Gloria Henry

Biography: Actress Gloria Henry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1923, and joined the roster of Columbia Pictures in the mid-1940s. She generally appeared in the studio's B-movie output, such as Sport of Kings (1947) and Rusty Saves A Life (1949), in the latter playing a key role in the plot. Her most widely seen screen work was in Fritz Lang's offbeat 1952 western Rancho Notorious -- her murder at the beginning of the movie propels the plot of the noir-ish western to its grim end. In 1958, Henry was chosen to play Alice Mitchell, the mother to Jay North's Dennis Mitchell in the sitcom Dennis The Menace, a role she portrayed until 1963 -- she worked opposite the slightly older Herbert Anderson, playing her husband Henry Mitchell. Although her lines were usually limited to expressions of joy or exasperation (TV moms were usually depicted in a simple way in those days . . . ), and all of the adults in the series were essentially second fiddle to North's Dennis and Joseph Kearns' Mr.Actress Gloria Henry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1923, and joined the roster of Columbia Pictures in the mid-1940s. She generally appeared in the studio's B-movie output, such as Sport of Kings (1947) and Rusty Saves A Life (1949), in the latter playing a key role in the plot. Her most widely seen screen work was in Fritz Lang's offbeat 1952 western Rancho Notorious -- her murder at the beginning of the movie propels the plot of the noir-ish western to its grim end. In 1958, Henry was chosen to play Alice Mitchell, the mother to Jay North's Dennis Mitchell in the sitcom Dennis The Menace, a role she portrayed until 1963 -- she worked opposite the slightly older Herbert Anderson, playing her husband Henry Mitchell. Although her lines were usually limited to expressions of joy or exasperation (TV moms were usually depicted in a simple way in those days . . . ), and all of the adults in the series were essentially second fiddle to North's Dennis and Joseph Kearns' Mr. Wilson, she did at least get to wear more attractive hair-styles and clothes as the series wore on. At the start of the 1960s, Henry also suggested to her gardener, a young man named Todd Armstrong, that he might consider doing a screen test for Columbia Pictures -- he agreed and she arranged it, and Armstrong ended up playing the hero in the classic Ray Harryhausen-produced fantasy film Jason And The Argonauts. Henry's own acting career resumed at a slower pace after the cancellation of Dennis The Menace, and she had pretty much retired by the 1970s. Expand

Gloria Henry's Scores

  • TV
Average career score: 68
Highest Metascore: 68 Perry Mason (2020): Season 1
Lowest Metascore: 68 Perry Mason (2020): Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
1 tv review
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
68 Perry Mason (2020): Season 1 Jun 21, 2020 Gloria Henry 6.0
tbd Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season 2 Sep 12, 1990 Grandma Irene tbd
tbd Silver Spoons: Season 3 Sep 16, 1984 Mrs. Summers tbd
tbd Dennis the Menace: Season 4 Sep 30, 1962 Alice Mitchell / Alice Mitchell / Gloria Henry tbd
tbd Dennis the Menace: Season 3 Oct 1, 1961 Alice Mitchell / Alice Mitchell / Gloria Henry tbd
tbd Dennis the Menace: Season 2 Oct 2, 1960 Alice Mitchell / Alice Mitchell / Gloria Henry tbd
tbd Dennis the Menace: Season 1 Oct 4, 1959 Alice Mitchell / Alice Mitchell / Gloria Henry tbd
tbd Perry Mason: Season 1 Sep 21, 1957 Helene Chaney tbd
tbd Father Knows Best: Season 3 Sep 12, 1956 Mildred tbd