Elaine Devry obit

Elaine Devry, Actress and Fourth Wife of Mickey Rooney, Dies at 93

She was in the films ‘The Atomic Kid,’ ‘China Doll’ and ‘A Guide for the Married Man’ and TV shows, including ‘Perry Mason,’ ‘77 Sunset Strip’ and ‘My Three Sons.’ 

She was not on the list.

Elaine Devry, an actress who appeared in such films as The Atomic Kid and A Guide for the Married Man and on dozens of TV shows after becoming the fourth of Mickey Rooney’s eight wives, has died. She was 93.

Devry died Sept. 20 in her home in Grants Pass, Oregon, according to a notice placed on a local funeral home website.

Devry married Rooney in Las Vegas in November 1952 and made her first onscreen acting appearances the next year 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.

In the Republic Pictures sci-fi comedy The Atomic Kid (1954), directed by Leslie H. Martinson, she was introduced as “Elaine Davis (Mrs. Mickey Rooney),” and her character, a nurse, marries her husband’s Barnaby “Blix” Waterberry at the end of the movie.

In A Guide for the Married Man (1967), directed by Gene Kelly, she portrayed a seductive divorcée who has a rendezvous in a motel room with Walter Matthau’s Paul Manning that doesn’t go off as she’d hoped.

Over the years, Devry showed up as a guest star on everything from Bourbon Street Beat, Bachelor Father, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye to Bonanza, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, Family Affair, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Cannon before leaving acting in the late 1970s.

Thelma Elaine Mahnken was born on Jan. 10, 1930, in Compton, California. She did some modeling while attending Compton High School and Compton Community College, then moved to Butte, Montana, where she wed high school sweetheart Dan Ducich, a standout basketball player, in 1948.

A year later, Ducich was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to probation, and the couple divorced in 1952. In June 1954, he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a room at the Sahara in Vegas. He was 28.

Devry returned to California and met Rooney at a driving range in Woodland Hills, and they tied the knot when she was 22 and he was 32. He had already been married to actress Ava Gardner, singer Betty Jane Phillips and actress Martha Vickers.

In 1956, Edward R. Murrow interviewed the couple from their home on CBS’ Person to Person.

While separated from Devry, Rooney met actress Barbara Ann Thomason and began a romance with her. He divorced Devry in Mexico in December 1958 — the end of their marriage was not publicly disclosed for several months — and their breakup would prove to be quite contentious.

Rooney went on to marry Thomason, who was murdered by her lover, Milos Milos, in the Rooneys’ Brentwood home in 1966. After her death, he tied the knot with writer Marge Lane, secretary Carolyn Hockett and actress-singer Jan Chamberlin before dying in April 2014.

Devry also appeared in such films as China Doll (1958), Man-Trap (1961), The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961), Diary of a Madman (1963), With Six You Get Eggroll (1968), The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), Bless the Beasts & Children (1971), The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973) and Herbie Rides Again (1974).

In 1975, she married actor Will J. White. They first met in 1961 on NBC’s The Dick Powell Theater; their episode, with Powell starring as millionaire investigator Amos Burke, served as the pilot for the ABC series Burke’s Law. (Rooney was on the episode, too.)

White died in 1992. His sister, actress Suzanne Alexander, died by apparent suicide in 1975 at age 44.

 

Actress

Heart to Heart.com (1999)

Heart to Heart.com

4.5

Aimee

1999

 

Beverly Hills Bordello (1996)

Beverly Hills Bordello

5.7

TV Series

Allison

1996

1 episode

 

Project U.F.O. (1978)

Project U.F.O.

7.2

TV Series

Mrs. Robinson

Carol McLane

1978

2 episodes

 

James Brolin, Robert Young, Barbara Sigel, and Elena Verdugo in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)

Marcus Welby, M.D.

7.0

TV Series

Mrs. Braden

Shelia Bryant

Loretta McKenna ...

1971–1975

4 episodes

 

Herbie Rides Again (1974)

Herbie Rides Again

5.7

Secretary

1974

 

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf

5.2

Sandy Bridgestone

1973

 

Cannon (1971)

Cannon

6.8

TV Series

Irene Plevin

1972

1 episode

 

Bless the Beasts & Children (1971)

Bless the Beasts & Children

6.7

Cotton's Mother

1971

 

John Forsythe, Melanie Fullerton, Joyce Menges, and Susan Neher in To Rome with Love (1969)

To Rome with Love

7.4

TV Series

Maggie

1970

1 episode

 

Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Sharon DeBord, Elaine Devry, Shirley Jones, Jackie Joseph, Sue Ane Langdon, Jackie Russell, and Jean Willes in The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)

The Cheyenne Social Club

6.8

Pauline

1970

 

Carol Lynley in Once You Kiss a Stranger... (1969)

Once You Kiss a Stranger...

5.4

Sharon

1969

 

Tim Considine, William Frawley, Don Grady, Stanley Livingston, and Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons (1960)

My Three Sons

7.1

TV Series

Millicent Sawyer

Helen Logan

1966–1969

2 episodes

 

Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot, Kathy Garver, Anissa Jones, and Johnny Whitaker in Family Affair (1966)

Family Affair

7.0

TV Series

Joyce

1969

1 episode

 

Harry Morgan and Jack Webb in Dragnet 1967 (1967)

Dragnet 1967

7.7

TV Series

Maggie Hinton

Irene Gorman

Patricia Wingate

1967–1969

3 episodes

 

This Is the Life (1952)

This Is the Life

7.1

TV Series

1968

1 episode

 

Doris Day, Barbara Hershey, Brian Keith, Jimmy Bracken, John Findlater, and Richard Steele in With Six You Get Eggroll (1968)

With Six You Get Eggroll

6.4

Cleo

1968

 

A Guide for the Married Man (1967)

A Guide for the Married Man

6.6

Jocelyn Montgomery

1967

 

Jon Provost, Tommy Rettig, Lassie the Dog, and Lassie in Lassie (1954)

Lassie

6.5

TV Series

Fire Lookout

1967

1 episode

 

Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie (1965)

I Dream of Jeannie

7.4

TV Series

Lady Diane Nelson

1967

1 episode

 

Bonanza (1959)

Bonanza

7.3

TV Series

Valerie

1965

1 episode

 

Raymond Burr in Perry Mason (1957)

Perry Mason

8.3

TV Series

Sylvia Gwynne

Terry Clover

Janice Wainwright

1962–1964

3 episodes

 

David Alan Bailey, Ronnie Dapo, and Michael Flatley in Three Wise Boys (1963)

Three Wise Boys

4.9

TV Movie

Anne Turner

1963

 

Gene Barry in Burke's Law (1963)

Burke's Law

7.4

TV Series

Peggy

1963

1 episode

 

Ben Gazzara and Chuck Connors in Arrest and Trial (1963)

Arrest and Trial

7.7

TV Series

Miss Burdette

1963

1 episode

 

Vincent Price and Nancy Kovack in Diary of a Madman (1963)

Diary of a Madman

6.3

Jeanne D'Arville

1963

 

Ripcord (1961)

Ripcord

7.5

TV Series

Dr. Eve Malloy

1962

1 episode

 

Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)

Hawaiian Eye

7.7

TV Series

Doreen Talbot

1962

1 episode

 

I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962)

I'm Dickens, He's Fenster

7.6

TV Series

Dianne

1962

1 episode

 

Diane McBain and Van Williams in Surfside 6 (1960)

Surfside 6

7.9

TV Series

Denise

Thelma Lang

1961–1962

2 episodes

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

7.7

TV Series

Jennie Day

1962

1 episode

 

Robert Harland and Stephen McNally in Target: The Corruptors! (1961)

Target: The Corruptors!

7.7

TV Series

Lorrie

1961

1 episode

 

The Dick Powell Theatre (1961)

The Dick Powell Theatre

7.4

TV Series

Miss Lawrence

1961

1 episode

 

Man-Trap (1961)

Man-Trap

6.0

Liz Addams

1961

 

Robert Mitchum, Martha Hyer, France Nuyen, Louis Nye, and Jack Webb in The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)

The Last Time I Saw Archie

5.8

Carole (as Elaine Davis)

1961

 

Howard Duff and Barbara English in Dante (1960)

Dante

7.6

TV Series

Erika (as Elaine Davis)

1961

1 episode

 

Lock Up (1959)

Lock Up

7.7

TV Series

Debby Arnold (as Elaine Davis)

1961

1 episode

 

Tales of Wells Fargo (1957)

Tales of Wells Fargo

7.9

TV Series

Carolyn Robbins (as Elaine Davis)

1961

1 episode

 

Robert Fuller and John Smith in Laramie (1959)

Laramie

7.7

TV Series

Girl from Chicago (uncredited)

1960

1 episode

 

Death Valley Days (1952)

Death Valley Days

7.5

TV Series

Belle Waverly (as Elaine Davis)

1960

1 episode

 

Bachelor Father (1957)

Bachelor Father

7.3

TV Series

Miss Mortenson

Phyllis Wentworth (as Elaine Davis)

1959–1960

2 episodes

 

Andrew Duggan, Arlene Howell, Richard Long, and Van Williams in Bourbon Street Beat (1959)

Bourbon Street Beat

7.8

TV Series

Nancy Dumond (as Elaine Davis)

1960

1 episode

 

Victor Mature and Li Hua Li in China Doll (1958)

China Doll

6.0

Alice Nichols (as Elaine Curtis)

1958

 

The Great Gildersleeve (1954)

The Great Gildersleeve

6.8

TV Series

Singing Teacher (as Elaine Davis)

1955

1 episode

 

The People's Choice (1955)

The People's Choice

7.9

TV Series

Brunette Pageant Candidate (as Elaine Davis)

1955

1 episode

 

Mickey Rooney and Robert Strauss in The Atomic Kid (1954)

The Atomic Kid

5.3

Audrey Nelson (as Elaine Davis - Mrs. Mickey Rooney)

1954

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.9

TV Series

(as Elaine Davis)

1953

1 episode

 

A Slight Case of Larceny (1953)

A Slight Case of Larceny

6.1

Girl (uncredited)

1953