Elaine Devry, a film and TV star who became the , has died at the aged of 93.
She was best known in her career for films including The Atomic Kid and A Guide for the Married Man, as well as many TV show appearances ahead of largely retiring from acting in the late 1970s.
Devry died on September 20 at her home in Grants Pass, Oregon, according toon a local funeral home website.
She married in Las Vegas in November 1952, before making her onscreen debut the next year in his film A Slight Case of Larceny.
The star also embraced TV from the start, next featuring in a Ronald Regan-hosted episode of General Electric Theater.
In 1954, The Atomic Kid followed, in which she was billed as ‘Elaine Davis (Mrs Mickey Rooney)’ and starred opposite her husband as nurse Audrey Nelson.
One of her other highest profile jobs was being directed by actor and dancer Gene Kelly in 1967’s A Guide for the Married Man, with Walter Matthau, Inger Stevens and Robert Morse, with cameos from the likes of Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Joey Bishop and Terry-Thomas.
She also appeared as a guest star in classic TV series such as Perry Mason, I Dream of Jeanie, Bourbon Street Beat, Bachelor Father, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip, Marcus Welby, MD and Cannon.
Born Thelma Elaine Mahnken in Compton, California on January 10, 1930, the star married her first boyfriend, Dan Ducich, in 1948.
After he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to probation the next year, they divorced in 1952, with Devry meeting the decade-older Rooney at a driving range and marrying later that same year.
At the time, Rooney was best known as the star of the Andy Hardy film series for MGM, which had run from 1937 to 1946, as well as his partnership in a few musicals with Judy Garland.
He also gained recognition for parts in Boys Town and The Black Stallion, as well as winning two honorary Oscars in 1938 and 1982, and had already been married to Ava Gardner, Betty Jane Rase and Martha Vickers.
Their marriage lasted six years, with Rooney going on to wed a further four times to Barbara Ann Thomason, Marge Lane, Carolyn Hockett and, finally, Jan Chamberlin, from whom he was separated when he died in 2014.
Devry went on to marry actor Will J. White in 1975, and they remained together until his death in April 1992.
The couple had first met back in 1961 filming an episode of The Dick Powell Theater, which also featured Rooney, and served as a pilot for later ABC series Burke’s Law, which Devry also appeared on.
Her other notable roles included China Doll in 1958, Diary of a Madman (1963), 1968’s With Six You Get Eggroll and Herbie Rides Again in 1974.
After being all but retired for almost 20 years, Devry’s final role was in 1999’s Heart to Heart.com.
