About Gloria Gifford
Gloria taught at the American Film Institute for six years in the Masters' Program. She taught Directors, Writers and Producers and among her successful AFI students: Patty Jenkins (Monster (2003), Brian Dannelly (Saved! (2004), Weeds (2005).In 2007, Gloria opened the prestigious Actors Academy Milano in Milan, Italy, where she taught Italian actors and actresses and International Models - male and female in intensive acting programs. The Academy's president is Edoardo Costa, her former student at the BHP and now starring with Bruce Willis in Live Free or Die Hard (2007).She is the Founder of the Rebel Planet Short Film Festival of Hollywood, rebelplanet.com, which just had the its very successful second year festival in North Hollywood, California in April 2007.::GLORIA GIFFORD
She starred in a production of the play, "My Cup Ranneth Over" (written by award-winning playwright, Robert Patrick) in London, England to brilliant reviews in 1978. It was a lunchtime production in the West End for Producer Ed Berman and then she recreated her role for PBS in Minneapolis, filmed at the Guthrie. After singing at clubs, on national television, directed by Ralph Waite on "The Mississippi" (1983), and for the Kennedys and, after many years of film and television roles, she got a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1996. Sr. VP of Warner Bros. Records, Carl Scott, discovered Gloria's singing when he heard her doing a song in her acting class. She is a bluesy torch singer and continues to sing at clubs in Los Angeles and in New York.::Anonymous
Gloria Gifford is a dynamic, versatile actress, producer and director with a career that spans over two decades. Discovered by Bill Cosby, Gloria went from Broadway in Arnold Wesker's "The Merchant," directed by the Tony Award winning director John Dexter and starring the legendary Zero Mostel, to Hollywood in Neil Simon's Academy Award winning"California Suite," opposite Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.Her illustrious career includes roles opposite some of Hollywood's most creative comedians, such as Eddie Murphy in Walter Hill's "8 Hrs.," and Rob Reiner's "This is Spinal Tap" with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. She co-starred in Joel Schumacher's "D.C. Cab" with Bill Maher and Paul Rodriguez, co-starred opposite Judge Reinhold in "Vice Versa," and co-starred opposite John Candy and Ernie Hudson in "Going Berserk," directed by comedian/director David Steinberg.She also had the pleasure of working with Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Charles Durning, and Beverly D'Angelo in director John Cassavetes' last film, "Big Trouble," and co-starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in John Carpenter's classic "Halloween II." Gloria produced the first play George Clooney did in Los Angeles, "The Biz," directed by Miguel Ferrer. She also starred opposite Tobey Maguire and Whoopi Goldberg in Nickelodeon's "Hot Rod Brown Class Clown."Gloria's career extends to the small screen and has appeared as the principal on ABC-TV's ground breaking dramatic series "Life Goes On" for four seasons, and recurred on "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," starring Mark Curry, for two seasons. She played "Darnetta" opposite Tracey Ullman on "Tracey Takes On..." for three seasons, and recurred on "The Nanny" opposite Fran Drescher, as well as guest-starred on shows like "ER," "Son of the Beach" and "The Practice," opposite Charles S. Dutton.Other stage credits include the acclaimed London production of Robert Patrick's "My Cu...