- Born
- Died
- Birth namePatricia Betsy Hrunek
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- 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 hospice care center in Danbury, Connecticut.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseDr. Vincent Joseph Merendino(May 8, 1954 - September 18, 1971) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMelissa Merendino
- Natural blonde hair
- Deep sultry voice
- 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.
- [Getting the role of Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980)] My agent called and said "How'd you like to do a movie?" Great! I had not done a movie in years, California? No, it's going to be shot in New Jersey, and it's ten days work, [I'll] make $1,000 a day. But there's a catch: It's a horror film. I said "Oh no! It's bad enough I'm known as a game show player on I've Got a Secret (1952). I said "Send me the script." He sent it to me, I read it, and I said "What a piece of shit!" No one's ever going to see this thing! It will come, it will go, that's the end of it. I called him, and said "I'll do it." And that's my part of story.
- Friday the 13th (1980) - $10,000 ($1,000/day)
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