Quick Facts
Biography
Gloria Hatrick McLean (March 10, 1918 – February 16, 1994) was a former model and animal rights activist who married Jimmy Stewart on August 9, 1949.
Early life
Gloria was born on March 10, 1918 to Edgar B. Hatrick of Larchmont, New York. Her family spent the summers at The Broadmoor. She attended the Finch School in New York and spent two years studying drama at a dramatic school.
Personal life
First marriage
In 1943, she married Edward Beale McLean Jr., the son of heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean and Edward Beale McLean, heir to The Washington Post. McLean had previously been married to Ann Carroll Meem, of Washington, D.C., from May 1938 to July 1943. Together Edward and Gloria had two sons:
- Ronald McLean, who died on June 8, 1969, aged 24, in Vietnam as a commissioned Marine officer
- Michael McLean
In January 1948, Gloria and Edward divorced and in October of that year, he married Manuela "Mollie" Hudson, the former Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II. McLean Jr. and Hudson-Vanderbilt separated in the 1960s and divorced in 1973, after which he married a fourth time, to Patricia Dewey.
Second marriage
On August 9, 1949, she married Jimmy Stewart, who adopted both children from her first marriage, Ronald, then age five, and Michael, age three. Together, she and Stewart had two daughters, twins born on May 7, 1951:
- Judy Stewart
- Kelly Stewart, an anthropologist.
The couple remained married until her death from lung cancer on February 16, 1994, at the age of 75. In February 1997, Stewart was hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat and on June 25, a thrombosis formed in his right leg, leading to a pulmonary embolism one week later. Surrounded by his children on July 2, 1997, Stewart died at the age of 89 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, with his final words to his family being, "I'm going to be with Gloria now!"