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Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Pamela Voorhees.

Betsy Palmer (b. Patricia Betsy Hrunek on November 1, 1926, East Chicago, Indiana) is an American actress. She graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

Probably best known for playing the part of Jason Voorhees's mother Pamela in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), she has appeared in numerous movies, TV programs and game shows.

She was a long-time panelist on the panel show I've Got a Secret (from 1957 to 1967).

She played Lt. Ann Girard (the most prominent female character) in the movie Mister Roberts (1955) and the character of Carol Lee Phillips in the film Queen Bee (1956) starring actress legend Joan Crawford. She starred alongside Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins in the low budget Western The Tin Star (1957), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story or Screenplay.

From 1953 to 2001 she was a guest star on 73 programs including (but not limited to and in no particular order):

• Marty (the TV Adaptation)
• Just Shoot Me!
• Murder, She Wrote
• Columbo (Death Hits the Jackpot - 1991)
• Newhart
• Charles in Charge
• The Love Boat
• Hallmark Hall of Fame
• The Mike Douglas Show
• The Joey Bishop Show
• Toast of the Town
• Password
• Kraft Television Theatre
• Philco Television Playhouse
• Lux Video Theatre
• Studio One

She also played "Aunt Ginny" on the TV series Knots Landing from 1989 to 1990.

Palmer on I've Got A Secret

She got her first acting job in 1951 when she joined the cast of the 15 minute long, daily soap opera Miss Susan which was produced in Philadelphia. She was "discovered" for this role while enjoying a party in the apartment of Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.). She had been in New York City less than one week.

She acted in a Mayfield Dinner Theatre production of "On Golden Pond" in 1997 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, playing the role of Ethel Thayer.

She also provided the disembodied voice for the title character (the ghost of a dead witch) in the film Bell Witch: The Movie, which premiered in theaters on September 24, 2005.

• Betsy Palmer at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Betsy Palmer on the podcast The Future And You (recorded Sept 4, 2005) (Assorted anecdotes about her career and the story of how she got her first acting job.)