# Gloria DeHaven
**Gloria DeHaven** (Gloria Mildred DeHaven; July 23, 1925 – July 30, 2016) was an American actress and singer who appeared in MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s and later worked steadily in television soap operas and series before a late film comeback in *Out to Sea* (1997).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | July 23, 1925, Los Angeles; July 30, 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 91[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/) |
| Parents | Vaudeville headliners Carter DeHaven and Flora Parker DeHaven[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/) |
| Screen debut | Uncredited bit part in Charlie Chaplin's *Modern Times* (1936), playing Paulette Goddard's younger sister at age 11[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/) |
| MGM contract | Signed in the early 1940s; featured as second lead in light musicals such as *Best Foot Forward* (1943), *Two Girls and a Sailor* (1944), and *Summer Stock* (1950)[3](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/times-online/name/gloria-dehaven-obituary?id=60247460) |
| Signature role | Played her own mother, vaudeville star Flora Parker, in *Three Little Words* (1950), singing "Who's Sorry Now?"[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/gloria-dehaven) |
| Television | Lengthy roles in the soap operas *Ryan's Hope* and *As the World Turns*, and a role in the cult series *Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman*; guest roles from *Gunsmoke* to *Murder, She Wrote*[3](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/times-online/name/gloria-dehaven-obituary?id=60247460) |
| Walk of Fame | Motion Pictures star at 6933 Hollywood Blvd., ceremony February 8, 1960[5](https://walkoffame.com/gloria-dehaven/) |
| Final film | *Out to Sea* (1997), as Jack Lemmon's love interest[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/) |
## Family and early career
DeHaven was born into a performing family. Her parents, Carter DeHaven and Flora Parker, were popular vaudevillians and stage performers who also appeared in silent films together, and as a child she toured with them[5](https://walkoffame.com/gloria-dehaven/). Her father was an assistant director on [Charlie Chaplin](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-chaplin)'s *Modern Times*; when 11-year-old Gloria visited the set, Chaplin hired her to play [Paulette Goddard](https://www.edgepedia.org/paulette-goddard)'s younger sister[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/). She was an extra again in Chaplin's *The Great Dictator* and had a small speaking role in *Susan and God*, both in 1940[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary).
Singing came before acting. From about age 14 she was a vocalist with the Muzzy Marcellino, Bob Crosby, and Jan Savitt big bands[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). By one account of her Crosby audition, she left the room midway through her first song believing she had failed, only to be called the next day; Crosby told her he had interrupted because she was "perfect for the job"[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/). Her singing led MGM to sign her to a contract in the early 1940s[3](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/times-online/name/gloria-dehaven-obituary?id=60247460).
## The MGM years
At MGM, DeHaven was regularly cast as the second lead or the star's sister in light musicals. After minor roles in *Best Foot Forward* (1943) and *Broadway Rhythm* (1944), she achieved stardom in *Two Girls and a Sailor* (1944), playing sisters with [June Allyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/june-allyson) opposite [Van Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-johnson)[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/). On loan to RKO in *Step Lively* (1944) she gave [Frank Sinatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-sinatra) his first screen kiss; one contemporary critic wrote that the moment "sent thousands of bobbysoxers into swoons"[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). A wartime pin-up favorite of American servicemen, she appeared on the cover of *Yank* magazine in 1944[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/).
Other MGM appearances included *The Thin Man Goes Home* (1944), *Summer Holiday* (1948) as [Mickey Rooney](https://www.edgepedia.org/mickey-rooney)'s girlfriend Muriel, *Yes, Sir, That's My Baby* (1949) with [Donald O'Connor](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-oconnor), *The Yellow Cab Man* (1950) with [Red Skelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-skelton), and *Summer Stock* (1950) as Judy Garland's stagestruck sister[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). In *Three Little Words* (1950), a biopic of songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, she played her own real-life mother, Flora Parker, singing "Who's Sorry Now?"[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/gloria-dehaven)
DeHaven never reached the top rank of MGM musical stars; the Guardian's obituary calls her a "cherished but minor member" of the studio's roster, and its favorite ingénue for more than a decade[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). She had better luck away from the studio, starring with Donald O'Connor in *Yes, Sir, That's My Baby*, Tony Curtis in *So This Is Paris*, and [Glenn Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-ford) in *The Doctor and the Girl*[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/).
## Stage, television, and comeback
With the Hollywood musical declining, DeHaven left films in 1955 for Broadway, where she and Ricardo Montalban led the cast of *Seventh Heaven*, a musical version of the 1927 [Janet Gaynor](https://www.edgepedia.org/janet-gaynor) film that ran for six performances[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). She hosted ABC's 15-minute *Gloria DeHaven Show*, joined [Bob Hope](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-hope)'s overseas tours entertaining soldiers, and toured in *The Sound of Music*, *The Unsinkable Molly Brown*, *Hello Dolly*, and *Cactus Flower*[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/).
Television kept her busy for decades. She was well known to daytime audiences for lengthy roles in the soap operas *Ryan's Hope* and *As the World Turns*, and played Annie "Tippy-toes" Wylie, a citizens band radio enthusiast, in the cult series *Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman*[3](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/times-online/name/gloria-dehaven-obituary?id=60247460). Guest appearances ranged from *Gunsmoke*, *Mannix*, and *Fantasy Island* to *Hart to Hart*, *Falcon Crest*, *Highway to Heaven*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *Touched by an Angel*[5](https://walkoffame.com/gloria-dehaven/).
**Late career.** In 1989 she relaunched herself as a cabaret singer at Rainbow & Stars in New York, singing songs from her Hollywood days[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). After a decades-long absence from movies, she returned in *Out to Sea* (1997) as Vivian, a widow who has a shipboard romance with [Jack Lemmon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-lemmon)'s character; she said filming felt "like going home"[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/). Her retirement came at the start of the 21st century, after a screen career of over six decades[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/gloria_dehaven).
## Personal life and death
DeHaven was married four times: to actor [John Payne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-payne-actor), real estate developer Martin Kimmel, and Richard Fincher, whom she divorced in 1963, remarried in 1965, and divorced again in 1969[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary). She had two children with Payne and two with Fincher[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary).
She died in Las Vegas on July 30, 2016, one week after her 91st birthday[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/). Her agent said she had been in hospice care after suffering a stroke a few months earlier[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/).
Most sources give her birth date as July 23, 1925, though Encyclopedia.com records it as July 23, 1924, and the 1964 *International Television Almanac* as 1926[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/dehaven-gloria-1924).
## References
1. [Gloria DeHaven, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002038/)
2. [Gloria DeHaven, star of 1940s, '50s films, dead at age 91, CBS News (AP)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gloria-dehaven-star-of-1940s-50s-films-dead-at-age-91/)
3. [Gloria DeHaven Obituary (1925–2016), Legacy.com](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/times-online/name/gloria-dehaven-obituary?id=60247460)
4. [Gloria DeHaven, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/gloria-dehaven)
5. [Gloria DeHaven, Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://walkoffame.com/gloria-dehaven/)
6. [Gloria DeHaven obituary, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/gloria-dehaven-obituary)
7. [Gloria DeHaven, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/gloria_dehaven)
8. [DeHaven, Gloria (1924–), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/dehaven-gloria-1924)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › American actors and actresses › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license