Betsy Drake

Betsy Drake (born September 11, 1923) is a French-born American actress and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.

Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris in 1923. Although her grandfather, Tracy Drake, had built the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL, the Drakes lost their money in the 1929 stock market crash when Betsy was five years old. As a result Betsy was forced to return to the United States, on the ship SS Ile de France, with her parents, her brothers and a nanny. She grew up variously in Chicago, Illinois; Westport, Connecticut; Washington D.C, Virginia, North Carolina and New York, NY.

Betsy went to twelve different schools, both private and public, before concentrating on theatre and acting at junior college in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.. She began looking for work as an actress in New York, supporting herself by working as a Conover model. She met the playwright Horton Foote who offered her a job as understudy in his play Only the Heart which enabled her to join Actor's Equity and thus became a professional actress.