Penny Singleton, Her father was Irish Philadelphian newspaperman, Benny McNulty. He was related to Jim Farley Roosevelt's campaign managers and later Postmaster General. As a child, she sang songs at a silent movie theater. After the sixth grade she joined a touring vaudeville act called "The Kiddie Kabaret." Billed as Penny McNulty, she sang and danced with Milton Berle and Gene Raymond. Her first speaking part was in a Jack Benny Broadway show "Great Temptations".
Moving to Hollywood, she took a new name after marrying dentist Lawrence Singleton. Her first name derived from having saved large amounts of penny coins. She played a tough nightclub dancer in After the Thin Man (1936) and acted/sang/danced in Swing Your Lady (1938), one of the movies Humphrey Bogart regarded as his worst. Though naturally a brunette, she bleached her hair blonde ever since she got the role of Blondie in that long-lived series. Blondie Movie Marathon | Reel Talk
In 1958 Penny Singleton was asked to run for member of the national board of American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) She did and scored the highest vote in the union's history. Despite a growing feud with administrative officers, Penny advanced in the AGVA hierarchy and even served one term as president in 1958-59. In 1959, she got sued after going on the Mutual Broadcasting System and calling Actors' Union exec Jackie Bright, a "dime store Hoffa.