Book Review: Penny Singleton: A Biography
Back in the 1960s I discovered the Blondie and Dagwood movies on television and loved the family dynamic with a bumbling father as the focal point. Inspired by Chic Young’s comic strip, it was the opposite of the then-current TV shows with the firm-yet-understanding patriarch and showed Dagwood, played by Arthur Lake, as a loveable slapstick buffoon.
But the series was named for Blondie, played by Penny Singleton, a pretty actress who held everything together. And Penny now has a biography of her own, from BearManor Media, detailing her long career as an activist, and an activist for her fellow actors.
Author Steve Randisi knew Penny Singleton personally so his biography not only has a great deal of insight as to the history of her screen career, but also her own exclusive quotes. Born Dorothy McNulty, she began as a child performer in vaudeville, and was later a cute brunette supporting player in films like Racket Busters with Humphrey Bogart, Boy Meets Girl with James Cagney, and After The Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy. It was 1938 when Penny was cast as Blondie, and she played the character in 28 films through 1950. In the 1960s her voice could be heard as Jane Jetson, wife of George, on the cartoon TV series The Jetsons. All of this is given a great deal of focus and detail throughout the biography, with a lot of insights found nowhere else.
Throughout her career, Penny was active labor unions, being named President of he American Guild of Variety Artists in 1958-1959, and in 1969-1971. Perhaps the most fascinatIng part of this biography details this period in Penny’s life and career, as Randisi details the serious issues she dealt with in an effort to help performers.
The book continues to discuss Penny’s later return to performing, reteaming with Arthur Lake in a touring production of No No Nanette, and her later years. Penny and Arthur remained friends over the years, and she was in attendance at his private funeral services when he died in 1987. She later appeared at awards banquets, hosted screenings of the Blondie films, and remained active and connected until her passing in 2003 at the age of 95. I love that she did indeed meet Debbie Harry!
This is one of the finest and most detailed biographies I have read, the author offering information and insight that allows the reader a real understanding and appreciation of this intelligent, talented lady. She may be best remembered as Blondie, but, as this biography indicates, Penny Singleton is one of the most accomplished American entertainers of the 20th century.
This book is most highly recommended and can be ordered at this link: PENNY