Penny in Your Thoughts

Penny Singleton (1908-2003) is the kind of performer who may never be the subject of more than one biography. Luckily for her — and us — Steve Randisi’s Penny Singleton: A Biography (BearManor Media) does her justice. Miss Singleton is best-known, of course, for spending a substantial part of her career playing Chic Young’s comic strip character Blondie Bumstead, both in a long-running Columbia B-movie series, as well as a popular radio show. She also voiced Jane in the popular TV cartoon The Jetsons, and, as readers of this book may be surprised to learn, was a labor leader who took on demanding work with the American Guild of Variety Artists.

In a sense, author Randisi has been working on this comprehensive biography and career chronicle for some 40 years. Back in the 80s, he conducted interviews not only with Miss Singleton herself, but with her Blondie colleagues Arthur Lake and Larry Simms. He stayed in contact with the actress for many years afterward, and later spoke with her daughter. That groundwork reaps substantial rewards in the book, enriching it with knowledge and insight, and making it impressively thorough. It also allows Randisi to address issues years after the fact, such as the rumors that “Blondie” and “Dagwood” didn’t get along. Some have held Arthur Lake accountable for his leading lady being fired from the Blondie radio show. Randisi’s solid research allows him to point the finger at another, slightly unexpected culprit.

It should be noted, though, that the book isn’t just for Blondie fans. The entirety of Miss Singleton’s career in film, theater, radio and television is covered, as is her private life, which included four trips to the altar and the birth of two daughters. Satisfying in its content, Penny Singleton: A Biography is also a very attractive volume, nicely laid out and rich with interesting photos, sharply reproduced. 

Randisi isn’t a terribly prolific author; his last book, about Merv Griffin, was published five years ago. But books as comprehensive and lovingly done as this one are worth the wait.