Gloria Fonda Explained

Gloria Fonda
Birth Name:Gertude Katherine Fonda
Birth Date:24 January 1894
Birth Place:St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Death Place:Álamos, Sonora, Mexico
Occupation:Film Actress
Children:2

Gloria Fonda (born Gertrude Katherine Fonda;[1] [2] [3] January 24, 1894[4] [5] – January 20, 1978) was a U.S. actress of the silent film era.

Early years

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota and raised in Seattle, Washington,[6] Fonda was the daughter of Mary Etta Walsh and Willard Archibald Fonda,[3] [7] a successful glove manufacturer.[8] While she was a student at the University of Washington, she won a beauty contest, and in 1917 she was one of two winners in the International Beauty Contest held in the United States.[9]

Brief Movie Career

Fonda won a most beautiful girl in Washington pageant sponsored by Universal Pictures. Her home was in Seattle, Washington. She came to Hollywood with sixty other beauties from American states.

Fonda made only seven films during a career which lasted from 1915–1916. Often she appeared in movies directed by William C. Dowlan. Among these are The Mayor's Decision (1915), The Devil and Idle Hands (1915), and Drugged Waters (1916).

She played the role of Gladys Saunders in the latter, her final film. Released by Red Feather Productions, the drama concerned a health resort and a spring of water which was pure. The water was drugged dailyin order to deceive wealthy people who came to the spa to restore their health. The Mayor's Decision was a short drama of politics, slum life, and double intrigue. It was a Universal and Carl Laemmle production.

Dowlan directed Fonda in a Laemmle single reel picture entitled The Great Fear (1915). Dowlan co-starred along with Lula Warrenton.

In 1919-1921 Fonda performed on stage in the Orient.[10]

Personal life and death

On October 22, 1934, Fonda married automobile and radio financier Victor Emmett Dalton; they separated on November 8, 1935 and were divorced on March 24, 1939.[11] [12] [13] The marriage produced two daughters.[14]

Fonda died in Álamos, Sonora, Mexico in 1978.[15]

References

Notes and References

  1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/145479408/?clipping_id=157651050 "A Sensational Scoop! Gertrude Fonda"
  2. Grey, Cynthia (March 2, 1917). "Cynthia Grey's Answers". The Tacoma Times. p. 4. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  3. "Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980",, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDZQ-8NY : 5 February 2020), Gertrude Katherine Fonda, 1894.
  4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121064793/gloria_gertrude-dalton/photo#view-photo=93629311 "Gloria Gertrude Fonda Dalton: Grave Photo"
  5. Universal Service (December 13, 1925). "Michael Arlen Sets Style for Movie Actresses"' Quad-City Times. Retrieved October 23, 2024. "Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schenck, (Norma Talmadge), who are week-ending at Hotel Del Coronado, entertained as their guests at the races Mr. and Mrs. Victor Dalton, Miss Diana Kane, and Lee Shubert of New York. Mrs. Dalton, the former Gloria Fonda, a beauty of castilian type, before her marriage to the eastern financier, was a favorite of the stage in France and her own native Spain."
  6. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-seattle-star/157572809/ "W. A. Fonda Funeral to Be Held Friday"
  7. "Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949",, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M5-GV11 : Mon Jul 08 13:48:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Willard A Fonda and Mary E Walsh, 18 Feb 1890.
  8. News: They wanted wives, not chorus girls, in Orient . October 19, 2024 . The South Bend Tribune . January 25, 1921 . 2. . subscription .
  9. News: Famous mainland beauties enjoy Hawaii . October 18, 2024 . Honolulu Star-Bulletin . March 2, 1917 . 9. . subscription .
  10. News: Film and Drama . October 19, 2024 . Seattle Union Record . December 6, 1921 . 2. . subscription .
  11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/689260786/?clipping_id=157662393 "Mrs. Victor Dalton Wins Divorce"
  12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/380675661/?clipping_id=157662076 "Radio Station Owner Passes"
  13. "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4Q-4HRP : 11 February 2023), Victor Emmett Dalton, .
  14. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/157658733/ "Daughters Visited"
  15. Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). "Silent Film Necrology". Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 175. .

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