Gloria Talbott was a popular American film and television actress who starred in many horror and western movies in the 1950s and 1960s. She was known as a “scream queen” for her roles in films such as The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Cyclops, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, and The Leech Woman. She also appeared in comedies, dramas, and TV shows such as Gunsmoke, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Mr. Adams and Eve. But how did Gloria Talbott die? What was the cause of her death? Here is what we know.
Early Life and Career
Gloria Maude Talbott was born on February 7, 1931, in Glendale, California, a city co-founded by her great-grandfather Benjamin F. Patterson. She began her career as a child actress in such films as Maytime, Sweet and Low-Down, and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. She attended Glendale High School and won the “Miss Glendale” beauty pageant in 1947. She also started her own dramatic group and performed in various clubs.
After a three-year hiatus due to marriage, motherhood, and divorce, Talbott resumed her career and worked extensively in both TV and films. She had a knack for playing strong-willed and independent women who often faced danger or adversity. She also had a talent for riding horses, which helped her land many roles in westerns.
Horror Films and Scream Queen Status
Talbott’s most memorable roles were in horror films, where she often played the heroine who had to deal with monsters, mad scientists, or aliens. She starred in The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), where she played the daughter of the infamous doctor who inherited his curse. She also starred in The Cyclops (1957), where she encountered a giant one-eyed mutant in Mexico. In I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), she played a woman who discovered that her husband was an alien invader. And in The Leech Woman (1960), she played a woman who aged rapidly after drinking a youth potion.
These films earned her the nickname of “scream queen”, a term used to describe actresses who specialize in horror films and often scream or shriek in terror. Talbott was one of the first scream queens of the 1950s, along with actresses such as Barbara Steele, Beverly Garland, and Allison Hayes.
Final Years and Death
Talbott’s last film role was in An Eye for an Eye (1966), where she played the love interest of Robert Lansing. After that, she retired from acting and focused on her family life. She married four times and had two children: Mark Charles Parrish from her first marriage to Gene Stanley Parrish, and Mea Mullally from her fourth marriage to Dr. Steven J. Capabianco.
On September 19, 2000, Talbott died in a hospital in Glendale, California, as a result of kidney failure according to The Celebrity Deaths. She was 69 years old. She is buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.
Gloria Talbott was a versatile and talented actress who left a lasting impression on fans of horror and western films. She was also a beautiful and charming woman who loved horses and ice skating. She will always be remembered as one of the original scream queens of Hollywood.
