Gloria Holden

Gloria Holden
Holden in Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Born	5 September 1908(1908-09-05) London, England, UK
Died	22 March 1991(1991-03-22) (aged 82) Redlands, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1931–1958
Spouse	Holden (? - ?) 1 son, Larry Holden (aka Glen Corbett) William Hoyt (1944-1991) 1 son, Christopher Hoyt (1944-1970)
Relatives	Adrienne Ellis (daughter-in-law) Laurie Holden (grandaugther) Christopher Holden (grandson)

Gloria Holden (5 September 1908 – 22 March 1991) was a film actress.

Early life

Gloria Holden came to America as a child. She attended school in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Theater

Holden's early stage work included small parts in plays such as The Royal Family, in which she spoke four lines playing a nurse. She was an understudy to Mary Ellis in Children of Darkness, and had a minor role in The Ferguson Family. She succeeded Lilly Cahill as the feminine lead in As Husbands Go at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway, in June 1931.

In August 1932, Holden was part of the cast of Manhattan Melody, at the Longacre Theatre. The Lawrence Hazard play, adapted by L. Lawrence Weber, also featured Helen Lowell, Minnie Dupree, and William Corbett as players. She was the leading lady in Survivor (1933), written by D.L. James. Holden was among the cast members in Memory (1933), a Myron Fagan play.

The western drama, The Long Frontier (1935), was presented at the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Connecticut. Nance O'Neil headed a cast which included Holden, Alan Bunce, and Claire Carleton.

Films

She may be best remembered for two roles in her long career, that of Mme. Zola in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), and her "exotic" depiction of the title role in Dracula's Daughter (1936). Her performance in the latter influenced the writings or horror novelist Anne Rice, and Dracula's Daughter is directly mentioned in Rice's novel The Queen of the Damned.

In July 1937, Holden was assigned to play the character of Marian Morgan in The Man Without a Country (1937). The Technicolor short co-starred John Litel and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Her other roles included:

• Test Pilot (1938)
• Hawaii Calls (1938)
• Dodge City (1939)
• Miracles for Sale (1939)
• The Corsican Brothers (1941)
• Miss Annie Rooney (1942)
• A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
• Behind the Rising Sun (1943)
• Strange Holiday (1946)
• The Hucksters (1947)
• Killer McCoy (1947)
• Precious Waters (1948),
• A Kiss for Corliss (1949)
• The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)
• This Happy Feeling (1958)
• Auntie Mame (1958)

Personal life

In 1937 dated Rudy Sehr, a member of a Viennese banking family and a film cutter in Hollywood. In 1944, she married William Hoyt, her husband until her death. They had one son, their only child Christopher, who died in 1970. Gloria Holden was an enthusiastic cyclist.

Gloria Holden was mother of Glen Corbett (born Larry Holden, of her first marriage), former mother-in-law of Adrienne Ellis and grandmother of Christopher Holden and actress Laurie Holden (The X-Files, The Mist, The Walking Dead).

She died in March 1991 in Redlands, California, from a heart attack, aged 82.

References

• The New York Times, "In The Summer Spotlight", June 14, 1931, p.X3.
• New York Times, "Theatrical Notes", August 27, 1932, p.13.
• New York Times, "16 New Plays Open In Byways Tonight", August 14, 1933, p.18.
• New York Times, "Theatrical Notes", January 27, 1934, p.8.
• New York Times, "Listing The Week's New Shows", July 21, 1935, p.X1.
• Zanesville Signal, "Liberty Horror Film", June 23, 1936, p.11.
• Los Angeles Times, "New Film Productions Started In Last Week". February 2, 1936, p.C1.
• Los Angeles Times, "The Pageant of The Film World", July 14, 1937, p.13.
• Los Angeles Times, "Around And About In Hollywood", October 4, 1937, p.A9
• Los Angeles Times, "Town Called Hollywood", August 21, 1938, p.C1.
• Los Angeles Times, "Troupe Treks To Modesto Location", November 11, 1938, p.10.
• Los Angeles Times, "Jap Treachery Background of Screen Drama", September 11, 1943, p.7.

External links

• Gloria Holden at the Internet Movie Database
• Gloria Holden New York Times Filmography
• Gloria Holden at Find a Grave