Gloria Henry, an actress known for her role as a mother in the legendary 1960s sitcom “Dennis the Menace,” has died at the age of 98. Henry passed away on Saturday, the day after his birthday, at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter Erin confirmed “The Hollywood Reporter”.
Gloria Eileen McEniry, the real name of the actress, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 2, 1923. She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and worked on radio shows, commercials and various theater groups.
She made her film debut in 1947 in the sports drama “Sport of Kings” and later appeared in films such as “Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back” (1947), “Miss Grant Takes Richmond” (1949) with Lucille Ball, as well as in the western from “The Cover” (1952) with Marlene Dietrich. Other of his most notable film titles were “The Strawberry Roan” (1948), “Triple Threat” (1948), “Racing Luck” (1948), “Riders in the Sky” (1949) and “Kill the Umpire”. ”(1950).
Henry also appeared with small roles in television series such as “My Little Margie”, “The Abbott and Costello Show”, “Dad Knows Everything” or “Perry Mason” until in 1959 he became famous as Alice Mitchell, the mother of the iconic CBS comedy “Dennis the Menace”, based on the comic book character Hank Ketcham. The series also starred Herbert Anderson as husband and young Jay North. She played Alice for the 146-episode series until the comedy was canceled in 1963.
In recent active years, he has starred in such popular series as “Dallas” or “An Early Doctor,” and his last work before the cameras was an appearance in the hit comedy “Parks and Recreation” in 2012.