Cheryl Holdridge
Cheryl Lynn Holdridge (née Phelps; June 20, 1944 – January 6, 2009)[1] was an American actress, best known as an original cast member of The Mickey Mouse Club.[2]
Cheryl Holdridge | |
|---|---|
Holdridge, 1964 | |
| Born | Cheryl Lynn Phelps June 20, 1944 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 6, 2009 (aged 64) |
| Other names | Cheryl Reventlow Post |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1955–2000 |
| Spouses | Albert James Skarda (m. 1974; div. 1988)Manning J. Post (m. 1994; died 2000) |
Early life edit
Holdridge was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother, Julie A. Phelps, was a dancer who performed on Broadway. Shortly after Cheryl was born, Julie moved with her new daughter to Burbank, California. In 1950, Julie married Herbert Charles Holdridge, a retired Brigadier General active in politics. He adopted Cheryl in 1953 and gave her his surname.[3] Her stepbrother was diplomat John H. Holdridge, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and Indonesia.
Holdridge grew up in Sherman Oaks. She started dance lessons at an early age with Joyce Cole in North Hollywood, from whom she learned ballet and tap.[citation needed]
Career edit
Holdridge first performed professionally at the age of nine in the New York City Ballet's version of The Nutcracker in Los Angeles. Her first screen appearance was as an uncredited extra in the 1956 film production of Carousel.
She auditioned for Walt Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club in the spring of 1956, and was hired for the show's second season.[4] Though a good dancer, her weak singing voice kept her in the background of most musical numbers. A competent actress with a pleasant speaking voice, she was employed for two of the show's episodic serials: Boys of the Western Sea and Annette.[citation needed]
After the show's run ended, Holdridge returned to Van Nuys High School and graduated from Grant High School with the winter 1961 class.[citation needed] She was cast in two episodes of Leave It to Beaver in 1959 as Gloria Cusick; she later played an occasional, recurring role as Wally Cleaver's girlfriend,[4] Julie Foster. She reprised her role as Julie Foster in two guest appearances in The New Leave It to Beaver in 1985 and 1987.
From 1960, Holdridge made guest appearances on over twenty different shows, including The Rifleman, Wagon Train, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, My Three Sons, Bewitched, Bringing Up Buddy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bachelor Father.
In 1962, Holdridge was under contract with Screen Gems for a new TV series, presumably Take Me To Your Leader, and was screen tested for a role in Spencer's Mountain that would eventually go to Mimsy Farmer.[5]
Holdridge retired from acting in 1964 to marry race car driver Lance Reventlow, to whom she was wed until his death in 1972. Holdridge was offered a movie contract from Universal Studios but declined after Reventlow proposed. She stated “I had to choose between my career and my personal life. Lance doesn't want me to quit acting, but it wouldn't be right for me to be tied to a studio."[6] In 1967 Holdridge was reported to be planning on writing a book about Barbara Hutton and Reventlow. She watched an installment of Poor Little Rich Girl, based on Hutton, with its producer Lester Persky at his Bel Air home.[7] The book never materialized.
After the death of her third husband, Holdridge made a cameo appearance in the 2000 feature film, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. In 2005, she appeared at Disneyland for 50th anniversary celebrations of both the opening of the park and The Mickey Mouse Club. She was cast in televised documentary specials about Cary Grant (2005) and Barbara Hutton (2006), and also appeared in a special feature interview for a Disney DVD.
Personal life edit
In May 1960, Holdridge went on a live tour to Australia with other former Mouseketeers. While there, she became involved with Lucky Starr, an Australian singer.[8] They met when Starr was 19 and Holdridge was still 15 years old. Starr was quoted as saying he fell in love with her and when the relationship ended, the two remained friends and would write to each other regularly.[9] She was later linked in fan magazines and gossip columns with many other celebrities, including Elvis Presley and Fabian.[10]
Holdridge's first marriage, on November 8, 1964, was to sportsman and playboy Lance Reventlow.[11] Holdridge decided to retire from acting after becoming engaged to Reventlow and would later explain “because that’s what you did then. You married and stayed home.”[12] Towards the end of the marriage the couple began to grow distant due to Reventlow spending more time in Aspen as Holdridge stayed mostly in Los Angeles. Despite this, they talked every day by phone.[13] Reventlow, a pilot, died in 1972, in the crash of a small plane in which he was a passenger in Aspen, Colorado.
In 1973 it was reported Holdridge was dating film producer Robert Cohn,[14] son of Jack Cohn. His brother Ralph Cohn founded Screen Gems.
Her second husband was Albert James "Jim" Skarda, whom she married in 1974. He ran a car rental service in Aspen.[15] Skarda was indicted for being the ringleader in an international drug smuggling operation. According to a sealed indictment, Skarda put up $100,000 in 1983 to begin importing thousands of pounds of marijuana from Columbia to the United States. Holdridge pledged their Aspen home to pay for his $500,000 bond.[16] They divorced in 1988. She maintained a second home in Aspen and lived there for six months out of the year from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.[17]
Her third husband, Manning J. Post (1918–2000), a prominent California Democratic Party fundraiser and controller, was 26 years her senior. Post had a used car business before becoming a TV and film producer.[18] Post was then treasurer for the California presidential campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and headed the inaugural campaign committee for Jimmy Carter.[19] Post would then go on to be a fundraiser for the political campaigns of Jesse Unruh and Joel Wachs.[20] He died at the age of 82.[21]
Death edit
Holdridge died at her Santa Monica home[4] on January 6, 2009, from lung cancer, aged 64.[12]
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Carousel | Young Girl #2 | Uncredited |
| 1959 | A Summer Place | Girl in dormitory at Briarwood School for Girls | Uncredited |
| 2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Genevieve |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956–1958 | The Mickey Mouse Club | Mouseketeer Cheryl | |
| 1957–1980 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Mouseketeer Cheryl | 2 episodes |
| 1958 | Walt Disney Presents: Annette | Madge Markham | 2 episodes |
| 1958 | The Eve Arden Show | Episode: "Safari" | |
| 1959–1963 | Leave It to Beaver | Gloria Cusick Julie Foster | 8 episodes |
| 1960–1961 | Bachelor Father | Lila Meredith | 4 episodes |
| 1960–1964 | My Three Sons | Judy Doucette Juliet Johnson | 3 episodes |
| 1961 | Westinghouse Playhouse | Mona Morgan | Episode: "A Date for Buddy" |
| 1961 | Bringing Up Buddy | Sharon | Episode: "Buddy and the Teenager" |
| 1962 | Life with Archie | Betty | Television pilot |
| 1961–1962 | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | Joyce Maynard Norma Lane | 4 episodes |
| 1962 | The Rifleman | Sally Walker | Episode: "Young Man's Fancy" |
| 1962 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Daphne Winsett | Episode: "The Big Blunder and Egg Man" |
| 1962 | King of Diamonds | Chick Hendricks | Episode: "Rain on Wednesday" |
| 1962 | Dennis the Menace | Helen Franklin | Episode: "Dennis' Lovesick Friend" |
| 1962 | The Donna Reed Show | Pat Walker | Episode: "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" |
| 1963 | Hawaiian Eye | Mary Anne Sayer | Episode: "Go Steady with Danger" |
| 1963 | Ripcord | Angie Carter | Episode: "The Inventor" |
| 1964 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Joan Delroy | Episode: "The Third One from the Left" |
| 1964 | Mr. Novak | Betty | Episode: "The Private Life of Douglas Morgan, Jr." |
| 1964 | Dr. Kildare | Nurse Reynolds | Episode: "Quid Pro Quo" |
| 1964 | The Eleventh Hour | Judy Gormley | 3 episodes |
| 1964 | Insight | Sally | Episode: "Boss Toad" |
| 1964 | Wagon Train | Annabelle | Episode: "The Race Town Story" |
| 1964 | Bewitched | Liza Randall | Episode: "The Girl Reporter" |
| 1964 | Archie | Betty | Second TV Pilot for Archie |
| 1964 | Take Me to Your Leader | Unaired TV Pilot | |
| 1984–1987 | The New Leave It to Beaver | Julie Foster | 2 episodes |
References edit
- ^ "Cheryl Holdridge, a Mouseketeer Known for Her Smile, Dies at 64". The New York Times. January 10, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
- ^ "Ex-Mouseketeer". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. June 22, 1962. p. 5.
- ^ Retired General Adopts Daughter of His Wife, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1953, pg 12
- ^ a b c "Mouseketeer went on to TV roles". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2009. p. Section 1, p 23. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bacon, James (June 21, 1962). "Cheryl Holdridge Is No Longer A Mouseketeer". The Evening Sun. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Thomas, Bob (May 1, 1964). "Actress Cheryl Holdridge Yields Career To Marriage". Ford Lauderdale News. Florida, Fort Lauderdale. Associated Press. p. 6 E. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Beck, Marilyn (November 16, 1987). "Conner set to star in Boorman film". Daily News. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Forever Hold Your Banner High, by Jerry Bowles, 1976, pg 65 ISBN 0-385-11622-5
- ^ Adair, Robin (May 22, 1963). "How Lucky Starr reached stardom". The Australian Women's Weekly. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
- ^ "Cheryl Holdridge Biography". My Neat Stuff.
- ^ "Ex-Mouseketeer, Hutton Son Wed". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. Associated Press. November 9, 1964. p. 16. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Cheryl Holdridge dies at 64; popular Mouseketeer". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2009.
- ^ Bowles, Jerry (December 1, 1976). "Mouseketeers Revisted". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ O’Brian, Jack (January 31, 1973). "New chapter for Cheryl". The Standard-Star. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ "Did You Know?". Star-News (Pasadena, California). July 3, 1977.
- ^ "Wire Check". The Daily Sentinel. January 30, 1987. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ "Cheryl Reventlow Post". Aspen Times. January 30, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ Vasquez, Carlos (October 28, 1987). "Oral History Interview with Manning J. Post" (PDF). Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ "Manning J. Post; Democratic Fund-Raiser Advised Party's Candidates for 40 Years". Los Angeles Times. March 15, 2000. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
- ^ Boyarsky, Bill (May 31, 1971). "2 Campaigns: One Well-Oiled, the Other Rusty". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ Manning J. Post; Democratic Fund-Raiser Advised Party's Candidates for 40 Years
13. Cheryl Holdridge Graduation picture, 1961 Grant High School https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/124952?page=31
External links edit
- Cheryl Holdridge at IMDb
- at the TCM Movie Database
- Images of Holdridge from her appearance on Bewitched
- Cheryl Holdridge, before and after the Mickey Mouse Club
- Cheryl Holdridge profile