  penny singleton (september 15, 1908&nbsp;â november 12, 2003) was an american film actress. born marianna dorothy agnes letitia mcnulty in philadelphia, pennsylvania (commonly known as dorothy mcnulty) she was the daughter of an irish-american newspaperman benny mcnulty&nbsp;â from whom she received the nickname "penny" because she was "as bright as a penny". during her sixty year career singleton appeared as the comic strip heroine blondie bumstead in a series of 28 motion pictures from 1938 until 1950 and the popular blondie radio program from 1939 until 1950. singleton also provided the voice of jane jetson in the animated series the jetsons. she died in november 2003 at the age of 95 of respiratory failure. ==career== singleton began her show business career when she was a child, singing at a silent movie theater, and toured in vaudeville as part of an act called "the kiddie kabaret". she sang and danced with milton berle, whom she had known since childhood, and actor gene raymond, and appeared on broadway in jack benny's the great temptations. she also toured in nightclubs and roadshows of plays and musicals. thumb|left|poster for blondie takes a vacation (1939), singleton's second blondie film singleton appeared as a nightclub singer in after the thin man, and was credited at this time as dorothy mcnulty. she was cast opposite arthur lake (as dagwood) in the feature film blondie in 1938, based on the comic strip by chic young. they repeated their roles on a radio comedy beginning in 1939 and in guest appearances on other radio shows. as dagwood and blondie bumstead they proved so popular that a succession of 27 sequels were made from 1938 until 1950 with the radio show ending the same year. singleton's husband robert sparks produced 12 of these sequels. singleton dyed her brunette hair blonde for the rest of her life. singleton won "top billing" in go west, young lady over her male co-star, glenn ford&nbsp;â putting her in the elite company of only two
1908_births 2003_deaths American_film_actresses American_people_of_Irish_descent American_radio_actresses American_voice_actresses Burials_at_San_Fernando_Mission_Cemetery Deaths_from_stroke Vaudeville_performers