Elaine Devry Obituary

Actress Elaine Devry, known for her roles in films like “The Atomic Kid” and “A Guide for the Married Man” and her extensive television career, has passed away at the age of 93. Her demise occurred on September 20 at her residence in Grants Pass, Oregon, as reported on a local funeral home’s website.

Devry’s journey in the entertainment industry began when she married Mickey Rooney in Las Vegas in November 1952. In the following year, she made her first onscreen appearances, featuring alongside Rooney in the comedy film “A Slight Case of Larceny” and gracing an episode of the CBS anthology series “General Electric Theater,” hosted by Ronald Reagan.

One of her significant film roles was in the Republic Pictures sci-fi comedy “The Atomic Kid” (1954), directed by Leslie H. Martinson. In this film, she was credited as “Elaine Davis (Mrs. Mickey Rooney)” and played the role of a nurse who ends up marrying her husband’s character, Barnaby “Blix” Waterberry, by the movie’s conclusion.

In the film “A Guide for the Married Man” (1967), directed by Gene Kelly, Devry portrayed a seductive divorcée who has an intriguing rendezvous in a motel room with Walter Matthau’s character, Paul Manning.

Throughout her career, Devry made numerous guest appearances on a wide range of television series, including “Bourbon Street Beat,” “Bachelor Father,” “Perry Mason,” “Death Valley Days,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Hawaiian Eye,” “Bonanza,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “My Three Sons,” “Family Affair,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” and “Cannon.” She eventually retired from acting in the late 1970s.

Born as Thelma Elaine Mahnken on January 10, 1930, in Compton, California, she initially pursued a modeling career while attending Compton High School and Compton Community College. Subsequently, she moved to Butte, Montana, where she married her high school sweetheart, Dan Ducich, a prominent basketball player, in 1948.