Gloria Henry, Dennis the Menace Actress, Dead at 98

Gloria Henry, who played TV mom Alice Mitchell on Dennis the Menace, has passed away. She was 98.

The actress died Saturday at her home in Los Angeles just one day after her birthday, her daughter Erin told The Hollywood Reporter.

On Dennis, Henry played her most famous role, Alice, for four seasons opposite her TV husband, actor Herbert Anderson. The series ran from 1959-1963, with Jay North playing the titular role of her son.

“Many of the fans say, ‘Oh, I always wished you were my mom’ and ‘My mom was jealous of you because I wanted you for a mom,'” she said in a 2011 interview with nj.com. “Which is pretty funny, because I don’t think my own children felt that way.”

Prior to her career in acting, Henry worked in radio. She eventually signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, getting her early start in films like Sport of Kings, Keeper of the Bees and Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back.

Her career in Hollywood continued with a foray into B-Films, before she segued over to TV, with guest-starring roles in Father Knows Best, The Files of Jeffrey Jones, The Abbott and Costello Show, Perry Mason and more.

In more recent decades, Henry’s TV credits included parts in Dallas, Falcon Crest, Hunter, Doogie Howser, M.D. and Parks and Recreation, which became her final acting credit.

She is survived by her three children Jeffrey, Adam and Erin.

Launch Gallery: TV Stars We Lost in 2021