Actress Gloria Winters (Babs Riley) 1931-2010, Also Starred in "Sky King"

[Zoneboy]

Link

Vernon-Winters, Gloria
November 28, 1931 - August 14, 2010
Gloria Winters-Vernon, most notably known for her role as "Penny" in the televison series Sky King died August 14, 2010 at her home in Vista, California from complications of pneumonia. Ms. Winters-Vernon starred in other notable series such as Life of Riley, Our Gang and the Bowery Boys.
Ms. Winters-Vernon continued to work as an actress until she married the sound engineer from the set of Sky King, Mr. Dean Vernon. Dean Vernon pre-deceased his wife. Ms. Winters-Vernon is survived by her sister in law Phyllis DeCinces.
Ms. Winters-Vernon will be buried with her husband at the Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

[Marvo301]

"What a revoltin development this is!"
Gloria Winters

[tv star collector]

I remember her as Sky King's niece, Penny. Wow! I didn't realize she was
that old, but I haven't seen Sky King in over a half-century. She lived
five years longer than Kirby Grant (Sky King himself), who died at 74 in 1985.

[catlover79]

[Edison]

Ah, Penny...

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...gave Gloria her "big break" when he cast her as "Babs Riley" on his version of "THE LIFE OF RILEY" in 1949-'50, featuring Jackie Gleason as "Chester Riley" [William Bendix, who was the original Riley on radio at the time, couldn't appear on TV because his RKO movie contract wouldn't allow him to]. She had all the attributes to play a "typical" teenage girl, and she was good at it.
"The Prom Dress" episode was probably her best in the series, because she was able to show a wide range of emotions. I especially liked the way she "bit" into one line she had in "A Quiet Evening At Home", when Riley forced the family to sit around the living room fireplace and spend "a quiet evening at home" {"What are we supposed to do? Just sit around here for the next few hours, and grin at each other like apes?"}.

After 'THE LIFE OF RILEY" ended in 1950, Gloria appeared in a few films {at least one "Bowery Boys" entry} before she became "Penny" on "SKY KING" in 1951. After she married Dean Vernon, and the series ended production in 1959, she decided she wanted to retire, and become "just a housewife". She was a good actress, and deserves to be known more....

[Cincy Guy]

That photo of Gloria Winters wearing the shorts and cowgirl boots seems way ahead of its time. When line-dancing became popular in the 1990's, that's how some of the girls started dressing.

I don't think much video of her as "Babs Riley" is available to see. Certainly, she portrayed the role of "Penny King" very well. Those were all good shows that starred good people.

[broadmoor]

Winters added a lot to the appeal of "Sky King" as Penny. Hate to hear this. I'm not too keen on the Gleason version of "Riley," even though I am a fan of Gleason. It might be a good time to revisit some of those episodes, though, and take another gander at Winters' take on Babs. I once met Lanny Rees, the fellow who played Junior in that Gleason series, but unfortunately failed to ask him any questions about working with Winters.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

....he's the last surviving cast member of Gleason's "RILEY" series [if he's still around]. He got the role because he initially appeared as "Junior" in Irving Brecher's theatrical movie version of the original Bendix radio show in 1949 (he and Bendix previously appeared together in James Cagney's 1948 movie, "The Time Of Your Life")- Rosemary DeCamp also appeared as "Peg Riley" opposite Bendix, and Brecher used her again in his TV version. I don't believe Lanny did any further TV or movie work after the first "RILEY" ended in 1950.

[broadmoor]

Yes, I met Rees once. I think after the "Riley" stint he veered into a military career of some sort. What I mainly discussed with him was his starring role in "My Pal Shep," a little boy-and-his-dog 'B-movie' from 1946 that was fairly popular, and used to really make the rounds on television back in its early days. I think it was part of the Screen Guild / Lippert library which was so widely syndicated back then, before the major studios started packaging their own old movies for local channels. Regarding "Life of Riley," I do recall him relating to me that some folks on the set chided him to tone down his colorful language, as 'kids' were present (meaning Rees and perhaps Winters, although she must have been 18 by that time).

[broadmoor]

In my above posting, when I referred to "his colorful language," I'm talking about Jackie Gleason's (not Rees). Upon re-reading what I wrote, it sounded a bit unclear... sometimes a problem with impromptu typing of thoughts.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

After 'THE LIFE OF RILEY" ended in 1950, Gloria appeared in a few films {at least one "Bowery Boys" entry}

Yes, Gloria appeared in the 1952 Bowery Boys movie "Hold That Line". Her co-starlet in this film is the lovely Mona Knox, she passed away in 2008. RIP to both of these talented ladies.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...as Lanny didn't seem to be the type of person who went around swearing on a movie or TV set (at least to me). Keep in mind that Gleason's "RILEY" episodes were filmed in exactly one day every week, so there were times when Jackie would feel the pressure and start cussing at anyone he was annoyed at. I'm quite sure Irving Brecher himself must have taken him aside more than once, warning him to "cut it out!".

"Hold That Line", eh? Thanks, 'retro'.

[Cincy Guy]

Per some research, Lanny Rees is still living at age 77 and is residing in Auburn, Washington.

[baronzzz]

Always had a crush on her
Article on Gloria Winters:
http://boomerhead.com/index.php?opti...=295&Itemid=34