Gloria Neil
Encyclopedia
Gloria Neil is an American
television
and film
actress. She is best known for her roles on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
and The Beverly Hillbillies
, as well as the sixties-era films The Beach Girls and the Monster
and The Karate Killers
.
, Neil moved to Palm Springs, California
in her early childhood. Her initial recognition came as a beauty contest
participant. After serving as a California runner-up in the 1958 Miss Universe
competition and as the 1959 Junior Rose Bowl Queen, she worked as a model, ultimately coming to the attention of Universal Studios
, which signed her to an acting contract in 1960.
, notable for her ability to shift rapidly from a "girl next door" persona to that of a seductress. She was first cast in the role of the effervescent "Melvin" in The Lively Ones
, a summer replacement comedy
/variety show
starring Vic Damone
. The Lively Ones aired on NBC
from July 26, 1962 to September 12, 1963, giving up its slot to the comedy Hazel
. This was followed by a 1964 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show
in which she was cast as an alternative-reality version of Mary Tyler Moore
's Laura Petrie character, serving as a wish-fulfillment "Laura #2" in a fantasy by Rob Petrie, played by Dick Van Dyke
.
Her film debut came in 1965, in the movie The Beach Girls and the Monster
(subsequently also marketed as Monster from the Surf and Surf Terror). Later featured on the cover of the Psychotronic Video
Guide and hailed as a campy "laugh riot with lots of bongos, murders and girls in bikinis,", the low-budget film starred Jon Hall
and featured a surf music soundtrack by Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Playing the role of "Bunny", Neil was paired with her husband Anthony K. Roberts
, a fellow actor who later achieved fame as a photojournalist.
Neil then returned to television in the hit show The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
, playing the role of Sarah, a beautiful-yet-brainy secret agent given to moments of whimsy. Although the actress Stephanie Powers was later tapped for a similar role in the spinoff
series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
, Neil also appeared in The Karate Killers
(1967), a theatrical release featuring The Man From U.N.C.L.E. characters (and additionally starring Joan Crawford
, Telly Savalas
and Herbert Lom
).
While active in modeling and television commercials until the 1970s, Neil's last network television role was as "Miss Plumpett" on the 1966 season of The Beverly Hillbillies
, in which she played a sophisticated foil to Jethro Bodine, played by Max Baer, Jr.
.
, her co-star in The Beach Girls and the Monster
and the later the recipient of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize
for photojournalism
. She retired from active film work in the late 1960s, raised two children and served as the manager of Roberts' photography studio. Following his death in 2005 she relocated to Nevada City, California
, where she remains active as a community volunteer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress. She is best known for her roles on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
and The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, as well as the sixties-era films The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster is a horror film in the beach party style. Unlike most beach party films, it was shot in black & white. For some release prints, the surfing footage was printed in color...
and The Karate Killers
The Karate Killers
The Karate Killers is a 1967 film based on the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. The film was based on the two-part episode of the series 'The Five Daughters Affair' which aired in April 1967 by NBC.-Synopsis:...
.
Early life
Born in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Neil moved to Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
in her early childhood. Her initial recognition came as a beauty contest
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
participant. After serving as a California runner-up in the 1958 Miss Universe
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
competition and as the 1959 Junior Rose Bowl Queen, she worked as a model, ultimately coming to the attention of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, which signed her to an acting contract in 1960.
Career
Blonde, blue-eyed and petite, Neil made a reputation as an ingenueIngenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
, notable for her ability to shift rapidly from a "girl next door" persona to that of a seductress. She was first cast in the role of the effervescent "Melvin" in The Lively Ones
The Lively Ones
The Lively Ones were an American instrumental surf rock band active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane...
, a summer replacement comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
starring Vic Damone
Vic Damone
Vic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
. The Lively Ones aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from July 26, 1962 to September 12, 1963, giving up its slot to the comedy Hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
. This was followed by a 1964 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
in which she was cast as an alternative-reality version of Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
's Laura Petrie character, serving as a wish-fulfillment "Laura #2" in a fantasy by Rob Petrie, played by Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
.
Her film debut came in 1965, in the movie The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster is a horror film in the beach party style. Unlike most beach party films, it was shot in black & white. For some release prints, the surfing footage was printed in color...
(subsequently also marketed as Monster from the Surf and Surf Terror). Later featured on the cover of the Psychotronic Video
Psychotronic Video
Psychotronic Video was a film magazine originally started by publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon in 1980 in New York City as a hand-written and photocopied weekly fanzine entitled Psychotronic TV. It was then relaunched by Weldon under its more commonly known name as an offset quarterly in 1989...
Guide and hailed as a campy "laugh riot with lots of bongos, murders and girls in bikinis,", the low-budget film starred Jon Hall
Jon Hall
Jon Hall was an American film actor.-Biography:Born Charles Felix Locher in Fresno, California, and raised in Tahiti by his father, the Swiss-born actor Felix Locher, he was a nephew of James Norman Hall, one of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty...
and featured a surf music soundtrack by Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Franklin Wayne Sinatra , professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and conductor....
Playing the role of "Bunny", Neil was paired with her husband Anthony K. Roberts
Anthony K. Roberts
Anthony Kalani Roberts, also known as Kal Roberts, , was an actor and photographer, best known as the recipient of a 1974 Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism.-Biography:...
, a fellow actor who later achieved fame as a photojournalist.
Neil then returned to television in the hit show The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, playing the role of Sarah, a beautiful-yet-brainy secret agent given to moments of whimsy. Although the actress Stephanie Powers was later tapped for a similar role in the spinoff
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fi TV series that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966 to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith, which was rearranged into a slightly different,...
, Neil also appeared in The Karate Killers
The Karate Killers
The Karate Killers is a 1967 film based on the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. The film was based on the two-part episode of the series 'The Five Daughters Affair' which aired in April 1967 by NBC.-Synopsis:...
(1967), a theatrical release featuring The Man From U.N.C.L.E. characters (and additionally starring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
and Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
).
While active in modeling and television commercials until the 1970s, Neil's last network television role was as "Miss Plumpett" on the 1966 season of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, in which she played a sophisticated foil to Jethro Bodine, played by Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer Jr is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
.
Personal life
Neil was married in 1960 to Anthony K. RobertsAnthony K. Roberts
Anthony Kalani Roberts, also known as Kal Roberts, , was an actor and photographer, best known as the recipient of a 1974 Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism.-Biography:...
, her co-star in The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster
The Beach Girls and the Monster is a horror film in the beach party style. Unlike most beach party films, it was shot in black & white. For some release prints, the surfing footage was printed in color...
and the later the recipient of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
. She retired from active film work in the late 1960s, raised two children and served as the manager of Roberts' photography studio. Following his death in 2005 she relocated to Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
, where she remains active as a community volunteer.
Television
- The Lively OnesThe Lively OnesThe Lively Ones were an American instrumental surf rock band active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane...
(1962–63) - The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
(1964) - The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1965–1967)
- The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
(1966)
External links
- Hollywood Teen Movies appreciation page for The Beach Girls and the Monster.
- The Lively Ones page on TV.com.
- Trailers, reviews and schedule for The Karate Killers, TV Guide