Betsy palmer biography photo

Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress known for her many film and Broadway roles.
Betsy Palmer.
Betsy Palmer was probably best known for playing Jason Voorhees' mother in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), but her career as an actress began many.

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Betsy Palmer was probably best known for playing Jason Voorhees' mother in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), but her career as an actress began many years before.

Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek in East Chicago, Indiana, to Marie (née Love), who launched the Chicago Business College, and Rudolph Vincent Hrunek, a Czech-born industrial chemist. Palmer played a young female officer opposite Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955), and appeared in another war film the same year, The Long Gray Line (1955). Throughout the late 1950s, Palmer was recognized as a news reporter on Today (1952) on NBC, then became largely involved in television. She remained in made-for-TV films and notable guest appearances, before playing the murderous avenging mother, Mrs. Voorhees, in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980). She also continued working in television, and appearing in low-budget films like The Fear: Resurrection (1999). Palmer spent her later years between her home in New York City and Sedona, Arizona.

Betsy Palmer died of natural causes on a Friday, May 29, 2015, at a hos

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Born Patricia Betsy Hrunek, Palmer sported a distinctive short-cropped blonde hair look that lent itself to playing troubled or frightening mom roles, especially in later years.

Palmer appeared in seven Broadway shows. All the original productions had short runs, but she replaced other actresses in long-run shows, notably Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year in 1977 and Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower in 1967.

Palmer’s film career included some distinguished titles, including the movie adaptation of Broadway’s Mister Roberts with Henry Fonda, but she stumbled on what may be her signature role, the murderous mom of horror movie killer Jason Voorhees in the low-budget 1980 “Friday the 13th” and one of its sequels. Thereafter she played similar roles in cinema scarefests like “The Fear: Resurrection” and “Still Not Quite Human.” Her TV credits include "Murder, She Wrote,” "Knots Landing," “Newhart,” and anthology shows like “Playhouse 90,” “Studio One in Hollywood,” “Kraft Theatre,” “Love, American Style” and 'The Love Boat."

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Betsy Palmer

Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek) was born November 1, 1926 in East Chicago, Indiana. A member of the East Chicago Beta Sigma chapter, she graduated from the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University where she studied theater. Palmer got her start in TV working for nothing describing lingerie modelled on the Art Jarrett show. Her first acting job came in 1951 when she joined the cast of weekday soap opera Miss Susan. She quickly became known as a regular supporting movie and Broadway actress and as a panelist on the game show I’ve Got a Secret. She held major parts in TV shows such as Queen Bee, The Web, Omnibus, Studio One, Mister Roberts, and as Kitty Carter in The Long Gray Line. Later she played Jason Voorhees’ mother, Pamela Voorhees, in the popular slasher film Friday the 13^th. Along with appearances on Knots Landing and The Love Boat, she created the role of “Suzanne Becker” in 1982 on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. Betsy died of natural causes on May 29, 2015.