TV actress Gloria Winters was a ‘Sky King’ icon—then she vanished into Vista

If you grew up during the era when cowboys ruled the TV screen and families gathered around black-and-white sets [and you ate TV dinners while watching], you might remember actress Gloria Winters.

She became a familiar face across America as Penny King on Sky King, playing the adventurous niece and co-pilot of the title character. With her quick wit and charm, Winters embodied the spirit of the show and became one of early television’s most recognizable young heroines.

Thanks to The Official Sky King Website, you can order T-shirts, DVDs, and read about the cast.

Sky King aired from 1951 to 1959 and, according to IMDb, “followed Arizona rancher and ex-military pilot Schuyler ‘Sky’ King as he used his plane, the Songbird, to fight crime and help those in need.” The show mixed aviation, action, and family values, and became a staple of 1950s TV …”

The television show first aired on Sunday afternoons on NBC between Sept. 16, 1951, and Oct. 26, 1952. These episodes were reshown on ABC on Saturday mornings during the following year (Nov. 8, 1952, through Sept. 21, 1953).  Later, the show made its prime-time debut on ABC’s Monday night lineup.

According to Ron Muecke, who started the official Sky King website, “I have had the website for 27 years and, like so many Sky King fans, attribute my love of flying to watching the show as a child.

“I actually went off our roof with a 2 x 4 with Sheetrock wings. My first hang glider design was in 1955; I was 5 years old. I am in East Tennessee, which is perfect for hang gliding and sailplanes, and have been active in all sorts of aviation for about 54 years.” 

He said his first website was about the Amos n Andy show and simply was a fan site with nothing for sale and he was working on a site for Sky King at the time. This was around 1997 when the phone rang and it was Nick Stewart (“Lighting”) on Amos n Andy.

“We became friends and worked to put the series back together, and started on the Chitlin Circuit series, which he was also in. Nick told me how to check copyrights for Sky King, which made it possible to locate the owner. It turned out that Sky King wasn’t owned by a major studio.

“Kirby Grant got the show from Nabisco, then later sold it to Bill Campbell, an old friend and aviation enthusiast. I located Bill and became instant friends with our love of flying and building airplanes,” Muecke said.

At this time there was no website but the EAA was selling most of the 72 episodes on VHS, Muecke said.

“I took over the show and, around 1999, located the eight missing episodes and released all 72 episodes on DVD as a box set with the book. I have met an amazing group of people which about half attribute the show to them becoming pilots,” he said.

Gloria Winters’ Early Days

As for Winters, she was born on Nov. 28, 1931, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She began acting in her teens, with early appearances in films such as El Paso (1949) and TV shows like The Life of Riley.

She also appeared on stage, and in numerous television appearances in a variety of shows, such as Judge Roy Bean, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, Sheriff of Cochise, The Lone Ranger, The Roy Rogers Show, The Dick Powell Show, The Jack Benny Show, The Bob Hope Show, The Gene Autry Show and ‘Death Valley Days. In 1954, she appeared as “Little Britches” in an episode of the syndicated Western, Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis.

After Hollywood

After her time in the spotlight, Winters stepped away from Hollywood and built a new life in Vista with her husband, Dean Stevens Vernon, a sound engineer who also worked on Sky King. The two lived in the North San Diego County city in what has been referred to as a quiet life.

Some reports say for Winters, it wasn’t about turning her back on fame — it was about choosing something more meaningful.

Her years on Sky King remained a highlight for her as she aged, according to collegues and she and co-star Kirby Grant, who played Sky King, became close friends.

In a 1996 retrospective, she recalled a prank-filled set and their easy camaraderie. “We were like a real family,” she said.

Grant once described her as “a great person and a wonderful professional.”

Mike Vernette, who chronicled Sky King‘s legacy for decades, once said: “Gloria Winters was one of the first female TV heroines that young girls looked up to. She wasn’t just a pretty face—she could fly the Songbird, take charge, and think on her feet.”

Death and Legacy

Outside of acting, Winters authored Penny’s Guide to Teenage Charm and Personality in 1964. The book, aimed at teenage girls, offered advice on poise, popularity, and appearance. One memorable line —“The most important thing to remember is this: Being attractive is the most important thing there is” — was sampled in the 1996 Nada Surf song “Popular,” giving her book a second life as a critique of outdated beauty standards.

Her husband died in 2001 and is interred at El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego. Winters died on Aug. 14, 2010, at her home in Vista, from complications of pneumonia, according to various obits. She was 78, and it is said her remains were cremated.

Though she chose a quieter life outside of show business, Winters seems to have left a lasting impression, not just through her role as Penny King, but her trailblazing presence on early television and the personal life she built far from the Hollywood spotlight with her husband. The couple never had children.

Sources:
Legacy.com obituary for Gloria Winters
The New York Times obituary, August 27, 2010
Los Angeles Times archives
Find A Grave Memorial for Gloria Winters and Dean Stevens Vernon
IMDb biography for Gloria Winters
The Inquirer, Philadelphia, March 24, 1996 (Nada Surf reference)
www.skyking.com
In this article we used AI to assist with historical research. The author fact-checked everything uncovered by AI. Using AI for research allows us to find more historical information to make articles like this more comprehensive.