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Furness proved a successful spokeswoman because of her good looks and attractive, but neat and modest clothing, which she changed three times a day. She also proved strongly independent-minded about her appearance and image, refusing to adopt a stage name or wear an apron after
Westinghouse offered
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Furness expressed her philosophy of never declining a job, and she believed it was the reason that she progressed through such an unconventional series of professions. During her illness, she stated that she wanted nothing more than to be able to work, and mentioned in an interview that, as far as
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in 1937, with whom she had one child. After her divorce from Green in 1943, she married radio announcer Hugh "Bud" Ernst Jr. twice - first in 1945, and again in 1946. Her second marriage to him lasted until his death in 1950 when, depressed over the breakup of their marriage, he shot himself after
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Early television commercials often utilized radio performers who had a difficult time adjusting to the visual medium of TV, leading to sometimes embarrassing incidents such as a
Westinghouse commercial where a woman demonstrating an electric stove spilled hot chocolate all over it. Furness, due to
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these suggestions. She did however agree to wear a wedding ring on camera to appear more like a housewife. Furness also purchased all of her clothing herself, not wanting
Westinghouse to decide her appearance for her. During the political party conventions in the
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to four days. NBC used this as an excuse to fire her two years later, along with a network decision to change their consumer reporting to a more tabloid-style format. Furness was not happy with her termination and cited it as an example of
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One of television's most recognizable series of commercials had
Furness opening wide a refrigerator door, intoning, "You can be sure ... if it's Westinghouse." (The spots were so well known they were often parodied: one
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Furness's contract with
Westinghouse eventually resulted in her receiving an annual salary of $ 100,000 and her advertisements caused sales of the company's appliances to soar, with the one notable exception of the
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products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she thus became closely associated with them.
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phoning a New York newspaper and declaring, "If you want a good story, come and get it". She married again in 1967 to Leslie
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in New York, Furness reported on consumer issues, and specifically targeted examples of consumer fraud. In 1976 she began an association with
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which ran in
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magazine gag imagined the words on a neon sign, with a few key letters burned out: YOU CAN ..SU.E IF IT'S WESTINGHOUSE!")
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Over the next few years, she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were
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her cancer went, "the treatment is worse than the disease." Her health continued to deteriorate until her death from
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Your Kaiser Dealer
Presents Kaiser-Frazer "Adventures In Mystery" Starring Betty Furness In "Byline"
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American actress, consumer advocate, and special assistant to the president (1916-1994)
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before being noticed by a talent scout and being signed to a film contract in 1932 by
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in 1951. She appeared in a series of live mysteries on ABC, under the weighty title
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Furness married four times. Her first marriage was to composer-conductor
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Furness made her stage debut in the school holidays in the title role of
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193:(January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress,
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Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs
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