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Cheryl Holdridge

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Cheryl Holdridge
Holdridge in 1964
Born
Cheryl Lynn Phelps

(1944-06-20)June 20, 1944
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 2009(2009-01-06) (aged 64)
Santa Monica, California, U.S
Other namesCheryl Reventlow Post
OccupationActress
Years active1955–2000
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1964; died 1972)​
Albert James Skarda
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 1988)​
Manning J. Post
​
​
(m. 1994; died 2000)​
ParentHerbert Charles Holdridge (adoptive father)
FamilyJohn H. Holdridge (adoptive brother)

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]

Early life

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Holdridge's mother, Julie, married Herbert Charles Holdridge, a retired Brigadier General. 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.[citation needed]

Career

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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.[citation needed]

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]

After the show's run ended, Holdridge returned to Van Nuys High School and graduated from Grant High School with the winter 1961 class.[5] 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, Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, The Eleventh Hour, Bewitched, and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Holdridge was offered the role of Elly May on The Beverly Hillbillies but her studio would not release her from her contract to accept the role, and lost the lead role in Gidget Goes to Rome to Cindy Carol for looking too mature.[6] Holdridge was also screen tested for a role in Spencer's Mountain that would eventually go to Mimsy Farmer.[7]

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."[8] 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.[9] 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

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Lance Reventlow and Cheryl Holdridge's wedding portrait

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.[10] 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.[11]

Prior to her first marriage, Holdridge had dated Elvis Presley, Tony Dow, Ricky Nelson, Tim Considine, Fabian Forte, Bobby Rydell, Don Grady, Tommy Kirk,[12] and Michael Anderson Jr.[13]

Holdridge's first marriage, on November 8, 1964, was to sportsman and playboy Lance Reventlow,[14] only child of Barbara Hutton, heir to the Woolworth fortune. 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.”[15] It was reported that towards the end of their marriage the couple were estranged and met only occasionally,[16] with Holdridge contemplating divorce.[17] At an event in 1971, Holdridge refused to be addressed as Mrs. Lance Reventlow and stated "Lance and I are the best of friends. We just don't live together."[18] Reventlow died in 1972, in the crash of a small plane in which he was a passenger in Aspen, Colorado. The bulk of Reventlow's estate went to Holdridge, which was estimated around $50 million.[19]

Between her first two marriages it was reported Holdridge dated film producers Robert Cohn (son of Jack Cohn)[20] and Andrew Wald (son of Jerry Wald),[21] and author Michael Crichton.[22]

Her second husband was Albert James "Jim" Skarda, whom she married in 1974. He ran a car rental service in Aspen.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26] 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.[27] Post would then go on to be a fundraiser for the political campaigns of Jesse Unruh and Joel Wachs.[28] He died at the age of 82.[29]

Death

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Holdridge died at her Santa Monica home[4] on January 6, 2009, from lung cancer, aged 64.[15]

Filmography

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Film
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
Television
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

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  1. ^ "Cheryl Holdridge, a Mouseketeer Known for Her Smile, Dies at 64". The New York Times. January 10, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  2. ^ "Ex-Mouseketeer". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. June 22, 1962. p. 5.
  3. ^ "Retired General Adopts Daughter of His Wife". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1953. p. 12. Retrieved February 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Wedding Plans". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. January 30, 1964. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Cheryl Holdridge, by Johnny Jason, 'Teen Magazine, May 1963, pg 47
  7. ^ Bacon, James (June 21, 1962). "Cheryl Holdridge Is No Longer A Mouseketeer". The Evening Sun. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Beck, Marilyn (November 16, 1987). "Conner set to star in Boorman film". Daily News. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  10. ^ Forever Hold Your Banner High, by Jerry Bowles, 1976, pg 65 ISBN 0-385-11622-5
  11. ^ Adair, Robin (May 22, 1963). "How Lucky Starr reached stardom". The Australian Women's Weekly. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  12. ^ Cheryl Holdridge, by Johnny Jason, 'Teen Magazine, May 1963, pg 47
  13. ^ Mike's Love Life, by Marilyn Beck, Teen Life magazine, April 1964
  14. ^ "Ex-Mouseketeer, Hutton Son Wed". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. Associated Press. November 9, 1964. p. 16. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "Cheryl Holdridge dies at 64; popular Mouseketeer". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2009.
  16. ^ "Reventlow Will Probated". The Montreal Star. July 28, 1972. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  17. ^ Hayber, Joyce (September 27, 1972). "Disney Films for Misses Hayes, Rush". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  18. ^ Manners, Dorothy (December 10, 1971). "Gilda Gray Coming Up". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "Reventlow widow to get bulk of estate". The Honolulu Advertiser. July 27, 1972. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  20. ^ Manners, Dorothy (October 18, 1972). "Hollywood Pairs Divide". The Bradenton Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  21. ^ Manners, Dorothy (November 20, 1972). "In Hollywood". News-Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  22. ^ Manners, Dorothy (May 26, 1973). "The Bradenton Herald". The Bradenton Herald. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  23. ^ "Did You Know?". Star-News (Pasadena, California). July 3, 1977.
  24. ^ "Wire Check". The Daily Sentinel. January 30, 1987. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  25. ^ "Cheryl Reventlow Post". Aspen Times. January 30, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  26. ^ Vasquez, Carlos (October 28, 1987). "Oral History Interview with Manning J. Post" (PDF). Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  27. ^ "Manning J. Post; Democratic Fund-Raiser Advised Party's Candidates for 40 Years". Los Angeles Times. March 15, 2000. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  28. ^ Boyarsky, Bill (May 31, 1971). "2 Campaigns: One Well-Oiled, the Other Rusty". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  29. ^ Manning J. Post; Democratic Fund-Raiser Advised Party's Candidates for 40 Years
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