Biography

5’6" Bette Arlen was seen by studios as a successor to Lauren Bacall because of their uncanny resemblance, but Bette didn't have the talent nor the motivation to get cast in anything other than the chorus in movies like Summer Stock (1950), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), and The Merry Widow (1952). Bette attended Wauwatosa High School where she sang in their orchestra, but had no aspirations of stardom until a mogul named Sam Friedlander flew her to Mexico to appear in a series of commercials. She spent several months freelancing as a model before a scout with RKO Pictures spotted her and on May 12, 1947 gave her a seven-year contract with the studio.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Bette as contract player with no false promises of turning her into a star. She’s seen in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950) riding a train, The Strip (1951) dancing with Mickey Rooney, and Brigadoon (1954) gossiping at a bar. Cat-Women of the Moon (1953) and The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956) were her only credited roles in the movies, and after the latter film she left the industry and worked at a gift shop until marrying realtor Lloyd Swanson in 1965 with whom she had a son of the same name. She spent her later years divided between homes in Colorado and California until her death on April 1, 1999 in Palm Desert, California at the age of 69.
- IMDb mini biography by: Samuel Claesson