Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean (* 14. April 1926 in Buffalo , New York as Gloria Jean Schoonover , † 31 August 2018 in Mountain View , Hawaii ) was an American actress and singer .
life and career
Gloria Jean began her show career as a child on local radio stations, where she played alongside Paul Whiteman and his band, among others . Her singing teacher took her to an audition at Universal Studios in Hollywood , where she immediately received a studio contract . Universal producer Joe Pasternak planned Jean as the successor to musical star Deanna Durbin , who was five years her senior and who had just switched from child star to adult profession. Jean was given the lead role in her film debut The Under-Pup (1939), alongside her starring Robert Cummings , C. Aubrey Smith and Beulah Bondi . In the following years she played leading roles for Universal in numerous films, always having expanded vocal parts. She played with Robert Stack in the musical film A Little Bit of Heaven (1940) and as the niece of WC Fields in Don't give a fool a chance (1941). In several films she appeared on the side of other youth stars such as Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan .
She made the leap into adult education in 1944 with the film noir Destiny , in which, as a blind girl, she is threatened by an escaped criminal. After her contract with Universal came to an end, she toured the country for two years before making her film comeback alongside Groucho Marx in Copacabana in 1947 . At this point, however, the peak of her career had already passed and she received only a few film offers. After Jean appeared mainly with guest roles on television in the 1950s, she retired from the acting business in the early 1960s. In 1991 she received the Young Artist Award for her work as a young actress.
She was married to Franco Cellini between 1962 and 1966 and the marriage ended in divorce. She later lived in Hawaii with her son and his family and made repeated appearances in documentaries. In 2005 she published her autobiography Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven . She died of heart failure in late August 2018 at the age of 92.
Filmography (selection)
- 1939: The Under-Pup
- 1940: If I Had My Way
- : 1941 no chance Give a Sucker an (Never Give a Sucker to even break)
- 1943: Moonlight in Vermont
- 1943: Mister Big
- 1944: Destiny
- 1944: Ghost Catchers
- 1944: Follow the Boys
- 1947: Copacabana
- 1949: Manhattan Angel
- 1955: Annie Oakley (TV series, 2 episodes)
- 1959: Laffing Time
- 1961: Bathed Too Hot (The Ladies Man)
- 1962: Saints and Sinners (TV series, 1 episode)
Awards
- 1991: Young Artist Award as Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award
literature
- Scott MacGillivray and Jan MacGillivray: Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven , iUniverse, Bloomington, IN, 2005.
Web links
- Gloria Jean in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gloria Jean, '30s and' 40s Singer and Actress, Dead at 92 . In: Extra . ( extratv.com [accessed September 4, 2018]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jean, Gloria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schoonover, Gloria Jean (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-american actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buffalo , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 31, 2018 |
| Place of death | Mountain View , Hawaii |