Gloria DeHaven

Pinup princess Gloria DeHaven in a bewitching beach pose from 1945. She was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 23, 1925, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven. She began her career as a child actor with a bit part in Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" (1936). Her first visible role was in the Joan Crawford film "Susan and God" (1940). During the following decade she regularly appeared in cheerful light musicals, including "Thousands Cheer" (1943), "Step Lively" (1944) (on loan to RKO, giving Frank Sinatra his first screen kiss), "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944), "Summer Stock" (1950) (as sister to Judy Garland) and "Three Little Words" (1950) (in which she played her own mother). She also had featured roles in such films as "Best Foot Forward" (1943), "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1944) and "Scene of the Crime" (1949). Besides being cast as a singer in many of her films, including "I'll Get By" (1950), "So This Is Paris" (1955) and "The Girl Rush" (1955), DeHaven sang with the bands of Jan Savitt and Bob Crosby and at one time had her own nightclub act. During the 1950s she attempted stronger dramatic roles but with only moderate success and by 1955, she had wisely turned to the stage for occasional appearances on Broadway. There was also a screen comeback of sorts with recurring roles in the soap operas "Ryan's Hope" (1975), "As the World Turns" (1956) and "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (1976). DeHaven also guest-starred on television series, such as "Gunsmoke" (1955), "Mannix" (1967), "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969), "The Love Boat" (1977), "Fantasy Island" (1977), "Hart to Hart" (1979), "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) and "Touched by an Angel" (1994). After a long absence, she returned to motion pictures and scored a hit as Jack Lemmon's love interest in the romantic comedy "Out to Sea" (1997). DeHaven attributed her youthful appearance in later years to an organic diet and faith in prayer. She sadly passed away of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 30, 2016, one week after her 91st birthday.

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