Remembering Gloria Anna Holden...
on what would have been her 123rd birthday, September 5
Gloria Anna Holden was born in London on September 5, 1903.
She's best known for her performance as Countess Marya Zaleska in '36 Universal studios film Dracula's Daughter.
Gloria attended school in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and later studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Before she became an actress, she modeled for artists, was a shopper for a store, and worked in a beauty salon.
Her first credited film role is Wife vs. Secretary (1936), starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy. She may be best remembered for two roles in her long career, that of Mme. Zola (Alexandrine Zola) in the Outstanding Production-winner biopic The Life of Emile Zola (1937), as well as her "exotic" depiction of the title role in Dracula's Daughter (1936). Her performance in the latter influenced the writings of 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 a Short Subject (Color) Academy Award. Her film career ended with This Happy Feeling (1958).
Holden performed on Eddie Cantor's radio program for 26 weeks, and played a non-singing Julie La Verne on the 1940 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Show Boat, based on the 1936 film version.
Holden married Harry Dawson Reynolds in 1921. The following year, she gave birth to a son, Lawrence Reynolds. She married, secondly, to Harold A. Winston on December 17, 1932. This union also ended in divorce, on December 2, 1937.
In 1944, she married her third husband, William Hoyt, to whom she remained married until her death. They had one son, William Christopher Hoyt, who was born in 1948 and killed by a boulder rolled onto his car in 1970, listed as a homicide.
Holden died at Redlands hospital of a myocardial infarction in 1991, aged 87.
Source: Wikipedia
Personal notes:
Gloria suffered from poor self esteem and didn't think she was attractive. After Dracula's Daughter wrapped, soon after she had surgery done to her nose and cheeks. Looking at the many publicly stills from the film, and comparing them to photos from her later roles, it's easy to see the differences. It's sad that she didn't have a close friend who could have told her how beautiful she was and convinced her not to have the surgery.
She was fearful of being typecast in horror films, as Bela Lugosi was, yet she received many letters from fans who would send photos of her as Countess Zaleska, asking her to sign them.
Gloria Anna Holden was born in London on September 5, 1903.
She's best known for her performance as Countess Marya Zaleska in '36 Universal studios film Dracula's Daughter.
Gloria attended school in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and later studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Before she became an actress, she modeled for artists, was a shopper for a store, and worked in a beauty salon.
Her first credited film role is Wife vs. Secretary (1936), starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy. She may be best remembered for two roles in her long career, that of Mme. Zola (Alexandrine Zola) in the Outstanding Production-winner biopic The Life of Emile Zola (1937), as well as her "exotic" depiction of the title role in Dracula's Daughter (1936). Her performance in the latter influenced the writings of 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 a Short Subject (Color) Academy Award. Her film career ended with This Happy Feeling (1958).
Holden performed on Eddie Cantor's radio program for 26 weeks, and played a non-singing Julie La Verne on the 1940 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Show Boat, based on the 1936 film version.
Holden married Harry Dawson Reynolds in 1921. The following year, she gave birth to a son, Lawrence Reynolds. She married, secondly, to Harold A. Winston on December 17, 1932. This union also ended in divorce, on December 2, 1937.
In 1944, she married her third husband, William Hoyt, to whom she remained married until her death. They had one son, William Christopher Hoyt, who was born in 1948 and killed by a boulder rolled onto his car in 1970, listed as a homicide.
Holden died at Redlands hospital of a myocardial infarction in 1991, aged 87.
Source: Wikipedia
Personal notes:
Gloria suffered from poor self esteem and didn't think she was attractive. After Dracula's Daughter wrapped, soon after she had surgery done to her nose and cheeks. Looking at the many publicly stills from the film, and comparing them to photos from her later roles, it's easy to see the differences. It's sad that she didn't have a close friend who could have told her how beautiful she was and convinced her not to have the surgery.
She was fearful of being typecast in horror films, as Bela Lugosi was, yet she received many letters from fans who would send photos of her as Countess Zaleska, asking her to sign them.
