BETTY CROCKER STAR MATINEE
(ABC, November 3,
1951-April 26, 1952)
General Mills
MAIN CAST:
Adelaide
Hawley – Betty Crocker
Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional
character utilized by General Mills.
The character was created by General Mills’ precursor, the Washburn-Crosby
Company, and advertiser
Bruce Barton in 1921 as a way to give personalized responses to consumer
questions that had been submitted to the company with responses to a contest
they ran. “Betty” was chosen for sounding like a cheery, all-American name,
while “Crocker” was a tribute to Wasburn-Crosby Company director William
Crocker. In 1924, she acquired a voice as the host of the Minneapolis radio
program The
Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, portrayed by Blanche Ingersoll
and later Marjorie
Husted, who supervised Crocker’s development for General Mills. When the
show went national, Agnes White also assumed the role and the three women would
anonymously portray Crocker for the next 30 years.
 |
| Ad from NBC radio congratulating Hawley on the first year of her radio show. |
In 1949,
General Mills hired actress Adelaide Hawley to become the face of Betty
Crocker. Despite her lack of cooking knowledge, Hawley was ideal for the role
due to her broadcasting experience (she hosted her own radio show through the
early 1950s). She would appear in commercials for the brand during The George Burns and Gracie
Allen Show before gaining her own program, The Betty Crocker Show, on
CBS. A year into it, Hawley also came to star
in another show on ABC: Betty Crocker Star Matinee.
 |
| Hawley as Betty Crocker. |
Betty Crocker Star Matinee debuted
on ABC on November 3, 1951 as a replacement
for Two
Girls Named Smith; later changing timeslots to replace another sitcom, A
Date With Judy. It was a half-hour drama/interview anthology
series that featured interviews, food demonstrations, and short dramas or drama
excerpts. Among the featured guests were Jonathan Harris, June Lockhart, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Lake, Audrey Hepburn, Basil Rathborne, David Niven and Uta Hagen. Despite the show
only lasting a single season and The Betty Crocker Show ending soon
after, Hawley continued to be the face of Crocker until she was let go in 1964
when General Mills decided to take the character in a new direction.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Late Christopher Bean” (11/3/51) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“For Love of Money” (11/10/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“An Inspector Calls” (11/17/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Mr. Pim Passes” (11/24/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Eastward in Eden” (12/1/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Linden Tree” (12/8/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Shining Hour” (12/15/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Jason” (12/22/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Farewell to Love” (12/29/51) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
N/A (1/5/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Mary Rose”/ (1/12/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Topper” (1/19/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Open Storage” (1/26/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Weak Spot” (2/2/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Tally Method” (2/9/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Willow and I” (2/16/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Mr. Bell’s Creatures” (2/23/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Interviews” (3/1/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Bridging the Years” (3/8/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Women in His Life” (3/15/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Stove Won’t Light” (3/22/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Three Hats” (3/29/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Night School” (4/5/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Confession” (4/12/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Sense of Humor” (4/19/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Split Infinitive” (4/26/52) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
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