Betty Ruth Smith
{{Short description|American actress}}
Betty Ruth Smith (May 25, 1915 – February 1, 2008){{cite news |title=Local |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/190153226/?clipping_id=122060046 |accessdate=April 1, 2023 |work=The Eureka Herald |date=June 3, 1915 |location=Kansas, Eureka |page=5|via = Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=Obituaries, Notices |url=https://obits.dallasnews.com/us/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/name/betty-zech-obituary?id=25671416 |accessdate=April 1, 2023 |work=The Dallas Daily News |date=February 10, 2008 |location=Texas, Dallas |page=|via = }}"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF61-43Y : 1 February 2021), Sloan H Smith, 1920."United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X776-WTF : accessed 1 April 2023), Sloan H Smith, Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 76, sheet 40A, line 15, family 2007, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 721; FHL microfilm 2,340,456. was an American actress best known for her work in old-time radio.
Early years
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sloan H. Smith and a native of Wichita, Kansas, Smith began taking drama lessons when she was five years old.{{cite news |title=Betty Ruth Smith Is Top Dramatic Actress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39462513/betty_ruth_smith/ |accessdate=November 23, 2019 |work=The Times |date=September 24, 1943 |location=Louisiana, Shreveport |page=9|via = Newspapers.com}} By 1922, she was "well known to theater patrons" when she performed a dance number in a musical program at the Wichita Theater.{{cite news |title=Extra Features on Program of Wichita Theater |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84710164/the-wichita-beacon/ |access-date=September 4, 2021 |work=The Wichita Beacon |date=January 15, 1922 |page=2|via = Newspapers.com}}
She acted on the campus radio station at the University of Kansas, from which she graduated in 1937. While she was a student at the university, students chose her as Homecoming Queen and Intercollegiate Festival Queen.{{cite news |last1=Little |first1=Mary |title=Betty Ruth Smith Wins Title Role in Romance of Helen Trent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84709843/the-des-moines-register/ |access-date=September 4, 2021 |work=The Des Moines Register |date=July 7, 1943 |page=7|via = Newspapers.com}} She also acted in Little Theater productions in Wichita.
Career
After her college graduation, Smith took a job at radio station KFH in Wichita, having leading parts on The Phantom Theater, Parlor Playhouse, and other programs.{{cite news |title=KFH dramatic star crashes big time |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84708872/betty-ruth-smith/ |access-date=September 4, 2021 |work=The Wichita Eagle |date=July 30, 1939 |page=12 D|via = Newspapers.com}} While there, she also learned to write for radio. After 18 months on that station, she took a vacation in Chicago and auditioned successfully for NBC radio while she was there.{{cite news |title=New Girl Drama Star In Rapid Rise To Fame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39461137/betty_ruth_smith/ |accessdate=November 23, 2019 |work=The Honolulu Advertiser |date=June 16, 1940 |location=Hawaii, Honolulu |page=31|via = Newspapers.com}} In Chicago, she began working on network radio programs. In 1943, she became the star of The Romance of Helen Trent, a popular CBS soap opera.{{cite news |title=Betty Ruth Smith Portrays 'Helen Trent' Over WNBF |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39414351/betty_ruth_smith/ |accessdate=November 22, 2019 |work=Press and Sun-Bulletin |date=July 10, 1943 |location=New York, Binghamton |page=7|via = Newspapers.com}} She had temporarily filled that role in 1942 when the star, Virginia Clark, had a baby.{{cite magazine |last1=Honigberg |first1=Sam |title=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Betty+Ruth+Smith%22&pg=PT6 |access-date=September 4, 2021 |magazine=Billboard |date=April 11, 1942 |page=7}}
Besides her work on Helen Trent, Smith's other roles on network radio programs included those shown in the table below.
She was also heard on Backstage Wife,{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=Jim |title=The Great Radio Soap Operas |date=14 June 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0414-5 |pages=15–16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d7nwCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Betty+Ruth+Smith%22&pg=PA201 |access-date=September 4, 2021 |language=en}} Stepmother, and Mary Marlin.
In 1942, Smith was designated the "radio actress with the most beautiful eyes."{{cite news |title=Tribute to Her Eyes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39463108/betty_ruth_smith/ |accessdate=November 23, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=December 9, 1942 |location=Illinois, Chicago |page=7|via = Newspapers.com}}
Personal life and death
In 1943, Smith married U. S. Naval Reserve Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Francis Zech.{{cite magazine |last1=Green |first1=Nat |title=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Betty+Ruth+Smith%22&pg=PT6 |access-date=September 4, 2021 |magazine=Billboard |date=February 13, 1943 |page=7}} In 1951, they relocated to Dallas, where she became active in community affairs, serving as lay reader at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. She also sat on the boards of the local Junior League, the Dallas Museum of Art, and of PBS member station KERA-TV, on whose behalf she was an especially vocal advocate.{{cite news |author=Fischer, Marge |title=Helen Trent Found Real Life Romance |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/600383881/?clipping_id=122062057 |accessdate=April 1, 2023 |work=The Shreveport Journal |date=October 27, 1977 |location=Shreveport, Louisiana |page=10|via =Newspapers.com}}
On February 1, 2008, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Betty Ruth Zech died at age 92, preceded in death by her husband and survived by their three children.
References
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Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American radio actresses
Category:American soap opera actresses