Gloria Mildred DeHaven (July 23, 1925 – July 30, 2016) was an American actress and singer who was a contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Early life DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers. A 1983 newspaper article reported, "Miss DeHaven ... says that her real family name was O'Callahan before her father legally changed his name to DeHaven."

Film She began her career as a child actor with a bit part in Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936). She was signed to a contract with MGM. She had featured roles in films such as Best Foot Forward (1943), The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), Scene of the Crime (1949) and Summer Stock (1950), and was voted by exhibitors as the third most likely to be a "star of tomorrow" in 1944. She portrayed her own mother, Flora Parker DeHaven, in the Fred Astaire film Three Little Words (1950).

After a long absence from the screen, DeHaven appeared as the love interest of Jack Lemmon in the comedy Out to Sea (1997), also starring Walter Matthau.

Music DeHaven's musical talents supplemented her acting abilities. Besides being cast as a singer in many of her films including I'll Get By, So This Is Paris and The Girl Rush, and performing numbers in many of her movies, DeHaven sang with the bands of Jan Savitt and Bob Crosby and briefly had her own nightclub act. In the 1950s, DeHaven often appeared at the El Rancho Vegas, the first full service hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip. During the early 1960s, DeHaven recorded for the small Seeco label, for which she appeared on the 1962 compilation album Gloria Lynne and Her Friends. She was also heard on four of the Revisited compilations produced by Ben Bagley.

Television DeHaven appeared in the soap operas Ryan's Hope (as Bess Shelby), As the World Turns (as Sara Fuller) and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was one of the numerous celebrities who appeared in the all-star box-office flop Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), and guest-starred in several television series including Robert Montgomery Presents; Appointment with Adventure (episode entitled "The Snow People"); The Guy Mitchell Show; Johnny Ringo (as Rosemary Blake in "Love Affair"); The Rifleman; Wagon Train; The Lloyd Bridges Show; Flipper; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Gunsmoke; Mannix; The Jimmy Stewart Show; The Eddie Capra Mysteries; Fantasy Island; Hart to Hart; The Love Boat; Mama's Family; Highway to Heaven; Murder, She Wrote; and Touched by an Angel. On March 21, 1974, Gloria appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Later that year, she was cast in the short-lived police drama Nakia. She also appeared with Horace Heidt in 1955 on The Swift Show Wagon with Horace Heidt and the American Way.

From January 1969 to February 1971, DeHaven hosted a morning call-in movie show on WABC-TV in New York City. She also appeared on five episodes of Match Game 75 as a guest panelist.

Stage DeHaven's Broadway debut was in 1955. She played Diane in the musical version of Seventh Heaven. She also toured in a summer stock production of No, No, Nanette.

Personal life

DeHaven married four times. Her first husband was actor John Payne, star of The Restless Gun, whom she married in 1944 and divorced in 1950. Her second husband was real estate developer Martin Kimmel. They were married in 1953 and divorced the following year. She was married to Richard Fincher, member of the Florida House of Representatives and a Miami Oldsmobile dealer, from 1957 until 1963. They remarried in 1965 and divorced again in 1969.

She had two children with Payne, daughter Kathleen Hope (born 1945) and son Thomas John (born 1947), as well as two children with Fincher, son Harry (born 1958) and daughter Faith (born 1962).

In 1960, DeHaven received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.

DeHaven was a staunch Republican and, in later years, attributed her youthful appearance to an organic diet and faith in prayer.

Death DeHaven died in Las Vegas on July 30, 2016, aged 91, of undisclosed causes while in hospice care after suffering a stroke a few months earlier. She was survived by her four children.

Filmography Films Year Title Role Notes1936Modern TimesGamin's sisterUncredited1940Susan and GodEnidKeeping CompanyEvelyn Thomas1941The PenaltyAnne LoganTwo-Faced WomanDebutante in ladies' roomUncredited1943Best Foot ForwardMinervaThousands CheerHerself1944Broadway RhythmPatsy DemmingTwo Girls and a SailorJean DeyoStep LivelyChristine MarloweThe Thin Man Goes HomeLaurabelle Ronson1945Between Two WomenEdna1948Summer HolidayMuriel McComber1949Scene of the CrimeLiliYes Sir That's My BabySarah Jane WinfieldThe Doctor and the GirlFabienne Corday1950The Yellow Cab ManEllen GoodrichThree Little WordsMrs. Carter De HavenSummer StockAbigail FalburyI'll Get ByTerry Martin1951Two Tickets to BroadwayHannah Holbrook1953Down Among the Sheltering PalmsAngela Toland1954So This Is ParisColette d'Avril1955The Girl RushTaffy Tremaine1976Banjo Hackett: Roamin’ FreeLady Jane GrayTV movie1976Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodPresident's girl 11978Evening in ByzantiumSonia MurphyTV movie1979BogGinny Glenn1984Off Sides (Pigs vs. Freaks)Maureen BrockmeyerTV movie1990Ladies on Sweet StreetRuth1994Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart1997Out to SeaVivian

Television Year Title Role Notes1951 The Alan Young Show 1956 The George Gobel Show December 8 episode 1959 The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen 1 episode 1959 The Rifleman Lillian Halstead Season 2, episode 6: "Eddie's Daughter" 1959 Johnny Ringo Ronna Desmond 1 episode1960 Wagon Train Allison Justis 1 episode 1961 BBC Sunday-Night Play Shirley Kellogg 1 episode 1961 The Defenders Agnes A Season 1, episode 15: "Gideon's Follies" 1967 Mannix Gloria Newman Season 1, episode 3: "Nothing Ever Works Twice"1972 The Jimmy Stewart Show Lucy Carruthers Season 1, episode 23: 'Old School Ties"1974 Gunsmoke Carrie 1 episode1974 Nakia Irene James 13 episodes1975 Match Game Herself 1975 for one week1975 Movin' On Janey 1 episode1977 Quincy, M.E. Doreen 1 episode1976–1977 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Annie Wylie 30 episodes1978 The Ted Knight Show Delores 1 episode1978 Police Story Jill's Mother 1 episode1978 The Eddie Capra Mysteries Gail Cormac 1 episode1979 Delta House Marion Wormer 2 episodes1980 B. J. and the Bear Mama 1 episode1980 Hello, Larry 1 episode1981 Darkroom Louise Lawrence 1 episode1978–1982 Fantasy Island Sophie / Mrs. Brennan 2 episodes1982 Hart to Hart Reva 1 episode1983 Falcon Crest Gloria Marlowe 1 episode1983 Mama's Family Sally Nash Episode: "Positive Thinking"1983–1985 Ryan's Hope Bess Shelby 14 episodes1983–1986 The Love Boat Mary Halbert / Florence Dolan 2 episodes1987 Highway to Heaven Phoebe Hall Season 3, episode 18: "A Mother and Daughter" 1987–1989 Murder, She Wrote Phyllis Grant 3 episodes1993 All My ChildrenEmma Mallory 2000 Touched by an Angel Beverly 1 episode

Stage work Seventh Heaven (1955) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1963) The Sound of Music (1964) Golden Boy (1968) Plaza Suite (1971) Hello, Dolly (1973) No, No, Nanette (1983) A High-Time Salute to Martin and Blane (1991) (benefit concert)

Radio appearances {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Program !! Episode/source |- | 1952|| Broadway Playhouse || Practically Yours |- | 1953|| Theatre Guild on the Air || O'Halloran's Luck''''

References

Further reading Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2. BearManor Media, 2009. . Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 54.

External links

Gloria DeHaven (Aveleyman / Film Dope)