Post by teleadm on Apr 14, 2018 9:19:11 GMT
Happy 92nd Birthday Gloria Jean!!! 
Born on April 14, 1926 in Buffalo, New York
Thanks for everything, retired from show-biz in 1962
American actress and singer who appeared in popular "hepcat" musicals in the 1940s.
After moving to Scranton, Pennsylvania, Gloria Jean sang on radio with Paul Whiteman's band. When she was 12, "she was engaged by a smallish 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, 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 ingénue roles, Pasternak wanted a younger singer to make the same kind of musicals. Up against hundreds of others, Gloria Jean won the audition.
Universal recognized the need for musical entertainment during wartime, and Gloria Jean became one of Universal's most prolific performers; during the war years she made 14 feature films.
The Under-Pup 1939, marked her feature movie debut, seen here with Sir C. Aubrey Smith.
If I Had My Way 1940, with Bing Crosby
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break 1941, with the one and only W.C. Fields.
Get Hep to Love 1942, publicity shot with Donald O'Connor.
Ghost Catchers 1944
Copacabana 1947, publicity shot with Groucho Marx.
After Air Strike 1955 Gloria Jean was hired by the owner of the Tahitian restaurant in Studio City, California, as a hostess, greeting and seating dinner guests. She enjoyed the experience and occasionally ran the restaurant in her employer's absence.
Gloria Jean acted in 40 movie and television productions.
In 1962 Gloria Jean began a second career with Redken Laboratories, a national cosmetics firm, where she worked until 1993.
After her retirement from Redken, Gloria Jean lived in California with her sister, Bonnie. After Bonnie died in 2007, she moved to Hawaii, where she now lives with her son and his family. Her authorized biography, "Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven", was published in 2005. A tribute website followed, again with Gloria Jean's cooperation. Her Internet presence includes a new series of videos showing the actress as she appears today.
Born on April 14, 1926 in Buffalo, New York
Thanks for everything, retired from show-biz in 1962
American actress and singer who appeared in popular "hepcat" musicals in the 1940s.
After moving to Scranton, Pennsylvania, Gloria Jean sang on radio with Paul Whiteman's band. When she was 12, "she was engaged by a smallish 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, 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 ingénue roles, Pasternak wanted a younger singer to make the same kind of musicals. Up against hundreds of others, Gloria Jean won the audition.
Universal recognized the need for musical entertainment during wartime, and Gloria Jean became one of Universal's most prolific performers; during the war years she made 14 feature films.
The Under-Pup 1939, marked her feature movie debut, seen here with Sir C. Aubrey Smith.
If I Had My Way 1940, with Bing Crosby
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break 1941, with the one and only W.C. Fields.
Get Hep to Love 1942, publicity shot with Donald O'Connor.
Ghost Catchers 1944
Copacabana 1947, publicity shot with Groucho Marx.
After Air Strike 1955 Gloria Jean was hired by the owner of the Tahitian restaurant in Studio City, California, as a hostess, greeting and seating dinner guests. She enjoyed the experience and occasionally ran the restaurant in her employer's absence.
Gloria Jean acted in 40 movie and television productions.
In 1962 Gloria Jean began a second career with Redken Laboratories, a national cosmetics firm, where she worked until 1993.
After her retirement from Redken, Gloria Jean lived in California with her sister, Bonnie. After Bonnie died in 2007, she moved to Hawaii, where she now lives with her son and his family. Her authorized biography, "Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven", was published in 2005. A tribute website followed, again with Gloria Jean's cooperation. Her Internet presence includes a new series of videos showing the actress as she appears today.
