Mr. B Natural, 1922 - 2011

Eve · October 5, 2011, 12:39pm

From an obit I am sending out to the media (one of my jobs these days):

Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans learned this week of the passing on May 25 of Betty Luster, 89, better known as Mr. B Natural, from the 1956 short of that name. The US-born Luster worked as a showgirl and TV actress in pre-War England, then returned home to dance on Broadway in Louisiana Purchase and The Wayward Saint. She also appeared on the early 1950s TV shows *Sing It Again *and Seven at Eleven. But it’s for the musical instrument promotional short *Mr. B Natural *that she is best remembered, thanks to MST3K’s hilarious skewering of it in 1993. Decked out in a Peter Pan outfit, Luster haunts a high-school student, convincing him to buy the sponsor’s product—it became one of MST3K’s most popular segments, bringing Luster (long retired to Florida, where she and her husband “were fond of big game hunting, fishing and world class croquet”) an unexpected late-life fame.

I doff my Peter Pan hat and prance around sadly in her memory.

Marley23 · October 5, 2011, 12:43pm

Maybe now she’ll stop haunting my dreams so I can sleep again.

WolfpackJeep · October 7, 2011, 11:44pm

That was always one of my favorite shorts…I’ll have to watch it this weekend.

Little_Nemo · October 7, 2011, 11:51pm

“Hi. I’m actress Betty Luster. You may remember me from such Broadway musicals as Louisiana Purchase and The Wayward Saint and such TV shows as Sing It Again and Seven at Eleven.”

Satchmo · October 8, 2011, 12:27am

That is one of my favorite shorts they did for MST3K. She has a short page at IMDB:

The episode she was included in was “War of the Colossal Beast” from season 4.
(Not that I would know that.)
Betty, you were enjoyed.

Two_Many_Cats · October 8, 2011, 12:43am

Ah, the spirit of music, which within that very short brought us the dreamy ballad: We’re white, we’re white, we’re really really white, we’re really really really really white…

C.Montgomery_Burns · October 8, 2011, 1:40am

See, Billy? It’s fun to be psychotic!

Jenaroph · October 8, 2011, 2:15am

“Knew your father I did!”

“You leave my father out of this!”

Pyper · October 8, 2011, 4:58am

Tsk, how could you post this thread without a link?

Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank · October 8, 2011, 5:30am

“Mr. B, You’re HOT!”

The link to the video is appreciated, but everyone always forgets to include the host segment afterwards, where they debate the sex of “Mr. B. Natural”. Really shouldn’t be missed. This short is what I use to introduce folks to MST3K.

BigT · October 10, 2011, 4:16pm

Here ya go, then.