Musical Star Betty Hutton Dead at 86

Singer and actress Betty Hutton, whose stage credits ranged from Two for the Show in 1940 to Annie in 1980, died on March 11 of colon cancer at her Palm Springs home. The announcement of her death was delayed for two days until after her funeral, according to The New York Times.

Born Elizabeth June Thornburg in Battle Creek, Michigan, on February 26, 1921, Hutton began her career singing in a Detroit nightclub under the stage name given to her by bandleader Vincent Lopez. In 1940, she appeared in the Broadway revue Two for the Show and went on to play Florrie opposite Ethel Merman in Panama Hattie in October of the same year. She quickly moved to Hollywood and began a successful film career that included The Fleet's In, Let's Face It, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Stork Club, Incendiary Blonde, The Perils of Pauline and Somebody Loves Me. In 1950, she stepped in for Judy Garland to play the title role in the film version of Annie Get Your Gun, the musical that had starred Merman on Broadway.

Hutton replaced Carol Burnett in the Broadway comedy Fade Out, Fade In in 1965, but her career went into freefall in the '60s and 1970s due to an addiction to pills and alcohol. After a stint working at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church in Portsmouth, RI, she began performing again and played Miss Hannigan in the Broadway musical Annie in 1980.

Hutton was married and divorced four times and was the mother of three daughters.