1930s-40s actress and country singer Betsy Gay, 96, died on June 13. The daughter of a show-biz couple, she got her start in Our Gang shorts, including The Our Gang Follies of 1938 (she was one of Alfalfa’s fans). Till her last film in 1943, Gay—looking unnervingly like a girl Mickey Rooney) appeared in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, At the Circus, Bachelor Daddy, Mystery Plane, and her swan song, What’s Buzzin’, Cousin? She also appeared onstage at the Pasadena Playhouse. Gay’s career in music started in the early ’40s, as a country singer and yodeler. She and her parents appeared in radio’s The Gay Family show, with Betsy as host. During WWII, she performed at military camps via the Hollywood Victory Committee Shows. In 1948, Gay was a regular cast member of the “Squeakin' Deacon's” Country Store TV show. Through the 1950s, she was a regular on radio and TV, as well as recording several albums. She was married to jeweler Thomas Cashen from 1954 till his death in 2005; they had five children.
