Gloria Jean
Encyclopedia
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.
. Her family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania
, where she sang on radio with Paul Whiteman
's band. She was being trained as a coloratura soprano, when her voice teacher, Leah Russel, took her to an audition held by Universal Pictures
movie producer Joe Pasternak
in 1938. Pasternak had guided Deanna Durbin
to stardom, and with Durbin now advancing to ingenue roles, Pasternak wanted a younger singer to make the same kind of musicals. Up against hundreds of other girls, Gloria won the audition.
Under contract to Universal, she was given the leading role in the 1939 feature The Under-Pup
, and became instantly popular with moviegoers. Universal's publicity department initially claimed the singer was 11 years old instead of 13; her actual age was not well known until recently.
For her next two vehicles, she co-starred with Bing Crosby
in If I Had My Way
and starred in the well-received A Little Bit of Heaven (which reunited her with many from the Under-Pup cast). Her best-known picture is her fourth, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
, in which she co-starred with W. C. Fields
.
With Deanna Durbin forging ahead in dramatic roles, Universal recognized the need for musical entertainment during wartime, and Gloria Jean appeared in a series of musicals during those years. She became one of Universal's most prolific performers; during the war years she made 14 feature films. Most were "hepcat" musicals, which were geared to the teenage crowd of that day, and Universal often used them to introduce new talent, including Donald O'Connor
, Peggy Ryan
, Mel Tormé
, and Marshall Thompson
. Her dramatic tour de force, as a blind girl being menaced by an escaped killer, was filmed as one of four vignettes for Julien Duvivier
's Flesh and Fantasy
. Jean's performance was the best-received of the four. However, Universal removed the half-hour sequence and shelved it until 1944, when it was expanded into a feature-length melodrama, Destiny. She co-starred with Olsen and Johnson
in the big-budget Ghost Catchers, and in her last two Universal features, released in 1945, she was teamed with singer-actor Kirby Grant
.
When Gloria's Universal contract lapsed, she was convinced by her agent to not renew it, but instead to make personal appearances across America. The successful tour prompted a new tour of Europe. In England, her rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" (and the lyric "forgive us our debts") was taken by some critics as a pointed comment about America's lend-lease
policy. Thus the European tour ended abruptly and Gloria returned to Hollywood.
She resumed her movie career as a freelance performer in United Artists
, Columbia Pictures
, and Allied Artists productions, the best-known being Copacabana with Groucho Marx
. Some theatre and television work followed in the 1950s and 1960s; the forgettable 1955 movie Air Strike and the lightweight comedy The Madcaps (filmed in 1959, re-released 1964) survive. Her final movie was with Jerry Lewis
in The Ladies Man
, but her scenes were cut from the final print, and she is barely noticeable among the extras. She retired from show business in 1963 and began a 30-year career with Redken Laboratories
, a national cosmetics firm, where she worked until her retirement in 1993.
Gloria Jean's films are beginning to receive new exposure: If I Had My Way has been restored to its original length and issued on DVD, followed by the DVD release of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. (Latter-day documentaries about Fields include recent clips of Gloria Jean, reminiscing about working with him.) Universal Pictures
has also struck new 35mm prints of Mister Big and Get Hep to Love for theatrical use. Her 1947 film Copacabana is widely available on home video.
Her authorized biography, Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven, was published in 2005. A tribute website, GloriaJeanSings.com, followed, again with authorization.
Career
Gloria Jean was born Gloria Jean Schoonover in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. Her family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
, where she sang on radio with Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
's band. She was being trained as a coloratura soprano, when her voice teacher, Leah Russel, took her to an audition held by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
movie producer Joe Pasternak
Joe Pasternak
thumb|right|250px|Pasterrnak receiving his star on [[Hollywood Boulevard]] from [[Johnny Grant |Johnny Grant]] with [[Gene Kelly]] on the left on July 29, 1991....
in 1938. Pasternak had guided Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
to stardom, and with Durbin now advancing to ingenue roles, Pasternak wanted a younger singer to make the same kind of musicals. Up against hundreds of other girls, Gloria won the audition.
Under contract to Universal, she was given the leading role in the 1939 feature The Under-Pup
The Under-Pup
The Under-Pup is the 1939 feature film that introduced soprano singing star Gloria Jean to the screen. The story, adapted by Grover Jones from a magazine story by Australian author I. A. R. Wylie, casts Gloria as a streetwise girl who is sent to a summer camp for wealthy girls...
, and became instantly popular with moviegoers. Universal's publicity department initially claimed the singer was 11 years old instead of 13; her actual age was not well known until recently.
For her next two vehicles, she co-starred with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
in If I Had My Way
If I Had My Way
If I Had My Way is a 1940 musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. The film was directed by David Butler.-Plot:Buzz Blackwell, Fred Johnson and Axel Swenson are construction workers who are building a bridge. They are good friends and Buzz and Axel even help Fred raising his...
and starred in the well-received A Little Bit of Heaven (which reunited her with many from the Under-Pup cast). Her best-known picture is her fourth, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W.C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis". Fields plays himself, searching for a chance to promote a surreal screenplay he has written, whose several framed sequences...
, in which she co-starred with W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
.
With Deanna Durbin forging ahead in dramatic roles, Universal recognized the need for musical entertainment during wartime, and Gloria Jean appeared in a series of musicals during those years. She became one of Universal's most prolific performers; during the war years she made 14 feature films. Most were "hepcat" musicals, which were geared to the teenage crowd of that day, and Universal often used them to introduce new talent, including Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
, Peggy Ryan
Peggy Ryan
Margaret O'Rene "Peggy" Ryan was an American dancer, best known for starring in a series of movie musicals at Universal Pictures with Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean....
, Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, and Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
. Her dramatic tour de force, as a blind girl being menaced by an escaped killer, was filmed as one of four vignettes for Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
's Flesh and Fantasy
Flesh and Fantasy
Flesh and Fantasy is a 1943 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck. The making of this film was inspired by the success of Duvivier's previous anthology film, the 1942 Tales of Manhattan.Flesh and Fantasy tells three...
. Jean's performance was the best-received of the four. However, Universal removed the half-hour sequence and shelved it until 1944, when it was expanded into a feature-length melodrama, Destiny. She co-starred with Olsen and Johnson
Olsen and Johnson
John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson were zany American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. Their shows were noted for their crazy blackout gags and orchestrated mayhem...
in the big-budget Ghost Catchers, and in her last two Universal features, released in 1945, she was teamed with singer-actor Kirby Grant
Kirby Grant
Kirby Grant, , was a long-time B movie and television actor. He is mostly remembered for playing the title role in the television series Sky King....
.
When Gloria's Universal contract lapsed, she was convinced by her agent to not renew it, but instead to make personal appearances across America. The successful tour prompted a new tour of Europe. In England, her rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" (and the lyric "forgive us our debts") was taken by some critics as a pointed comment about America's lend-lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
policy. Thus the European tour ended abruptly and Gloria returned to Hollywood.
She resumed her movie career as a freelance performer in United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, and Allied Artists productions, the best-known being Copacabana with Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
. Some theatre and television work followed in the 1950s and 1960s; the forgettable 1955 movie Air Strike and the lightweight comedy The Madcaps (filmed in 1959, re-released 1964) survive. Her final movie was with Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
in The Ladies Man
The Ladies Man
The Ladies Man is a 1961 American comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on June 28, 1961 by Paramount.-Plot:...
, but her scenes were cut from the final print, and she is barely noticeable among the extras. She retired from show business in 1963 and began a 30-year career with Redken Laboratories
Redken
Redken is an American hair care brand owned by L'Oréal Group under the Professional Products division.The company was founded in 1960 by hairdresser/chemist Jheri Redding and actress/model Paula Kent, thus the name, "Red-ken."...
, a national cosmetics firm, where she worked until her retirement in 1993.
Personal life
After retiring, Gloria lived in California with her sister, Bonnie. When Bonnie died in 2007, she moved to Hawaii to live with her son and his family.Gloria Jean's films are beginning to receive new exposure: If I Had My Way has been restored to its original length and issued on DVD, followed by the DVD release of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. (Latter-day documentaries about Fields include recent clips of Gloria Jean, reminiscing about working with him.) Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
has also struck new 35mm prints of Mister Big and Get Hep to Love for theatrical use. Her 1947 film Copacabana is widely available on home video.
Her authorized biography, Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven, was published in 2005. A tribute website, GloriaJeanSings.com, followed, again with authorization.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 1939 in film The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate... |
The Under-Pup The Under-Pup The Under-Pup is the 1939 feature film that introduced soprano singing star Gloria Jean to the screen. The story, adapted by Grover Jones from a magazine story by Australian author I. A. R. Wylie, casts Gloria as a streetwise girl who is sent to a summer camp for wealthy girls... |
Pip-Emma Binns | first Universal picture |
| 1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
If I Had My Way If I Had My Way If I Had My Way is a 1940 musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. The film was directed by David Butler.-Plot:Buzz Blackwell, Fred Johnson and Axel Swenson are construction workers who are building a bridge. They are good friends and Buzz and Axel even help Fred raising his... |
Patricia Johnson | |
| A Little Bit of Heaven | Midge Loring | ||
| 1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break Never Give a Sucker an Even Break Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W.C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis". Fields plays himself, searching for a chance to promote a surreal screenplay he has written, whose several framed sequences... |
W. C. Fields W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer... 's niece, Gloria Jean |
|
| Jingle Belles | song specialties | (short subject) (reissued as Winter Serenade) | |
| 1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
What's Cookin'? What's Cookin'? What's Cookin'? is a 1942 American musical film starring The Andrews Sisters, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Gloria Jean. The film was directed by Edward F. Cline and is based on the story Wake Up and Dream written by Edgar Allan Woolf.-Plot:... |
Sue Courtney | |
| Get Hep to Love Get Hep to Love Get Hep to Love is a 1942 musical film starring Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Peggy Ryan. The film was directed by Charles Lamont.-Plot:... |
Doris Stanley | ||
| When Johnny Comes Marching Home When Johnny Comes Marching Home (film) When Johnny Comes Marching Home is a 1942 musical film starring Allan Jones and Jane Frazee. The film was directed by Charles Lamont and is loosely based on the song with the same title.-Plot:... |
Marilyn Benton | ||
| 1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
It Comes Up Love It Comes Up Love It Comes Up Love is a 1943 American, black and white, musical comedy starring Gloria Jean, Ian Hunter, and Donald O'Connor. It is the only film starring Jean and O'Connor that doesn't also star Peggy Ryan, another one of the talented teenagers at Universal Studios.... |
Victoria Peabody | |
| Mister Big Mister Big (1943 film) Mister Big is a 1943 musical directed by Charles Lamont, starring Donald O'Connor, Gloria Jean and Peggy Ryan. The film features the song "Rude, Crude, and Unattractive".- Synopsis :... |
Patricia Davis | ||
| Moonlight in Vermont Moonlight in Vermont Moonlight in Vermont can refer to:*Moonlight in Vermont , a 1943 film*"Moonlight in Vermont" , a popular song best known in a recording by Margaret Whiting with Billy Butterfield's Orchestra... |
Gwen Harding | ||
| 1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Ghost Catchers | Melinda Marshall | |
| Pardon My Rhythm Pardon My Rhythm Pardon My Rhythm is a 1944 movie starring Gloria Jean, Patric Knowles, and Evelyn Ankers, featuring Mel Tormé and Bob Crosby, and directed by Felix E... |
Jinx Page | ||
| Reckless Age | Linda Wadsworth | ||
| Destiny | Jane Broderick | includes deleted sequence from Flesh and Fantasy Flesh and Fantasy Flesh and Fantasy is a 1943 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck. The making of this film was inspired by the success of Duvivier's previous anthology film, the 1942 Tales of Manhattan.Flesh and Fantasy tells three... |
|
| 1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
I'll Remember April | April Garfield | |
| Easy to Look At | Judy Dawson | last Universal picture | |
| River Gang | Wendy | filmed earlier by Universal; release delayed | |
| 1947 1947 in film The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25... |
Copacabana | Anne Stuart | United Artists |
| 1948 1948 in film The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :... |
I Surrender Dear I Surrender Dear "I Surrender Dear" is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford. It was first performed by Bing Crosby in the film I Surrender Dear and became his first solo hit. It has been covered by a large number of artists, making it a jazz and pop standard... |
Patty Nelson, aka Patty Hart | Columbia |
| Manhattan Angel | Gloria Cole | Columbia | |
| An Old-Fashioned Girl An Old-Fashioned Girl An Old-Fashioned Girl is a novel by Louisa May Alcott.It was first serialised in the Merry's Museum magazine between July and August in 1869 and consisted of only six chapters. For the finished product, however, Alcott continued the story from the chapter "Six Years Afterwards" and so it ended up... |
Polly Milton | Eagle-Lion | |
| 1949 1949 in film The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello... |
There's a Girl in My Heart | Ruth Kroner | Allied Artists |
| 1953 1953 in film The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A... |
Wonder Valley | independent; no known usable prints exist | |
| 1955 1955 in film The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released.... |
Air Strike | Marg Huggins | Lippert |
| 1959 1959 in film The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.... |
Laffing Time (reissued as The Madcaps) | Sally Suffer | independent |
| 1961 1961 in film The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB... |
The Ladies' Man | Girl in boarding house | Paramount |
External links
- Gloria Jean Sings: tribute website with clips
- Gloria Jean: The Hollywood Years, a montage of her 20 years in movies
- Gloria Jean reminisces about The Under-Pup
- Gloria Jean introduces trailer for Destiny
- Gloria Jean introduces Mister Big
- A clip from If I Had My Way
- Another clip from If I Had My Way
- A clip from A Little Bit of Heaven
- Gloria Jean sings "Voices of Spring" in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
- A clip from What's Cookin'?
- A clip from It Comes Up Love
- A clip from Copacabana