- Lived with James Dean for eight months.
- Stated that she never would have played the role of Mrs. Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980) if it had not been for the fact that she was in desperate need of a new car.
- Was asked to reprise her role of Mrs. Pamela Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) but turned down because she felt the role was too small for her. The role went to Paula Shaw.
- Attended the 25th Anniversary "Friday the 13th" Convention on May 13 and 14, 2005, in her trademark Mrs. Voorhees sweater at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles, CA.
- Lifelong friend of James Dean.
- Best known for her many television appearances and, later, for her role as Pamela Voorhees in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980).
- While doing a film for Warner Bros., producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, were approaching her for I've Got a Secret (1952), as one of the panelists. Fortunately, she got the position.
- When she was starring on Friday the 13th (1980), she didn't prepare for the fighting.
- Between 1953 to 2001, Palmer had appeared on 73 television shows.
- The first book she ever read was "I Have a Secret," years later, she ended up doing I've Got a Secret (1952).
- Acting mentor and friends of: Adrienne King and Kevin Bacon.
- Had met struggling actor Gavin MacLeod in The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958). The two would be friends for over 55 years, until Palmer's death in mid-2015. Both Palmer and MacLeod worked on episodes of both series: Hawaii Five-O (1968) and The Love Boat (1977).
- Her ex-Friday the 13th (1980) co-star, Adrienne King, attended conventions with her, before Palmer's death.
- Was the last surviving member of the I've Got a Secret (1952) original version's cast.
- Remained good friends with Adrienne King, during and after Friday the 13th (1980) and its spin-off movie, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981).
- In her final years, she moved back to Connecticut, to be closer to her daughter.
- Her acting mentors were the late Luise Rainer and Paul Muni, who were another one of her idols.
- Was once a chauffeur for Mady Christians, and once a professional secretary.
- Her first-ever job was as a secretary at the B&O Railroad.
- Before she was a successful actress, she was once a letter turner on Wheel of Fortune (1952).
- After her role on Bell Witch: The Movie (2007), she retired from acting at age 80.
- Before she was a successful actress, in her early career, she was a 'Today' girl, on Today (1952).
- During her run on Knots Landing (1979), Palmer mentioned in an interview the number of movies that she had done, then followed it with: "That's not counting Friday the 13th. I don't really count that as a movie.".
- Began acting when she was a little girl.
- In 1949, at age 22, Palmer worked alongside, 2 unfamiliar actors, Sally Berman and Tom Bosley, in summer stock, which they wound up doing opera, and would work, each weekend. The 3 continued doing so for six months.
- Co-hosted with ex-I've Got a Secret (1952) panelmate, Bill Cullen, on "Ideas for Better Living".
- Palmer was inducted to Northwest Indiana's South Shore Wall of Legends, but did not attend the ceremony. [19 December 2013].
- Before she was a successful actress, she worked with Luise Rainer in a play, "Biography.".
- When she was little, her family moved to Hessville, Indiana.
- Her parents were Marie (née Love) Hrunek, who launched the Chicago Business College, and Rudolph Vincent Hrunek, an industrial chemist from Czechoslovakia.
- Before she was a successful actress, she sold shoes at Marshall Fields, in Chicago, Illinois.
- Attended and graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.
- In her young career, she admired Joan Crawford.
- Had left acting in the 1970s, to return to Broadway.
- Won the 2006 Best Actress Award at the Terror Film Festival for Penny Dreadful (2005).
- Studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.
- Had one daughter with Dr. Vincent J. Merendino: Melissa "Missy" Merendino (born 1962).
- She won the lead role of Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980) when she was on Broadway and did 1 1/2 yrs. of the play, 'Same Time, Next Year,' while living in Connecticut. She was driving in Connecticut after her performance that evening when her car conked out on her.
- Before she was a successful actress, she worked at WGN-TV in Chicago in the secretarial pool.
- Graduated from East Chicago Roosevelt High School in East Chicago, Indiana, in 1944.
- Often spends her time between her home in New York City and Sedona, AZ.
- When she was doing television, she had to leave her parents' house in Chicago to move to New York City where she saved $400 from her summer stock work. A few weeks later, she moved to NYC.
- Her hobbies (throughout her long life) were: partying, petting, dining out, reading, spending time with family, collecting necklaces and cooking.
- Met her first husband, Dr. Vincent J. Meredino, at a luncheon, while in New York.
- Betsy Palmer passed away on May 29, 2015, at age 88, six days after Anne Meara, and within four months of seven television legends, also born in 1926, either aged 88 or 89: Robert H. Schuller, James Best, Roger Mayer, Stan Freberg, Verne Gagne, Bud Yorkin and Elisabeth Elliot Gren.
- Betsy Palmer died on May 29, 2015, at age 88. Just 20 days before her death, her movie Friday the 13th (1980) was released 35 years ago.
- Like many young women of her generation, when Palmer couldn't afford the money to go to college she learned to be a stenographer.
- Her ex-husband, Dr. Vincent J. Merendino, died on April 8, 2007, just 8 years before Palmer's own death. He was 90.
- Her birthplace, East Chicago, Indiana, is 23 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois.
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