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- Actress
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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.- Gloria Lynne Henry was born in Detroit. Her acting career started very early as she has been performing on stage since the age of eight. After receiving her B.F.A. in theater arts at Wayne State University in Detroit, Gloria helped to create a children's' theater program at Detroit's Attic theater. She has also traveled with the international group 'Up With People', on its European tour and performed in Equity playhouses across the United States.
Her first experience in front of the camera was in a small role in the TV movie Bare Essence (1982), but it was not until 1994 when she got recognition from Horror/Sci-Fi fans worldwide after co-starring in Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994). Don Coscarelli gave her the role of Rocky mainly because of her tough look and the fact that she was a student of the martial arts. To date, it remains as her most important cinematic performance and even nowadays she keeps going to Horror conventions and Phantasm reunions to meet her numerous fans.
Since her appearance in Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), Gloria had a couple of brief roles in The Devil's Advocate (1997) and in The Horse Whisperer (1998). More recently, she's been working in a variety of national commercials.
In addition to her acting work, Gloria has also performed as lead singer in the critically acclaimed funk/rock band 'Chatter', which was originally formed by her cousin Brian Hardgroove, who has extensive music credits.
Gloria Lynne Henry currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son.