Penny Singleton — Penny Wise (1939) 🇺🇸
Penny wise but not a bit foolish, Blondie, born a brunette, evolved a golden career
by George Benjamin
Blondie stepped from the booth and walked into the beauty parlor’s elaborate reception room. A little girl was waiting on her Mummy, Blondie’s little girl. But at the sight of this new hair-do, Dorothy Grace did a nip-up! “Go away, I want my Mummy,” she wailed.
“But darling,” Penny Singleton comforted her child, “I am your Mummy. They wanted Mummy to change the color of her hair. See, it is I, only my hair is lighter now.” Picking her daughter up in her arms, Penny tried as best she could to explain the sudden change in the shade of her locks.
“For a moment there,” she confided, “I began to think Blondie was to be a very penny wise, but pound foolish young lady. Though I got the job, if my own baby wouldn’t accept me as Blondie, what less biased person would? Well,” Penny continued, laughing as she reminisced, “those were certainly trying days. Between convincing my daughter that I was still the same devoted mother and proving to my studio bosses that I was a darn good Blondie, there wasn’t a dull moment.
“I think inadvertently that D.G., my little girl, was the cause of my getting the part of Blondie. I had been tested with many others, and they began with another girl in the role. However, she was single and inexperienced and when it came to handling a child, she couldn’t seem to manage. That was when I got a call and stepped right into the picture. Baby Dumpling, in the series, is just about the same age as D.G., so I felt perfectly at home as his mother.
“Of course,” Penny continued, wrinkling the wide forehead just below those blonde curls, “it was definitely a problem to keep peace at home. You see, D.G. came on the set with me and was she jealous of Baby Dumpling! Why, when I had a still picture taken with him, there was nothing to do but have one taken with her, and then one with the three of us. And when I’d hold him in my arms for a scene, I had to come right off between shots and hold her, too. Why, I’ve heard of jealous husbands, but they can’t hold a candle to a child. She’s fine with Baby Dumpling when they’re alone. They play together and have a grand time, but just let me cross the horizon and the fireworks begin. I had to stop allowing her on the set, because it slowed things up so.
Little Larry Simms is the cutest kid in the world — next to D.G., of course. When his mother took him in to see about the job, they told her they’d let her know more later. So as they started out of the producer’s office, he looked up and said, ‘Well, Mom, guess we don’t get the job.’ Why he’s just like a grown person. If you try and talk to him the way you would an average child his age, he’d laugh right in your face! This may make him sound precocious as the dickens, but he’s not at all. It’s completely natural with him. There’s not an affected bone in Larry’s little body. Everyone at the studio adores him. In fact, we all like each other. Why, we’re just one happy family. And the funny part is, this time it’s on the level. I’m glad too, because with three pictures a year in the ‘Blondie’ series, it would be awful if we didn’t get on!”
Though there’s folks galore who are of the opinion that blondes are dumb, it doesn’t apply to Penny. Consider, too, that Penny Singleton wasn’t always blonde. Nor was she always known as Penny. Fact is, she came into the world a perfect brunette and was christened Dorothy McNulty. And, as such, made her first movie role a big success in After the Thin Man. However, she realized that, though she was good in the role of a tough girl, it might nevertheless act as a boomerang and prove the very thing to retard her screen career.
But then, let’s have our friend Blondie tell you just how it all happened. When we asked if she’d ever been on the stage, Penny laughed and explained, “Why, I practically lived there for years. You know, I was once an acrobatic dancer. I had a very fast routine which brought the house down with my finale. Forty cartwheels in forty seconds, all done in one spot! But I’d always wanted to be an actress. So every time I’d get an idea, the director would laugh me right out of his office saying, ‘So you’re a hoofer who still wants to act? Stick to your dancing, kid. You don’t know when you’re lucky!’
“This rebuff would keep me quiet just so long; then I’d try again. Well, as luck would have it, one day a friend of mine asked me to see if I could get his sketch read. Since I was a little skeptical of budding young writers, I had a look at it first. Honestly, I was practically in hysterics just reading it.
It was a scream! So in I went to Shubert.
“The first thing he said was, ‘So my dancer still wants to be a dramatic actress?’ I fooled him. In my best, best manner I coolly informed him I only wished his attention for a few minutes. In return, I’d save his present musical. He laughed and said, ‘Shoot the works, kid, I’m all ears!” But, on hearing me, he was laughing on the other side and, when I’d finished, he said I was to do it for the tryout. If it went over it was in the show for New York. That was all I needed. For hours on end I worked over that scene until I felt it in my very bones.
“You see,” Penny explained, “they really needed a ‘fill-in’ while they changed scenes backstage. They couldn’t have a number because the curtain was drawn and there wasn’t room. So, when Jack Benny and I came out to do our skit, it was in the nature of a life-saver for the show. It was one of those dumb blonde things where I talk like mad, making one grammatical error after another.”
From this auspicious beginning, Penny — Dorothy McNulty, that is — launched her dramatic career. However, she says that when she got a call to read for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she was terrific. So much so that her reading was stopped pronto and, before she knew what was going on, she found herself outside the office door. “Frankly,” Penny said, “I was awful!” Undaunted, she continued to work and job upon job followed until that eventful stock engagement, when she was summoned by a movie scout. From then on the fun began, and not all fun for our heroine.
“I was playing up in Ivorton when I got a call to be in town at four that afternoon,” Penny explained. “Well, I arrived and was ushered in to see the head of the talent department. We talked and talked. A little while later a secretary came in and said, ‘Here are the tickets.’ It seemed as though someone might travel, but I didn’t know who. In a few minutes they told me to get ready to go to the coast. I thought that was delightful, but would appreciate it if they’d let me know when to be ready to leave. You can imagine my surprise when they said, ‘You take the plane tonight, Miss McNulty.’
“You should have seen me when I arrived next morning,” Penny continued. “Why, I hadn’t even time to change my clothes. When I got off the plane my only possessions were a hat box and a bag with the few things I’d gathered up en route. I still had on a sweater, skirt, low heeled shoes and ankle socks. This was topped off by a knitted cap and my glasses. The first person I saw was Billy Grady and he said, ‘McNulty, I see you haven’t changed one bit! Listen, you’re going in to meet Mr. Stromberg so please forget the specs.’ In my confusion and excitement I suddenly found myself in front of the producer and had completely forgotten to remove the specs! He gave one look and said, ‘I’m afraid you’re not the type. I had an idea you were entirely different.’
“My heart sank, but I decided it was now or never. I sparred for time and begged for a test. What could they lose doing one more test after so many had been done? He finally saw reason and that afternoon I was tested. The next morning I began work on After the Thin Man! Can you believe it, all in about twenty-four hours! I thought I was dreaming and refused to wake up — that is, till the picture was previewed! After that I was called to the inner sanctum and told of great plans for me. In fact, there were loads of the same type parts in store for me — all tough girls.
“You can bet I woke with a start then,” Penny informed us, puckering her forehead to denote serious thought on the subject even at this late date. “I wanted to be a picture actress, sure, but not for just a day. In this kind of role I’d be typed in no time and the parts would be few and far between. I squared off and started to fight for my rights. This time, however, they wouldn’t see reason, so I didn’t work for a year!”
This might have been punishment enough for the average thespian, but not for a gal of Penny’s caliber. She knew what she wanted and stuck to her guns. In fact, realizing the picture industry only knew her as the tough babe in the couple of assignments she’d done, she decided to change her name and begin anew.
“When I finally got organized for job hunting, I had a new slant on things generally,” Penny told us. “I did a lot of thinking before I decided on a name. I picked Penny because I’d had to save my pennies to get to the coast. Singleton I chose for an obvious reason. It’s my husband’s name. My purpose was a single one and plenty heavy with ambition! Once christened, it wasn’t hard to get work, and after my first assignment they gave me a contract.
“Well, bad luck dogged my tracks again and before I knew it I was typed as a secretary. It got so I never had over ten lines and those required a pencil and pad in my hand. I got thinking about it and decided to do each one differently. One day I had a part that was described as a prissy, old-maidish secretary. I went to the make-up and had them put lines in my face and grey my hair, and from the wardrobe I secured a pair of dark rimmed glasses. I appeared on the set. The director wanted to know who I thought I was. So I told him. He had a sense of humor and let me work! From then on I did each of my little chores as well as I could, but always with such a different make-up that no one could recognize me. In this way I knew I wouldn’t be typed with the audience, at least.
“I honestly think if I hadn’t there would have been no Blondie for me,” Penny confessed and laughed as she considered her current problem. “Of course there’s a grave danger of this typing me. But, I’ll figure that one out later. I do three a year, so if I’m not careful I’ll be Blondie no matter what I do or where I go. Of course it does have its compensations. I’ve never been so flattered with attention before and I love every bit of the fuss. You’ve no idea what a thrill I get out of people wanting to see me off the screen as well as on — even if it’s Blondie they’re really after.
“Fact is, I’ll tell you a secret — I am Blondie! When I began the director said, ‘Now, Penny, if you can play this part just the way you are in everyday life you’ll be perfect.’ I did just that and there was only one criticism — too many freckles!”
We predict a fine future for Penny Singleton. Remember, she’s no dumb little blonde. In fact, she was born a brunette and boasts all the surety and positive personality of a dark lady. We advise you to keep your eye on Miss Penny.
—
Penny Singleton plays Blondie so well because, at heart, she is Blondie. Of course, though, there are those freckles!
—
Collection: Modern Screen Magazine, August 1939