Gloria Maude Talbott (February 7, 1931–September 19, 2000) was an American film and television actress.

Gloria Talbott
Publicity still for the film Northern Patrol (1953)
Born
Gloria Maude Talbott[1]

(1931-02-07)February 7, 1931
DiedSeptember 19, 2000(2000-09-19) (aged 69)
Glendale, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1935–1966
Children2

Early life and career

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Gloria Talbott was born in Glendale, California.[2][3] Her great-grandfather Benjamin F. Patterson arrived from Ohio in 1882 and bought some acreage in the area. He later assisted with the platting of the city.[4]

She began her career as a child actress in such films as Maytime (1937), Sweet and Low-Down (1944), and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945).[5] She attended Glendale High School.[6] In 1947, she was chosen as the winner of the "Miss Glendale" beauty pageant.[4] In November 1948, Talbott was in the cast of One Fine Day, a comedy presented on stage at the Biltmore Theater in Los Angeles.[7]

Her sister, Lori Talbott, also became an actress.[citation needed]

Film roles

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Joel McCrea and Talbott in The Oklahoman (1957)

Talbott worked in film regularly during the 1950s. In 1952, she had the role of Rose Rodriguez in The Rodriguez Story featurette.[8] She appeared in Crashout (1955), the Humphrey Bogart comedy We're No Angels (1955), Lucy Gallant (1955), and All That Heaven Allows (1955).

In 1959, she appeared as an Indian, first in The Oregon Trail with Fred MacMurray as Shona and then in Alias Jesse James with Bob Hope as Princess Irawanee.

 
Gloria Talbott and Arthur Shields in The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)

She later became known as a "scream queen", after appearing in a number of horror films, including The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), The Cyclops (1957), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), and The Leech Woman (1960).

Her final film role was as Bri Quince, the love interest in the 1966 Western film An Eye for an Eye.

Television roles

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In 1953, Talbott appeared in "The Crime of Sylvester Bonnard"[9] and "High Seas" on Favorite Story,[10] starred in "The Dear Departed" on Chevron Theatre[11] and played Herelda in "Gypsy Wagon," an episode of The Gene Autry Show.[12]

In 1955, she appeared in TV Reader's Digest episode "America's First Great Lady" as Pocahontas and was the first guest star with roles in both of the 1955 season's new adult Westerns, Gunsmoke, episode "Home Surgery" and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, episode 2 "Mr. Earp Meets a Lady".

On November 27, 1956, she starred as Maureen in a science-fiction episode of the television anthology series Conflict entitled "Man From 1997" featuring Charlie Ruggles and James Garner. She guest-starred in the premiere episode of Mr. Adams and Eve, "The Young Actress", which was broadcast on January 4, 1957. On October 1, 1957, she appeared as Linda Brazwell in the episode "Reluctant Hero" of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western television series Sugarfoot.

Talbott's multiple television credits also include the syndicated Adventures of Superman, The Range Rider, The Cisco Kid, the NBC Western anthology series Frontier (1955), and the syndicated Western-themed crime drama, Sheriff of Cochise with John Bromfield. She appeared in the 1956 episode "The Singing Preacher" of the religious anthology series, Crossroads.

In a broadcast on NBC on January 27, 1958, Talbott played Valya in star/producer John Payne's The Restless Gun, season one, episode 19, "Hang and Be Damned". She was cast in the syndicated American Civil War drama Gray Ghost, the 1958 episode "Fatal Memory" on CBS's Wanted: Dead or Alive (returning for the 1960 episode "Tolliver Bender"), the 1959 episode "Have Sword, Will Duel" of the NBC Western Cimarron City, and in the 1961 NBC Western Whispering Smith in the role of Cora Gates.

She guest-starred as Jenny in the 1958 episode "A Cup of Black Coffee" of the CBS crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective, reprising the pairing David Janssen and she played in the 1955 film All That Heaven Allows. She also guest-starred in several episodes of ABC's Zorro.

 
Robert Stack and Gloria Talbott in The Untouchables, 1962

In 1960, Talbott made guest-starring appearances as Nora Lanyard and Lucinda Jennings in the episodes "Landlubbers" and "Devil in Skirts" of the NBC Western series, Riverboat. She was cast as Sandy in "The Velvet Frame" of the ABC/WB drama, The Roaring 20s. She also appeared in the ABC Western series, The Rebel and in Bonanza as Nedda in the episode "Escape to Ponderosa". In 1961, she portrayed Maria Mosner in the episode "The Twenty-Six Paper" of the ABC adventure series, The Islanders. That same year, she guest-starred in the episode "Buddy's Wife" of the CBS sitcom Bringing Up Buddy.

She appeared twice on CBS's TV Western series Bat Masterson, once in the 1958 episode "Trail Pirate" playing Ellen Parrish, a widowed yet brave wagon train owner, then again in the 1960 episode "Barbary Castle" playing Scottish-accented Mary MacLeod. She also appeared on CBS's Rawhide in the episodes "The Incident of the Calico Gun" (1959), "Incident of the Broken Word" (1960), and "Prairie Elephant" (1961). She appeared in the 1961 episode "Terror in the Afternoon" of the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan.

Talbott made four guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason: as defendant Eve Nesbitt in "The Case of the Angry Dead Man", Ann Gilrain in "The Case of the Crying Comedian" (both in 1961), co-defendant Bonnie Lloyd in the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Elusive Element", and Minna Rohan in the 1966 episode, "The Case of the Unwelcomed Well".

In 1962, she appeared again in an episode of Gunsmoke called "Cody's Code" and in 1963 in an episode entitled "The Cousin".[13]

In 1965, Talbott was cast in the lead in an episode of the syndicated series, Death Valley Days, "Kate Melville and the Law".[14][4] In 1965 Talbott appeared as Lola Wynatt in season 5 Episode !0 of My Three Sons.

Personal life

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Talbott was married four times and had two children.[15]

Death

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On September 19, 2000, Talbott died of kidney failure while hospitalized in Glendale, California.[2]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, Gloria Maude Talbott, February 7 1931, Los Angeles County, California; birth record, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento, California. Retrieved via FamilySearch archives, June 12, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Lentz, Harris M. III (2001). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2000: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. p. 215. ISBN 9780786410248. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  3. ^ Weaver, Tom (2006). Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. p. 332. ISBN 9780786428588. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Yamada, Katherine (10 February 2017). "Verdugo Views: Buzz about the 'Queen of the Bs'". Glendale News-Press.
  5. ^ Weaver, Tom (2000). Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0755-2.
  6. ^ "Glendale has spirited Valentine title race". The Los Angeles Times. 12 February 1947. p. 14. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Comedians will costar". The Los Angeles Times. 11 November 1948. p. 24. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Hollywood-Type Premiere Set For 'The Rodriguez Story'". The San Bernardino County Sun. 11 December 1952. p. 26. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "(TV listing)". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 17 February 1953. p. 34. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "(TV listing)". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 13 October 1953. p. 38. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "What's On Tonight". Ventura County Star-Free Press. California, Ventura. 7 April 1953. p. 10. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Gypsy Wagon". IMDb.
  13. ^ SuzAnne Barabas and Gabor Barabas, "Gunsmoke: A Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series." McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.1990. pp. 533, 549.
  14. ^ Lentz, Harris M. (1997). Television Westerns Episode Guide: All United States Series, 1949-1996. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0377-6.
  15. ^ "Comedy Here Tomorrow". Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News. California, Pasadena. 11 May 1949. p. 25. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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