Gloria Jean

Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959 and made numerous radio, television, stage and nightclub appearances. She may be best remembered for her appearance with W. C. Fields in the film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941).

Gloria Jean was born Gloria Jean Schoonover in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Ferman and Eleanor Schoonover; her ancestry was Pennsylvania Dutch. She had three sisters: Sally, Lois and Bonnie. The family was involved in her career, and Lois serving as a stand-in for Gloria Jean and their father managing her career. Gloria Jean was three years old when she first sang on radio under the name of Baby Skylark.

The family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Gloria Jean sang with Paul Whiteman's orchestra on radio broadcasts. When she was 12, she became the youngest member of an American opera troupe when she joined a small New York opera company,

In 1938, Gloria Jean was being trained as a coloratura soprano when her voice teacher Leah Russel took her to an audition held by Universal Pictures producer Joe Pasternak, who had guided Deanna Durbin to stardom. Pasternak wanted a younger singer for the same kind of musical in which Durbin had starred. He held auditions for a film called The Under-Pup. and Gloria Jean was selected for the role. She later recalled: "There were hundreds of beautiful little girls there. I had been grabbed out of the sandbox, and I didn't look so nice. I had pigtails and my teeth were a little crooked. But that's what Joe liked."

Gloria Jean starred in The Under-Pup with Robert Cummings and Nan Grey and the film enjoyed an extended run in many theaters. Universal's publicity department initially claimed that she was 11 years old rather than 13. Her actual age was not well known for many decades.

She next costarred with Bing Crosby in If I Had My Way (1940), directed by David Butler, and in the well-received A Little Bit of Heaven (1940), which reunited her with many from the The Under-Pup cast.

In December 1940, Gloria Jean was sued by William Lustig, a Pennsylvania bandleader who had appeared with her during her local radio years and claimed to be her former agent.

Gloria Jean's fourth film role became perhaps her best-known when she costarred with W.C. Fields in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). Gloria Jean later recalled working with Fields: "He had a reputation, I know, for not liking children, but he was very kind and considerate to me. I used to wonder, though, why he didn't eat on the set. When we broke for a meal he'd say, 'Get that kid off to school.' Of course, I know now, it was because he wanted to drink." Fields was fond of Gloria Jean and her mother Eleanor, who visited him for daily dressing-room chats, and Fields invited both to his home.