Cheryl Holdridge
Cheryl Lynn Holdridge ("née" Phelps; June 20, 1944 – January 6, 2009) was an American actress, best known as an original cast member of "The Mickey Mouse Club". Early life. Holdridge was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother, Julie A. Phelps, was a dancer who performed on Broadway. Shortly after Cheryl was born, Julie moved with her new daughter to Burbank, California. In 1950, Julie married Herbert Charles Holdridge, a retired Brigadier General active in politics. He adopted Cheryl in 1953 and gave her his surname. Her stepbrother was diplomat John H. Holdridge, who served as U.S. Ambassador  to Singapore and Indonesia. Holdridge grew up in Sherman Oaks. She started dance lessons at an early age with Joyce Cole in North Hollywood, from whom she learned ballet and tap. Career. Holdridge first performed professionally at the age of nine in the New York City Ballet's version of "The Nutcracker" in Los Angeles. Her first screen appearance was as an uncredited extra in the 1956 film production of "Carousel". She auditioned for Walt Disney's "The Mickey Mouse Club" in the spring of 1956, and was hired for the show's second season. Though a good dancer, her  weak singing voice kept her in the background of most musical numbers. A competent actress with a pleasant speaking voice, she was employed for two of the show's episodic serials: "Boys of the Western Sea" and "". After the show's run ended, Holdridge returned to Van Nuys High School and graduated from Grant High School with the winter 1961 class. She was cast in two episodes of "Leave It to Beaver" in 1959 as Gloria Cusick; she later played an occasional, recurring role as Wally Cleaver's girlfriend, Julie Foster. She reprised her role as Julie Foster in two  guest appearances in "The New Leave It to Beaver" in 1985 and 1987. From 1960, Holdridge made guest appearances on over twenty different shows, including "The Rifleman", "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", "My Three Sons", "Bewitched", "Bringing Up Buddy", "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Bachelor Father". Holdridge retired from acting in 1964 to marry race car driver Lance Reventlow, to whom she was wed until his death in 1972. After the death of her third husband, Holdridge made a cameo appearance in the 2000 feature film, "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas". In 2005, she appeared at  Disneyland for 50th anniversary celebrations of both the opening of the park and "The Mickey Mouse Club". She was cast in televised documentary specials about Cary Grant (2005) and Barbara Hutton (2006), and also appeared in a special feature interview for a Disney DVD. Personal life. In May 1960, Holdridge went on a live tour to Australia with other former Mouseketeers. While there, she became involved with Lucky Starr, an Australian singer. She was later linked in fan magazines and gossip columns with many other celebrities, including Elvis Presley. Holdridge's first marriage, on November 8, 1964, was to sportsman  and playboy Lance Reventlow. Reventlow, a pilot, died in 1972, in the crash of a small plane in which he was a passenger in Aspen, Colorado. She had the title Gräfin von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow. Her second husband was Albert James "Jim" Skarda. They married in 1974. He ran a car rental service in Aspen. They divorced in 1988. She maintained a second home in Aspen and lived there for six months out of the year from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. Her third husband, Manning J. Post (1918–2000), a prominent California Democratic Party fundraiser and controller, was 26  years her senior. He died at the age of 82. Death. Holdridge died at her Santa Monica home on January 6, 2009 from lung cancer, aged 64.