Singleton also provided the voice of Jane Jetson in the animated series The Jetsons
.
as part of an act called "The Kiddie Kabaret". She sang and danced with Milton Berle
, whom she had known since childhood, and actor Gene Raymond
, and appeared on Broadway
in Jack Benny
's Great Temptations. She also toured in nightclubs and roadshows of plays and musicals.
Singleton appeared as a nightclub singer in After the Thin Man
, and was credited at this time as Dorothy McNulty. She was cast opposite Arthur Lake
(as Dagwood
) in the feature film Blondie in 1938, based on the comic strip
by Chic Young
. They repeated their roles on a radio comedy
beginning in 1939 and in guest appearances on other radio shows. As Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead they proved so popular that a succession of 27 sequels were made from 1938 until 1950 with he radio show ending the same year. Singleton's husband Robert Sparks produced 12 of these sequels. Singleton dyed her brunette hair blonde for the rest of her life.
Singleton won "Top Billing" in Go West, Young Lady
over her male co-star, Glenn Ford — putting her in the elite company of only two other female stars (Dorothy Page and Jane Frazee) who held the headliner roles as top-billed singing cowgirls.
She was active in union affairs and was the first woman president of an AFL–CIO union. She led a strike by the Radio City Rockettes.
She became familiar to television
audiences as the voice of Jane Jetson in the animated series The Jetsons
, which originally aired from 1962 until 1963, reprising the role for a syndicated
revival from 1985 through 1988 and for assorted specials, records, and Jetsons: The Movie
(1990).
Singleton died in Sherman Oaks, California, following a stroke
and was interred in San Fernando Mission Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California
.
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(commonly known as Dorothy McNulty) she was the daughter of an Irish-American newspaperman Benny McNulty — from whom she received the nickname "Penny" because she was "as bright as a penny".
During her sixty year career Singleton appeared as the comic strip heroine Blondie Bumstead
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
in a series of 28 motion pictures
Blondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
from 1938 until 1950 and the popular Blondie
Blondie (radio)
Blondie is a radio situation comedy adapted from the long-run Blondie comic strip by Chic Young. The radio program had a long run on several networks from 1939 to 1950....
radio program from 1939 until 1950.
Singleton also provided the voice of Jane Jetson in the animated series The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
.
Career
Singleton began her show business career when she was a child, singing at a silent movie theater, and toured in vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
as part of an act called "The Kiddie Kabaret". She sang and danced with Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
, whom she had known since childhood, and actor Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot.-Stage and movie career:...
, and appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
's Great Temptations. She also toured in nightclubs and roadshows of plays and musicals.
Singleton appeared as a nightclub singer in After the Thin Man
After the Thin Man
After the Thin Man is a 1936 American film, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and James Stewart, that is the sequel to the film The Thin Man. The movie presents Powell and Loy as Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles. The film was directed by W. S...
, and was credited at this time as Dorothy McNulty. She was cast opposite Arthur Lake
Arthur Lake (actor)
Arthur Lake was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie, to life in film, radio and television.-Early life and career:...
(as Dagwood
Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....
) in the feature film Blondie in 1938, based on the comic strip
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
by Chic Young
Chic Young
Murat Bernard Young , better known as Chic Young, was an American cartoonist who created the popular, long-running comic strip Blondie. His 1919 William McKinley High School Yearbook cites his nickname as Chicken, source of his familiar pen name and signature...
. They repeated their roles on a radio comedy
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
beginning in 1939 and in guest appearances on other radio shows. As Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead they proved so popular that a succession of 27 sequels were made from 1938 until 1950 with he radio show ending the same year. Singleton's husband Robert Sparks produced 12 of these sequels. Singleton dyed her brunette hair blonde for the rest of her life.
Singleton won "Top Billing" in Go West, Young Lady
Go West, Young Lady
Go West, Young Lady is a 1941 Western comedy movie, starring Glenn Ford and directed by Frank R. Strayer.The young Sheriff Tex Miller Glenn Ford is a fun commissioner in charge of caring for the people.- Stars :*Glenn Ford as Sheriff Tex Miller...
over her male co-star, Glenn Ford — putting her in the elite company of only two other female stars (Dorothy Page and Jane Frazee) who held the headliner roles as top-billed singing cowgirls.
She was active in union affairs and was the first woman president of an AFL–CIO union. She led a strike by the Radio City Rockettes.
She became familiar to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
audiences as the voice of Jane Jetson in the animated series The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
, which originally aired from 1962 until 1963, reprising the role for a syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
revival from 1985 through 1988 and for assorted specials, records, and Jetsons: The Movie
Jetsons: The Movie
Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 animated science fiction film produced by Hanna-Barbera and released on July 6, 1990, by Universal Pictures based on the hit cartoon series, The Jetsons . The movie features the final voice roles of George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc who both died during production of the film...
(1990).
Singleton died in Sherman Oaks, California, following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and was interred in San Fernando Mission Cemetery
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Personal life
She was married to Dr. Laurence Scogga Singleton, a dentist, from 1937 until their divorce in 1939. She was married to Robert Sparks from 1941 until his death on July 22, 1963. Singleton had a daughter with each of her husbands.Features
- Good NewsGood News (films)Good News is the title of two American MGM musical films based on the 1927 stage production of the same name.The first, released in 1930, was directed by Nick Grinde. The cast included Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards and Penny Singleton. The film was shot in black-and-white, although the finale was in...
(19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - Love in the Rough (1930)
- After the Thin ManAfter the Thin ManAfter the Thin Man is a 1936 American film, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and James Stewart, that is the sequel to the film The Thin Man. The movie presents Powell and Loy as Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles. The film was directed by W. S...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - Vogues of 1938 (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - Sea RacketeersSea Racketeers- Cast :*Weldon Heyburn as Chief Bos'n Mate Jim Wilson*Jeanne Madden as Patricia 'Pat' Collins*Warren Hymer as Mate 'Spud' Jones*Penny Singleton as Florence 'Toots' Riley*J. Carrol Naish as Harry Durant*Joyce Compton as Blondie...
(1937) - Swing Your LadySwing Your LadySwing Your Lady is a musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Humphrey Bogart.-Plot:Promoter Ed Hatch comes to the Ozarks with his slow-witted wrestlerJoe Skopapoulos whom he pits against a hillbilly Amazon blacksmith,...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Outside of Paradise (1938)
- Men Are Such Fools (1938)
- Racket Busters (1938)
- Mr. Chump (1938)
- Boy Meets Girl (1938)
- Secrets of an ActressSecrets of an ActressSecrets of an Actress is a 1938 romantic drama film about a love triangle between a stage actress, her financial backer, and his friend.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Fay Carter*George Brent as Dick Orr*Ian Hunter as Peter Snowden*Gloria Dickson as Carla Orr...
(1938) - Garden of the Moon (1938)
- The Mad Miss MantonThe Mad Miss MantonThe Mad Miss Manton is a 1938 screwball comedy and mystery film starring Barbara Stanwyck as fun-loving socialite Melsa Manton and Henry Fonda as newspaper editor Peter Ames. Melsa and her debutante friends hunt for a murderer while eating bonbons, flirting with Ames, and otherwise behaving like...
(1938) - Hard to Get (1938)
- BlondieBlondie (film)Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
(1938) - Blondie Meets the Boss (19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Blondie Takes a Vacation (1939)
- Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939)
- Blondie on a Budget (19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940)
- Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)
- Blondie Goes Latin (19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - Blondie in Society (1941)
- Go West, Young Lady (1941)
- Blondie Goes to College (19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Blondie's Blessed Event (1942)
- Blondie for Victory (1942)
- It's a Great Life (19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - Footlight Glamour (1943)
- Leave It to Blondie (19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Life with Blondie (1945)
- Young WidowYoung WidowYoung Widow is a 1946 drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin, starring Jane Russell and Louis Hayward. It focuses on Joan Kenwood, a young journalist who can't get over her husband's death in World War II...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - Blondie's Lucky Day (1946)
- Blondie Knows Best (1946)
- Blondie's Big Moment (19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Blondie's Holiday (1947)
- Blondie in the Dough (1947)
- Blondie's Anniversary (1947)
- Blondie's Reward (19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) - Blondie's Secret (1948)
- Blondie's Big Deal (19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - Blondie Hits the Jackpot (1949)
- Blondie's Hero (19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) - Beware of Blondie (1950)
- The Best ManThe Best Man (1964 film)The Best Man is a 1964 film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner with a screenplay by Gore Vidal based on his play of the same title. Starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, and Lee Tracy, the film details the seamy political maneuverings behind the nomination of a presidential candidate...
(19641964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
) (scenes deleted) - Jetsons: The MovieJetsons: The MovieJetsons: The Movie is a 1990 animated science fiction film produced by Hanna-Barbera and released on July 6, 1990, by Universal Pictures based on the hit cartoon series, The Jetsons . The movie features the final voice roles of George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc who both died during production of the film...
(19901990 in filmThe year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
) (voice)
Short subjects
- Belle of the Night (19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - Campus Cinderella (19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 (19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
)