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IMDbPro

Gloria Henry(1923-2021)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
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Gloria Henry
Trailer for Dennis The Menace: The Entire Series
Play trailer0:58
Dennis the Menace (1959–1963)
2 Videos
66 Photos
New Orleans-born actress Gloria Henry was born Gloria Eileen McEniry on April 2, 1923, and lived on the edge of the Garden District growing up. Educated at the Worcester Art Museum School, she moved to Los Angeles in her very late teens and worked on a number of radio shows and commercials using the stage name of Gloria Henry. She also performed in little theatre groups.

Signed by an agent, the brunette hopeful transitioned into film work via Columbia Studios and made her debut as the femme lead in the minor horse-racing film Sport of Kings (1947), instantly moving into the programmer Keeper of the Bees (1947) as a love interest for Michael Duane and mystery drama Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1947) with Ron Randell as the title sleuth. Now a pert and pretty reddish-blonde, she continued providing decorative duties in such "B" fodder as Port Said (1948), in a dual role, Adventures in Silverado (1948),Air Hostess (1949), Rusty Saves a Life (1949), Feudin' Rhythm (1949), a musical western showcasing Eddy Arnold, Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951), and the Gene Autry westerns The Strawberry Roan (1948) and Riders in the Sky (1949). Some of the better films for her that came out of this period included secondary femme roles in Johnny Allegro (1949) with George Raft and Nina Foch, Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) starring Lucille Ball and William Holden, and the classic Fritz Lang western Rancho Notorious (1952) top-lining Marlene Dietrich. She also had top billing in a few of her "B" films but to little notice.

The 1950s were an uneventful mixture of more "B" films and episodic TV guest parts (My Little Margie (1952), Perry Mason (1957)). She also was a regular on the private eye series The Files of Jeffrey Jones (1952) starring Don Haggerty, but was written out of the show due to pregnancy. All this relative anonymity, ended for her, however, when she won the role of radiant and resilient mom "Alice Mitchell" on the comedy series Dennis the Menace (1959) shortly after filming a role in Gang War (1958) starring a young and up-and-coming Charles Bronson. The series co-starred Herbert Anderson as her hapless, bespectacled husband and young Jay North as the pint-sized, trouble-making tornado of the title. Gloria was the picture of sunny innocence and maternal warmth and enjoyed four seasons. Sadly, invaluable actor Joseph Kearns, who played the cranky next-door neighbor "Mr. Wilson", died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1962 to the detriment of the show. He provided an important chemistry with North and necessary friction that just wasn't mustered up by his eventual replacement Gale Gordon, a terrific character grump in his own right. Dennis the Menace (1959) lasted only one more season before being canceled. Gloria's career slowed down considerably after this TV success. She was spotted occasionally in TV-movies playing assorted bit-part matrons and returned to the big screen in a brief role in Her Minor Thing (2005), a romantic comedy directed by Charles Matthau, Walter Matthau's son. She occasionally attended film festivals and nostalgic conventions. Gloria wed architect Craig Ellwood in 1949; they divorced in 1977. She had three children from that marriage: Jeffrey, Adam and Erin Ellwood.
BornApril 2, 1923
DiedApril 3, 2021(98)
BornApril 2, 1923
DiedApril 3, 2021(98)
IMDbProStarmeter
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Photos66

Harry Davenport, Harry Cheshire, Gloria Henry, and Oscar O'Shea in Sport of Kings (1947)
Steven Geray, Richard Hale, and Gloria Henry in Port Said (1948)
William Bendix, Ray Collins, Gloria Henry, Connie Marshall, Una Merkel, and Jeff Richards in Kill the Umpire (1950)
Herbert Anderson, Gloria Henry, and Jay North
Herbert Anderson, Gloria Henry, and Jay North
Herbert Anderson, Gloria Henry, and Jay North
Herbert Anderson, Gloria Henry, and Jay North
Gloria Henry and Robert Shayne in Law of the Barbary Coast (1949)
William Bishop, Gloria Henry, and Forrest Tucker in Adventures in Silverado (1948)
Gloria Henry and Pat Phelan in Triple Threat (1948)
David Bruce and Gloria Henry in Racing Luck (1948)
Gloria Henry and Bill Williams in Rookie Fireman (1950)

Known for

Barbara Billingsley, Ann Doran, Gloria Henry, Audrey Long, and Marjorie Lord in Air Hostess (1949)
Air Hostess
5.5
  • Ruth Jackson
  • 1949
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1947)
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
6.6
  • Ellen Curtiss
  • 1947
Gloria Henry and Robert Shayne in Law of the Barbary Coast (1949)
Law of the Barbary Coast
4.8
  • Julie Adams
  • 1949
David Bruce, Gloria Henry, and Paula Raymond in Racing Luck (1948)
Racing Luck
  • Phyllis Warren
  • 1948

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, Jim O'Heir, Nick Offerman, Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Retta, Aziz Ansari, and Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Recreation (2009)
    Parks and Recreation
  • Estella Warren, Christian Kane, and Michael Weatherly in Her Minor Thing (2005)
    Her Minor Thing
  • Sela Ward, Swoosie Kurtz, Patricia Kalember, and Sheila Kelley in Sisters (1991)
    Sisters
  • Neil Patrick Harris in Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989)
    Doogie Howser, M.D.
  • Her Wicked Ways (1991)
    Her Wicked Ways
  • Mr. Belvedere (1985)
    Mr. Belvedere
  • Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, Charlene Tilton, Jim Davis, Linda Gray, and Steve Kanaly in Dallas (1978)
    Dallas
  • Dragnet (1989)
    Dragnet
  • Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988)
    Doin' Time on Planet Earth
  • Our House (1986)
    Our House
  • James Cromwell, Loni Anderson, Jack Elam, Dana Ivey, and Lee Weaver in Easy Street (1986)
    Easy Street
  • Erin Gray, Ricky Schroder, and Joel Higgins in Silver Spoons (1982)
    Silver Spoons
  • Mary Frann, Jennifer Holmes, Steven Kampmann, Bob Newhart, and Tom Poston in Newhart (1982)
    Newhart
  • Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker in Simon & Simon (1981)
    Simon & Simon
  • Calamity Jane (1984)
    Calamity Jane

Soundtrack

  • Dennis the Menace (1959)
    Dennis the Menace

Videos2

Al Jennings of Oklahoma
Trailer 2:15
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
Dennis The Menace: The Complete Series
Trailer 0:58
Dennis The Menace: The Complete Series

Personal details

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    • April 2, 1923
    • New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
    • April 3, 2021
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
    • September 28, 1949 - 1977 (divorced, 3 children)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Acting mentor and friend of Jay North.

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