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Newport Lif~BEST OF 2009

DEPARTMENTS

16 Top Shelf Local Shopping

18

Life in the PastBetty Hutton

40

In Our Midst Dr. Jeremiah Lowney

46

On Nature's Side Butterflies

73 Scene

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Wedding

The Date Book

Dining Out

\Vho's Cookin'?

Newport County

Properties

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Two Couples Tie the Knot

in Newport

Calendar of Events

Restaurants, Cafes and Nightspots

Gas Lamp Grille

Real Estate

NEWPORT LIFE - BEST OF 2009

.,.

'"'"

;LIFE IN THE PAST; By Mary Claire Kendall _'"'"'"'"

•

elng

THIS PAGEBetty

Hutton in a 1950

publicity photo for

Annie Get Your Gun,FACINGPAGE Hutton

lived and worked

at the St Anthony's

Church rectory in

Portsmouth for five years

in the 1970s. Seated at right is

Father Peter Maguire, the priest whom

she credits with saving her life,

18

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eautlIU

NEWPORT LIFE - BEST OF 2009

etty

>,.

BETTY HUTTON was a renowned Hollywood star who

embodied the can-do spirit of World War II. Addictions to

prescription drugs changed all that, making the star a shadow of

her former self. In her later years she CAME TO NEWPORT

to recoup and rekindle her taste for life. It was here that the

BLONDE BOMBSHELL earned a degree from Salve Regina

University and an opportunity to become someone - herself.

NEWPORT LIFE - BEST OF 2009 19

20

BORN BETTY JUNE THORNBURG,February26,1921, in Battle Creek, Michigan, Betty Hutton was a screen legend, who, from1941 to 1952, stood front and center in 20 feature films, bringing a vitality tosong and dance few could match. Hutton's roles included "The Miracle ofMorgan's Creek," an American Film Institute favorite, "The Perils of Pauline,"where she portrayed the rise of silent screen star Pearl White, and her mostcelebrated role as Annie Oakley in the 1950 MGM musical "Annie Get YourGun," for which Hutton earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

Dubbed "America's #1 Jitterbug" at age 18 for her dazzling nightclubperformances, the girl "with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm" one criticwrote, signed with Paramount Pictures at just 20, though her youth belied thefact she was already a seasoned pro, singing and dancing since the age of 4.

As Hutton's billing climbed and her name became more brightly lit,Hutton slipped into the other side of her profession; the stuff of salaciousbiopics. "She was a lady who had torments, but tremendous talents ...Andthey all showed up on the screen," says her good friend A.c. Lyles, 81-yearParamount veteran, then Director of Publicity. She was "much beloved," saysLyles, if "sometimes ...a little difficult."

Hutton's problems with prescription drugs escalated around the time sheinjured her arm filming the 1952 Cecil B. DeMille drama ''The Greatest Showon Earth."Contract disagreements at the time between the star and Paramount

NEWPORT LIFE· BEST OF 2009

"If I hadn't gotten [to Newport),

I wouldn't have made it.

They didn't expect me to

be super great here. "

-BETTY HUTTON, 1978

FACINGPAGE Betty Hutton in 1925 with her mother

and sister; as Annie Oakley at the height of her fame

in 1950, AT RIGHT Hutton graduating from Salve

Regina University on May 18, 1986,

.'.

virtually ended her career at her insistencethat her then-husband, Charles O'Curran,direct her next film, The studio said no, soHutton gaveback her contract, Now, fromthe summit of her career staring down,addiction gradually consumed Hutton theway alcoholism had gripped her mother.

In 1970, after losing her singing voice,Hutton nearly died of a sleeping pill over­dose, Her breakdown was triggered in1965 when she learned of the impendingnuptials of her fourth husband, jazztrumpeter Pete Candoli, from a Hollyw'oodtelevision show. Married since 1960, thecouple had one child, Carolyn; their divorcewas finalized in 1967, a few years afterHutton's mother, Mabel, died in a housefire, The actress hit rock bottom in 1972

while performing in a Framingham dinnertheater, losing custody of Carolyn, "I wason so many uppers and downers, there

weren't enough pills to put me up or bringme down," said Hutton, "Iwanted to die,"

.'When she entered the hospital, the 5' 4"star recalled, "I weighed only 85 poundsand looked more dead than alive,"

It was while recuperating in a Massa­chusetts rehabilitation facility that Huttonlooked out of the window one day andnoticed someone she instinctively knewwould help start the next chapter of herlife, "I'm going to meet that man," she saidduring an interview, "He's going to savemy life,"

That man was Fr.Peter Maguire, pastorofSt, Anthony's Church on East Main Roadin Portsmouth, He was checking his cook,Pearl, into the same facility, oblivious of theimpression he had made on the bed-riddenwoman, who found his gentleness and com­passion deeply moving, Befriending Pearl,Hutton Finagledan invitation to the rectory,

NEWPORT LIFE - BEST OF 2009

. Newport was as far from Hollywood asanywhere, which is exactly what Huttoncraved, "", ifI hadn't gotten [to Newport],I wouldn't have made it," said Hutton onGood Morning America in 1978, "Theydidn't expect me to be super great here,These people '" took me in their homes,their little homes, and held me in their anTISand kissed me and hugged me back to life,And, that's New England, boy,"

Living at the rectory during her five­year recovery, Hutton cooked, washeddishes, made beds and cleaned, taking onthe lowly role with the same vigor withwhich she confronted other challenges, Asmost performers come to Find, unearthingtheir true selves is a road fraught with letdowns and bad breaks, "ICwas) the product,"she said of her life up to this point, "likehamburgers, hot dogs '" Father said, 'Bettyyou're just a hurt child,'" Consideration of

21

.,.

Hlf I can take

by their bootstraps,

that is a joy:

now I mean a joy."

hug whoever had been accompanying her.Then, glistening, she'd call me over and sayto her friend, 'Krissy's in a band. A bandcalled Throw-ing Mu-ses. Krissy's gonnabe the new me."'

Alas, all of Hutton's experience anddesire to help her reluctant protege failed.Showbiz had changed beyond recognitionfrom the days of the screen star to theyoung rocker. Though the one piece ofadvice Hutton offered was as perennial in'its value as it was a commentary of Hutton'sformer life. "There's something I've beenwanting to talk to you about," she toldHersh one day at school. "...don't ever letthem feed you pills. Whoever tries to doit! They'll want to wake you up and knockyou out because they make more moneywhen they can control you physically andemotional1y. Stay clean, Krissy. And youwon't end up like me."

In September 1984, Hutton wasawarded an honorary doctorate degree, andgraduated cum laude with a Masters Degreein Liberal Studies two years later. Aftergraduating, she taught drama at Salve aswell as Boston's Emerson College. She lovedteaching because she felt finally she couldgive her students more than just the" com­modity," she could give them "Betty."

In many ways, Newport was the ideallocation for Hutton's rebirth. As one friend

describes, "Betty loved the coming andgoing; the yachts, conjuring up images ofher Hollywood days, the Canada geese, theserenity of the water and Newport Bridgein the distance." She also loved to cook and

would whip up marveJous dishes from theTime-Life Good Cooh series for dinnerparties with close friends such as Dr. Hershand his family as wel1 as Father Maguireand others, that led one participant todescribe her soirees as "Cecil B. DeMille

productions."On July 8, 1996, the father Hutton

never had, Fr.Maguire, died. The man whohad indeed proved the ailing actress rightwhen she put so much faith into her firstimpression of him succumbed to diabetesand heart disease. Hutton could not bear

the thought of his absence. Soon after, she

moved to Palm Springs to be near familyand friends, and lived there until her death

on March II, 2007, leaving as a person whohad finally found peace in just "beingbeautiful Betty." &i

did at age 62, and just as in her films,Hutton applied the same childlike energyto learning as she did to being a singing,dancing and film star.

Her university experience was aspainful as it was rewarding. For one ofHersh's class presentations, Hutton dressedin tights with a top hat and cane and pro­ceeded to do what Hersh recalls as a "little

soft shoe," singing "Me and My Shadow" acappella. "It was so tender," recalls her pro­fessor, "because she was singing with tearsjust streaming down her cheeks." Her class­mates, he says, were confounded. "But, Iknew who she was and I knew what she had

been through and then to see her in this sit­uation was an extraordinary experience."Hutton described for Hersh that when the

lights went down, the shadows were utterlydebilitating, as the.re was a "wall between

her show biz experi­ence [where she found

happiness on stage] andthe real world."

"People loved her,"said Hersh. 'They reallyappreciated what shewas as herself." Some ofthose fans included her

fellow students, whomHutton did her best to

engage despite the dif­ference in ageand theirignorance of her past.One such student wasProfessor Hersh's own

daughter, Kristin, whohad just formed herown band ThrowingMuses. The two

women's connection had the potentialto be more than academic. For Kristin

Hersh, the 62-year-old became, as she putsit, her "best friend." For Hutton, the 18­year-old girl who was the frontman of thelocal alt-rock band, Kristin was a star-in­the-making.

"Betty did live in a bona fide mansion,though, or at least it seems that way," tellsKristin Hersh of her time with Hutton.

"Right on the ocean and decorated entirelyin white: white furniture, walls, carpet,piano. She'd sit at the piano with her friends,singing show tunes. Really. I mean, Iassumed they were show tunes. When thesinging was over, she'd wipe tears away and

- BETTY HUTTON

wants any part of

a soul nobody

and pull them up

this kind was new to Hutton, even as a

woman in her 50s. The only other fathershe had known had abandoned the family

I for another woman when she was two. Ini 1939 a telegram arrived informing the

family of his suicide. It was the only infor­mation they had received since he hadabandoned them 18 years earlier.

In 1974, after newspapers broke thestory that a former Hollywood star wasindeed staying at the rectory, Hutton

: became ill again and was hospitalized. Theturning point in her recovery was when she

i discovered "Christ is in my heart" andconverted to Catholicism.

Media rumours that she wanted to

, become a nun were quashed by Fr.Maguire.I "She's been married four times. It would

seem rather difficult for her to become a

nun at this point." Her devotion to her newfaith, however, was evi-denced by the amount

: of time she spent vol-! unteeringtohelptrou­

bled souls within the

community. "That ismy niche in life," shetold TCM's RobertOsbourne. "If I can

I take a soul nobodywants any part of andpull them up by theirbootstraps, that is ajoy;now I mean a joy."

In the early 1980s,she settled into an

estate overlookingNewport Harbor. Pro-fessor James Hersh,Salve Regina Univer-sity's Philosophy Chair, who cameto knowHutton, explained that Hutton's privatelife "had been the source of so much painthat she was setting it right." For the firsttime in her life, Betty Hutton, speak-easydarling at just age four and star of stage andscreen, could enjoy just being "Betty."

If turning her life around weren'tenough, or because in order to do so thenecessary change must be radical, the highschool dropout enrolled as a student at SalveRegina University. "Father [Maguire] wasa teacher," she said. "[He] taught me fromthe 9th grade to the 12th ... put books inmy hands and when I felt I was ready, I said,'Father, I want to go to college.'" This she

NEWPORT LIFE - BEST OF 2009