Benay Venuta

ABOUT BENAY VENUTA

California-born actress, dancer, and singer who appeared on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Romantic Comedy, and By Jupiter.

She studied in Geneva, Switzerland and subsequently worked as a dancer in London, England.

She is known to television viewers for playing Ellen Stillfield, Jean Smart's on-screen mother-in-law, on the sitcom Designing Women.

She had two daughters with second husband Armand Deutsch.

She appeared in the 1950 musical film Annie Get Your Gun, which starred Betty Hutton .