Elaine Devry, 'Perry Mason' and 'I Dream of Jeannie' Star, Dead at 93
The actress was known for her roles in 'The Atomic Kid,' 'China Doll,' 'Perry Mason,' '77 Sunset Strip,' 'I Dream of Jeannie,' and more.
Veteran actress Elaine Devry, a film and TV star who became the fourth of Mickey Rooney's eight wives, has died. Devry, known for her TV roles in Perry Mason and I Dream of Jeannie and film credits like The Atomic Kid and A Guide for the Married Man, died Sept. 20 at her home in Grants Pass, Oregon, according to a notice placed on a local funeral home website. She was 93. A cause of death was not specified.
Born Thelma Elaine Mahnken on Jan. 10, 1930, in Compton, California, according to Variety, Devry started her career as a model while attending Compton High School and Compton Community College before moving to Butte, Montana, where she married her high school sweetheart, Dan Ducich. After the couple divorced in 1952, Devry returned to California, meeting Rooney at a driving range in Woodland Hills. The couple married in Las Vegas in November 1952 when she was 22 and he was 32. Devry was his fourth wife. They divorced in 1958.
Devry made her first onscreen appearances a year after marrying Rooney, appearing in the Rooney-starring comedy film A Slight Case of Larceny and on an episode of the Ronald Reagan-hosted CBS anthology series, General Electric Theater. She also starred alongside her then-husband in the 1954 sci-fi comedy The Atomic Kid, portraying nurse Audrey Nelson opposite Rooney's Barnaby "Blix" Waterberry. She went on to appear in films including China Doll (1958), The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961), and Man-Trap (1961). In A Guide for the Married Man (1967), she portrayed a seductive divorcée opposite Walter Matthau's Paul Manning.
Devry also had an impressive list of TV credits. She made three guest appearances on Perry Mason and also appeared as a guest star on series like Bourbon Street Beat, Bachelor Father, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Bonanza, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, Family Affair, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Cannon. She retired from acting in the '70s, though she briefly returned in the '90s. Her final acting credits include an episode of Beverly Hills Bordello and the 1999 film Heart to Heart.com.
Following her divorce from Rooney, Devry married actor Will J. White, who she first met in 1961 on NBC's The Dick Powell Theater, according to The Hollywood Reporter. White died in 1992. Devry's funeral was held on Oct. 7 in Oregon.