Betty Furness: Role Model

I'm sure that most of you dear readers are too young to remember Betty Furness. A self-admitted "B-Grade Actress" who was the Westinghouse spokeswoman for about 20 years. She would go on TV live (in the early years) and demonstrate Westinghouse appliances, sometimes with unexpected results. One time the refrigerator door she was talking about wouldn't open, and she had to fake it - doing her speil in a close-up while stagehands wrestled with the fridge door just off-camera.

After the Westinghouse gig ended, she worked for the Democratic Party, and then was appointed a consumer advocate by President Ford (back in the day Republicans at least pretened to care about consumers). She then joined the "Today" show staff as the consumer advocatate, and continued in that job until they released her in 1990 in what most people agree was a sad case of ageism.

Betty died in 1994 of stomach cancer after a long life.

Why am I talking about Betty Furness? Because she was a class act. And a Democrat. And I just thought I'd talk about her.

If you would like to see some campy videos of betty in action, click here