Gladys Johnstone

born: 21 April 1895 Kansas, United States of America

died: 27 June 1985 Los Angeles County, California, United States of America (age 90)

American actress and stuntwoman who doubled for Marguerite de la Motte and Eleanor Boardman. Her second of three husbands was Bert Roach, whom she married on 25 July 1926 in Los Angeles. After almost exactly five years together, Bert filed for divorce in July 1931, charging Gladys with cruelty; he stated that she routinely stayed out all night without explanation and that she threw things, including a bronze statue of an elephant, at him in fits of anger. The decree was granted to him a couple of weeks later. The natural spelling of her family surname appears to be Johnson, although she occasionally spelled it Johnston with a "t" (another letter closer to her "professional" spelling, Johnstone). A possible birth announcement in a Kansas newspaper (link below) suggests she may have actually been born on the 25th in Wakefield, Kansas (her parents married there about nine years before). She later claimed a birthplace of Texas, where she appears to have been raised (although I cannot find her in the 1900 Census, but I can find her widowed mother Lena and her older sister Hazel living in Fort Worth, TX -- curiously without Gladys, although Lena notes she has two living children).

Real name: Gladys Marie Johnson

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

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1919 Captain Kidd's Kids [?] Acknowledgements: The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia by Annette D'Agostino Lloyd (book) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVL7-B56 (1910 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8Z1-KW2 (1914 marriage) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLHM-2TS (1914 marriage) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH74-BV3 (1920 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8NV-MFS (1926 marriage) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCFV-665 (1930 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9H2-TPQ (1940 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XLR-KBXB (1950 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG1T-HDJ (CA Death Index, "Gladys Marie Roach") https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGPS-85T (CA Death Index, "Gladys Marie Mchenry") https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V9RV-7PN (Social Security Death Index) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85464637 (Find a Grave) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/485170504/ (Wakefield Advertiser, 25 Apr 1895) [birth announcement?] https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380573784/ (Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec 1924) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380573827/ (Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec 1924) https://archive.org/details/pictureplaymagaz22unse/page/n21/mode/1up?view=theater&q=johnstone (Picture-Play, Mar 1925) [photo source] https://archive.org/details/pictureplaymagaz22unse/page/n114/mode/1up?view=theater&q=johnstone (Picture-Play, Mar 1925) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/145664870/ (Pittsburgh Press, 08 Nov 1925) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380310768/ (Los Angeles Times, 26 Jul 1926) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNLA19260726.1.1 (Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 26 Jul 1926) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNLA19260726.1.11 (Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 26 Jul 1926) https://archive.org/details/pictureplaymagaz25unse/page/n316/mode/1up?q=%22gladys+johnstone%22&view=theater (Picture-Play, Nov 1926) https://archive.org/details/cinemaart-1926-11/page/n20/mode/1up?q=%22gladys+johnstone%22&view=theater (Cinema Art, Nov 1926) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683041652/ (Hollywood Daily Citizen, 18 Jul 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380393935/ (Los Angeles Times, 19 Jul 1931) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19310719.1.3 (Oakland Tribune, 19 Jul 1931) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNLA19310720.1.7 (Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 20 Jul 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/616890190/ (Sacramento Bee, 05 Aug 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380600348/ (Los Angeles Times, 06 Aug 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/97489729/ (Detroit Free Press, 06 Aug 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380600798/ (Los Angeles Times, 07 Aug 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/search/?query=%22bert%20roach%22%20%22gladys%20roach%22&ymd-start=1931-07-18&ymd-end=1931-08-07&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q293-K5NC (parents' marriage, 1886) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M358-KM6 (mother and sister in 1900 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8ZL-B4G (sister Hazel Clare Johnson's marriage, 1911) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSVR-NCT2 (mother Evelena May Johnson's death certificate, 1959) Jesse Brisson (bio notes and research) This page was last updated on: 01 December 2023