Gloria Blondell

Gloria Blondell (August 16, 1915 – March 25, 1986) was an American actress who worked across stage, film, radio, and television. Born in New York, New York, she was the younger sister of actress Joan Blondell, and came from a family with deep roots in entertainment. Her father, Levi Blustine — a vaudeville comedian who performed under the name Ed Blondell — was born in Poland to a Jewish family around 1865 and died in Glendale, California, on March 27, 1943. Her mother, Catherine Caine, was born in Brooklyn on April 13, 1884, of Irish descent, and died on October 5, 1952, also in Glendale. Blondell's siblings Edward Jr. and Joan were likewise performers, and the family collectively formed a vaudeville troupe known as the Bouncing Blondells. Blondell herself reportedly first appeared on stage at nine months old and was described as a trouper by age three.

Her Broadway career spanned 1935 to 1936 and included two productions: Three Men on a Horse, which played at the Playhouse in New York City, and Iron Men. These stage credits placed her within a broader performance career that extended well beyond the theater. In film, she co-starred with Ronald Reagan in Accidents Will Happen (1938) and appeared in Daredevil Drivers (1938), Three Sappy People (1939), and The Twonky (1953), the latter alongside Hans Conried.

Blondell became a prominent figure during the Golden Age of Radio, taking on the recurring role of secretary Jerry Booker on I Love a Mystery. Her radio work also included appearances on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Lux Radio Theatre, Arch Oboler's Plays, Richard Diamond Private Detective, Screen Directors Playhouse, and The Great Gildersleeve. In television, she is perhaps best remembered for playing Honeybee Gillis in the 1950s sitcom The Life of Riley, starring William Bendix, where Tom D'Andrea played her on-screen husband Jim Gillis. She also appeared in the 1952 I Love Lucy episode "The Anniversary Present" as Grace Foster, and portrayed an aging prostitute who rescues a town from criminals in "The Looters," an episode of Wanted Dead or Alive. In voice work, Blondell provided the voice of Daisy Duck beginning with the character's second appearance as a Disney cartoon character, voicing Daisy in six of her nine speaking roles during the classic shorts era.

In her personal life, Blondell married film producer Albert R. Broccoli on July 26, 1940; the marriage ended in divorce on August 7, 1945. The following year, on September 14, she married Victor Hunter in Monterey, California. The couple had one daughter, who was born prematurely and died at birth; during the delivery, Blondell nearly died from blood loss and survived only after an emergency hysterectomy. She and Hunter remained married until his death in 1980. Blondell died on March 25, 1986, in Santa Monica, California, from cancer, at the age of 70. Her body was cremated.