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Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover, April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances. She is probably best remembered today for her appearance with W.C. Fields in the film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941).
Gloria Jean was three years old when she first sang on radio; in Scranton, Pennsylvania, she sang, under the name "Baby Skylark", with Paul Whiteman's orchestra on radio broadcasts. When she was 12, she was engaged by a New York opera company and became the youngest member of an opera troupe in the United States.
Gloria Jean was being trained as a coloratura soprano when her voice teacher 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 ingénue roles, Pasternak wanted a younger singer to make the same kind of musicals. He held auditions for a film called The Under-Pup. Up against hundreds of others, Gloria Jean won the audition.
Newly under contract to Universal, she was given the leading role in the 1939 feature. The film did well and Gloria Jean became instantly popular with moviegoers. She then co-starred with Bing Crosby in If I Had My Way (1940), then starred in the well-received A Little Bit of Heaven (1940).
Her fourth picture became her best known: Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), in which she co-starred with W.C. Fields.
Gloria Jean 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 market of the day. In May 1944 she turned eighteen.
After leaving Universal when her contract expired at the end of 1944, Gloria Jean made personal appearances across America; the successful tour prompted a tour of Europe.
She then resumed her movie career as a freelance performer appearing in United Artists, Columbia Pictures, and Allied Artists productions, the best-known being Copacabana (1947). Subsequently she began appearing on TV shows. Gloria Jean continued to appear in feature films, albeit low-budget ones.
Her last motion picture (in which she appears as an extra with no dialogue) was released in 1961. Her final television appearance was in 1962.
In that year she married Franco Cellini, an actor. By 1966 they were divorced. The union produced a son.
In 1965 Gloria Jean signed on with an employment agency, which sent her to a cosmetics company, where she worked as a receptionist until 1993.
In December 1991, she was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award, recognizing her achievements within the film industry as a juvenile performer. She also participated in various nostalgia and autograph shows, meeting fans and displaying memorabilia. She had always retained her fan following.
During her final years she moved to Hawaii to live with her son and his family. Gloria Jean suffered health problems, including two serious falls and a heart condition. She died on August 31, 2018.
Her authorized biography, Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven, was published in 2005.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.43 |
Birthday | 1926-04-14 |
Place of Birth | Buffalo, New York, USA |
Also Known As | Gloria Jean Schoonover, Baby Skylark, |
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1986
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W.C. Fields: Straight Up
0/0
Documentary directed by Joseph Adamson.
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W.C. Fields: Straight Up
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1941
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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
6.786/35
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 film about a man who wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little...
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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
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1941
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Jingle Belles
0/0
Gloria Jean sings two songs in the Universal musical short, which also features The Sportsman Quartette, the Milt Herth Trio, the singing trio of Lee,...
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Jingle Belles
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1944
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Destiny
4.6/9
Framed for two crimes he didn't commit, and betrayed by his girl, Cliff Banks finds himself on the run from the police. Now distrustful of everyone, h...
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Destiny

1947
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Copacabana
5.354/24
A talent agent sells his girlfriend to a nightclub – as two separate acts. The deception and constant costume changes are too much for his girl, and t...
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Copacabana
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1940
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If I Had My Way
6.4/5
Construction worker Buzz Blackwell becomes the guardian of 12-year-old Pat Johnson after one of his buddies, her father, is killed. Buzz and Pat, alon...
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If I Had My Way
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1942
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Get Hep to Love
4/1
Orphan prodigy singer runs away from her oppressive aunt and tricks a rural couple into adopting her.
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Get Hep to Love
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1955
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Air Strike
5/1
Tasked with training a group of untested new recruits, a no-nonsense Navy commander faces a host of challenges as he attempts to transform the greenho...
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Air Strike

1943
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Mister Big
2.2/2
Students at the Davis School of the Theatre are assigned "Antigone" as their class play, but they conspire to do a swing musical instead.
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Mister Big
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1945
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I'll Remember April
4/2
The daughter of a formerly wealthy man tries to get a job singing on a radio show, but gets involved in a feud and murder.
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I'll Remember April

1943
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It Comes Up Love
3/2
This modest bit of comedy and romance in the adolescent vein is about a couple of spirited juveniles, Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean, who carry on a...
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It Comes Up Love
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1940
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A Little Bit of Heaven
1/1
A child from the New York tenements sings on a radio quiz show and is eventually hired to a big-bucks contract, which allows her and her family to mov...
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A Little Bit of Heaven

1939
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The Under-Pup
6/2
A young city girl from a poor family is invited to spend the summer at a camp for girls from wealthy families. At first made fun of and ridiculed beca...
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The Under-Pup

1942
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What's Cookin'?
5.5/2
J. P. Courtney wants to update the music on the radio program he sponsors, but his wife, Agatha Courtney, is the final authority and addicted to the c...
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What's Cookin'?

1942
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When Johnny Comes Marching Home
4/1
By popular consensus, Allan Jones' best Universal mini-musical of the 1940s was the timely When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Jones is cast as war hero...
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When Johnny Comes Marching Home
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1949
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There's a Girl in My Heart
0/0
A Gay-Nineties musical set in NYC's Bowery and East-Side explores the life of its inhabitants---an Irish policeman and his tap-dancing daughter and mu...
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There's a Girl in My Heart
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1948
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I Surrender Dear
0/0
Patty Nelson lands a job as a singer with orchestra leader Al Tyler, and tours with the band as "Patty Hart." Patty's father Russ is dismissed from hi...
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I Surrender Dear

1944
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Ghost Catchers
5.4/5
Two zanies get mixed up with a Southern colonel, his beautiful daughters, a nightclub and a haunted mansion.
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Ghost Catchers

1945
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Easy to Look At
0/0
In this musical, a talented aspiring costume designer leaves her small town to seek her fortune in the Big Apple. The girl, who is also a singer, soon...
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Easy to Look At
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1961
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The Ladies Man
6.3/124
After his girl leaves him for someone else, Herbert gets really depressed and starts searching for a job. He finally finds one in a big house which is...
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The Ladies Man
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1949
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Manhattan Angel
0/0
Gloria Cole and Eddie Swenson are working to keep an old fire house, now being used as a youth center, from being razed to make room for a new skyscra...
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Manhattan Angel
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1944
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Pardon My Rhythm
5.5/2
A high school bandleader captures the interest of a popular co-ed.
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Pardon My Rhythm
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1949
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An Old-Fashioned Girl
0/0
A music teacher in 1870s Boston works hard to succeed, while her wealthy distant relatives find their fortunes turning.
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An Old-Fashioned Girl
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1945
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River Gang
0/0
An orphan girl lives with apparently kind uncle who turns out to be a murderer.
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River Gang
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1944
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Reckless Age
0/0
Linda Wadsworth rebels against her millionaire grandfather, J. H. Wadsworth, and runs away from home. Unknown to Mr. Wadsworth, she gets a job at one...
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Reckless Age
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1943
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Moonlight in Vermont
6/1
A poor country girl from Vermont travels to New York City to attend a theatrical school.
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