Betsy Palmer 1991 Interview with Brad Lemack (courtesy of RerunIt.com)

I have known actress Betsy Palmer since I was 15 years old. That’s a lot of years. I have been her manager since the mid-1980’s. That’s also a lot of years. I’m so sad to have to report that Betsy died last Friday (5/29/15), at age 88, of natural causes, in a hospice care center near her Connecticut home. She was one of the most gracious, kind, generous and loving people I have ever known. No holiday, no birthday, no personal event ever went unacknowledged or celebrated. Today I celebrate Betsy and the wonderful life she led. While she achieved fame and success for the work she did, she earned admiration and respect for the person she was.
There are many, many happy memories for me. One of them happened on April 1991, when Betsy and I met for a chat on the live coffee shop chat series my crew and I were doing from Beverly Hills. If you’re interested in a stroll down memory lane with Betsy - and some great stories, I hope you will watch this.
Sending love and light to Betsy - and to her daughter Melissa, who survives her. XX

[@MrS98VAC]

She was so immensely talented, and such an underrated actress.When I met her she was the sweetest, most gracious lady ever. So thankful for that moment!

[@pamjroylance]

Such an elegant woman, on stage, on camera, and in life. What a joy to have met her.

[@111highgh]

She was brilliant in, Friday the 13th.

[@DRIVEIN101]

Betsy Palmer was so lovely and adorable. I developed my crush on her from the reruns of "I've Got A Secret" on GSN. I met her twice and she was such a doll both times. Of course, I was heartbroken when she passed away.

[@thomaskoqiiinini5594]

When I was a police officer in a small town in Illinois we had the "Little Theater On the Square". Many of Hollywood's great actors from years past would come there to perform in plays. Betsy Palmer was one of those. She was driving a car along with a friend and she happened to go the wrong way on a street looking for the theater. She parked across the street from it. Recognizing her as she drove past I pulled up behind her and turned on my police lights. I got out my ticket book and wrote her out a "warning ticket" for traveling the wrong way. She was so nervous and apologetic when I informed her that I just wanted her autograph on my copy of the ticket . She laughed and said "you could have just asked for it". I told her "yes I could have but this makes for a much better story". She was so polite and charming. Later that evening my partner and I were coming into a restaurant for our break. She was there with friends and had us sit with her and she bought our coffee and told the story of our meeting and told me "yes it does make for an interesting story".

[@djdon60]

I love your reminiscence, of your encounter, with Miss Palmer, Officer Koqiiinini! Regards, from British Columbia.(hint: Canada-lol)

[@ericdraven7185]

Awsome story. I envy you. LEO myself)

[@michaelfilmbuff3309]

RIP Betsy Palmer. We thank for all the years you gave us.

[@chocloditelensman]

I met Betsy several times and she was always the most gracious person I have ever met. We talked about her days growing up on crystal lake - yes crystal lake near Warsaw Indiana. She stayed with her aunt and uncle there during the summer months.

[@jayburlington]

R. I. P. Betsy Palmer. Thank you for the interview. I always liked Betsy Palmer's laugh and directness. She was noted for roles on stage and screen, but I remember her in her television appearances, notably as a panelist on I've Got a Secret and Password and as cohost on Candid Camera. May she never be forgotten.

[@rockhard2654]

she was a wonderful person, heart of gold, beautiful woman great talent humble as a peble

[@timfronimos459]

What a beautiful woman.

[@kimmowrey8172]

I worked with Betsy in a production of "Mame" in Florida in the 1980s and adored her. We became close buddies and stayed in touch for years and years. She was a delight, a pro, a funny, warm, generous lady and the favorite of the stars I've worked with.

[@111highgh]

+Kim Mowrey Did you like her in the classic slasher film, Friday the 13th?

[@wpdremak6896]

Yes, I too did a Broadway with her and weren't we LUCKY!!??

[@jennc8286]

What a great interview. This was 5yrs before I met Betsy in Edmonton when I was in university and she was doing On Golden Pond. I loved our phone calls and helping each other deal with living in a city that was new to us both. And I love that she laughed at being called squeaky clean because she did have a very wholesome appeal - a smile that lit the room and a nurturing, loving presence. I really think she would've gotten a kick out of trending on twitter, facebook and yahoo news after she passed. She was a dynamite lady!

[@johnishikawa2200]

When that horror picture was released , I believe that it was back in 1980 .That year I was working as a bank teller in Manhattan for the Bowery Savings Bank . One morning as I was waiting for my train at Kings Highway in Brooklyn to go into the city to work , I overheard some young people my age regarding a Billboard advertising the picture , Friday the 13th . Apparently one of them had seen the film , and told the others that the killer was a skinny old lady who was crazy . Well , fast forward to maybe 2020 , or thereabouts , and I saw that movie for the first time on the movie channel . Well I must say that I was shocked when I saw who the killer was ! That "skinny old lady " was Betsy Palmer , who I recognized as a one time glamour queen from Hollywood ! And now I'm not surprised , and rather pleased , to learn that she did that work to buy a car . Not a bad gig for ten days for a new car !

[@Janster59]

Betsy was the BEST!

[@shaneschoeppner2868]

"What's mine is mine, and it will come to me no matter what." Great philosophy!

[@CarlyG18]

After I started to recently get old game shows on my TV, I have seen a lot of episodes of I've got a Secret. Betsy was always up beat, fun and had just the right personality to do all the zany things that the show did. The Halloween show # 490 from 10/30/61 that surprised her on her birthday showed how fun and great a person she was. I wish live was as simple as it once was. God Bless Betsy Palmer.

[@RandyWaage]

This is a wonderful interview with Betsy! Thanks for posting Brad. Such a cool story that you met her when you were 15. My condolences to you/all who knew her. All the interviews I've seen she's been super nice. As a teenager I knew her from her role as Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th and she was really great in that movie! It's nice to hear about the other aspects/characters she played in her career. May she rest in peace.

[@djdon60]

I saw Betsy Palmer, first, on a "Password", when I was nine years old. Immediately, I had an immense crush, on her. Thus, I'm loving, seeing the iGAS and, other shows, on KZbin. My crush never abated. R.I.P., Miss Betsy Palmer.

[@S-do6ze2tt9i]

Betsy Palmer hermosísima. 😍😘.

[@jasonsturges3540]

I Loved her in Friday the 13th & on Knots Landing.

[@chocloditelensman]

cool interview ! thanks for posting. Betsy is so classy and fun.

[@djdon60]

Classy and. fun; I couldn't have phrased it, better!

[@usermikes]

Betsy Palmer..I've always, always liked her..Sad, she is gone...

[@DanielBMaximoff]

We miss you, Betsy ! They don't make them like her anymore.

[@mikerivera7509]

She was so gorgeous

[@jholttn]

My heart literally broke that I didn't get to meet Betsy Palmer before she passed away. I literally remember when and where I was when I found out that she passed away. No joke; I was Kroger shopping when I read the news of her passing on my phone and I could have literally broke out in tears right there. Being a huge Friday the 13th fan, I would almost give anything for an autograph picture of her for my Friday the 13th collection.

[@finster1968]

She was every bit as gracious as you could imagine. I met her in 2006 at an event. She was very warm and charming. I really wanted to slap this interviewer in the head, when he started laughing at her for analyzing why the kids loved her character. Because even though she wasn’t initially excited about the role, she absolutely loved and appreciated her fans. I felt like this jerk was really stepping on that relationship and belittling her for it.

[@robocock475]

The only force that could stop Jason

[@JenX_1973]

I watched the first "Friday the 13th" when it came out in 1980. I was 7 at the time. Betsy was amazing in it. Little did I know, at the time, it would spawn one of the most successful franchises in the horror genre. A lot of people my age only knew Betsy as Mrs. Voorhees, and didn't know that she was already a successful, established actress with an impressive resume. I had seen Betsy in quite a few movies, and the "I've Got a Secret" game show. She was very underrated, and deserves to be not only remembered, but respected as well!

[@PungiFungi]

Betsy was very good in Queen Bee with Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford.

[@frederickcombs8661]

I saw her ONSTAGE in Gigi with Louis Jordan, she played the aunt. R.I.P.

[@Brakett]

that was wonderful

[@pauldriscoll5356]

Loved her as the brassy Navy nurse in "Mr. Roberts".

[@warrenguy76]

Hold up. Betsy, I love you and your craft RIP, but I came to this video solely for your portrayal of the damaged, sincere mother in 'Friday the 13th'. No disrespect, but you played a GREAT role in that film and you truly should of had top billing.

[@elliotedwards4238]

Her and Jamie Lee Curtis are the queens of HORROR

[@GeeBee909]

There was never a more beautiful woman than Betsy's appearances on Password

[@nickbuchanan190]

Betsy Palmer.. what a great, powerful talent!!

[@suestephan3255]

And humble, gracious and just nice

[@johnflynn9619]

Betsy was a Great Actress. RIP

[@eddieloius4592]

9:12 - NOOOOOOT the best ki kiki - ma ma ma impression. THE WORST. LOL

[@jackanthony976]

Betsy Palmer was in a film with Joan Crawford called "Queen Bee." I felt so sorry for Miss Palmer in this film. Crawford playing her bitchy self steals Palmer's fiance. Palmer as a result hangs herself. Before hanging herself Palmer tells anyone within earshot how evil Crawford is and that Crawford, like the queen bee will sting to death anyone who gets in her way.

[@johnsax1445]

So disappointed she never mentioned “Queen Bee” in 1955 with Joan Crawford! That movie achieved immortality when “Mommie Dearest” daughter Christina Crawford said she walked out before it was over as the evil title character Joan played reminded her too much of her real-life mother.

[@domenicv7962]

Such a beautiful woman....!

[@sweiland75]

Her voice is very different from her IGaS days.

[@healthnut3433]

Threads were being pulled, alright. She was chosen at a very young age and handled. Most likely.

[@wpdremak6896]

I truly hope someone, maybe Pat Guinen will do a biography of this precious soul! She literally WALKED into a role on a DARE! She was a steno in the Chicago stockyards on vacation in New York with a couple of girl friends. She pulled her OWN strings, thank you!

[@BradyQuartermaine]

What a nice lady. I forgive her for murdering all those kids in 1980.

[@frankpetersen6624]

She was still very embarrassed about mrs. voorhees at this point

[@TransVangal]

The interviewer dude is kinda handsome

[@Alex-gy5ce]

I wasn't alive yet! 🫨

[@timbermastersonmusic1780]

You look a little like Steve Coogan, the actor, in this video, Brad.

[@jocko8888]

I liked her, the interview was good but there is NO excuse for your haircut!

[@geupelboi]

The excuse is the year NINETEEN NINETY ONE

[@trashtvinternational]

Ahahah! Why does she speak Italian at a certain point ???😂

[@saritaschwedes8393]

a

[@trashtvinternational]

What was wrong for men to have that kind of haircut 😱😳😦