Gloria Loring

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gloria Loring (born Gloria Jean Goff on December 12, 1946 in New York City) is an American singer and actress.

She began her music career at age 14, singing with a folk group known as Those Four. She went on to perform on a wide range of shows in the 70's, from The Carol Burnett Show to the Academy Awards ceremony.

Loring was married to actor Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) from 1970 until 1983, and they co-composed the theme songs to Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. The first season of Facts had the cast performing the theme, but the remainder of the run (1980-1988) featured Loring's rendition of the song which remains a strong memory for '80s sitcom devotees. The marriage produced two sons, Brennan and Robin. Robin started his own musical career as "Thicke"; he has recently achieved success under his full name as a "Neo-Soul" artist.

In 1980, Loring joined NBC daytime soap Days of Our Lives as chanteuse Liz Chandler. The show was going through a dry spell at the time, with many veterans shown the door and many new faces alienating longtime fans. Of the nine new characters introduced in the 1980-1981 season, only Liz garnered a fan following, and was the only one to have her contract renewed. Loring briefly dated Don Diamont, the actor who played the corrupt, long-lost son of her TV husband Dr. Neil Curtis. (Diamont would go on to find daytime stardom on The Young and the Restless as Brad Carlton.)

In 1986, Loring scored a #2 Pop and #1 Adult Contemporary hit record in the United States with "Friends and Lovers," with Carl Anderson (also a #1 Country hit in 1986 for Eddie Rabbitt and Juice Newton under the title "Both to Each Other"). Loring had originally performed "Friends and Lovers" several times on the set of Days of Our Lives dating back more than a year before the track would finally hit the charts. The tune had generated significant viewer interest, and spectators soon were asking for copies of the single. First officially recorded as a duet with Anderson (who would himself appear on the Days of Our Lives set to sing the song with Loring) in 1985, the single would have to wait an entire year before its eventual 1986 release, due to legal hassles [1]. Loring left Days that same year and would only make sporadic film and television appearances over the next few decades. Her main efforts were spent in theater and in her recording career (though "Friends and Lovers" was her only major hit single). Upon learning her son Brennan had diabetes, Loring became a major fundraiser and advocate for diabetes research. In 1994, Loring married production designer Rene Lagler. They initially met 24 years earlier on the set of Glen Campbell's variety series. They met again on a plane in 1993, and Loring said she knew this was the man she was going to marry.