Eileen T. O'Neill (born July 3, 1939) is an American film and television actress. She is known for playing Sgt. Gloria Ames in the American

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

television series '' Burke's Law''.

Life and career

O'Neill was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, the daughter of Mary and Harry O'Neill. At an early age she decided that she wanted to become an actress after watching films with her mother. She attended the Philadelphia School of Modeling and Charm, and participated in

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

s, which led to appearances on the television series '' The Joe Pyne Show''. She moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and appeared in a

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

commercial. After taking acting lessons she made her film debut in 1960 in ''

A Majority of One A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

''. O'Neill’s next appearance was in the 1961 film ''

Teenage Millionaire ''Teenage Millionaire'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Lawrence Doheny and written by Lawrence Doheny and Harry Spalding. The film stars Jimmy Clanton, Rocky Graziano, ZaSu Pitts, Diane Jergens, Valerie Ziegler, Cheyenne Boyer, Glori ...

'', alongside

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Jimmy Clanton Jimmy Clanton (born September 2, 1938) is an American singer who became known as the " swamp pop R&B teenage idol". His band recorded a hit song " Just a Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number fo ...

and

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing ...

. From 1963 to 1965, she co-starred in the

television series '' Burke's Law'', playing Sgt. Gloria Ames. O'Neill appeared in further television programs including ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein's monster),Episodes referring to the fact that Herman is ...

'', '' The Rogues'', ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'', ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'', ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...

'', ''

I'm Dickens, He's Fenster ''I'm Dickens, He's Fenster'' is an American sitcom starring John Astin and Marty Ingels that ran on ABC from September 28, 1962, to May 10th, 1963. Synopsis The series starred John Astin and Marty Ingels as Harry Dickens and Arch Fenster, ...

'', ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'', ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'', ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...

'' and ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

''. She appeared in the 1968 film ''

A Man Called Dagger ''A Man Called Dagger'' (1968) is a low-budget spy film that was the first collaboration between director Richard Rush, cinematographer László Kovács, and stuntman Gary Warner Kent (who also did the film's special effects). It was filmed in 1 ...

'', where she played Erica. Her final credit was in the 1970 film '' Loving''. She was offered a starring role in '' There Was a Crooked Man...'', but rejected it because of the nudity.

Selected Filmography

* ''

'' (1963) (Season 1 Episode 21: "I'll Be Judge - I'll Be Jury") as Laura Needham

References

External links

* *
Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Eileen 1939 births Living people 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia American film actresses American television actresses