{"id":108951,"date":"2026-06-15T10:41:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=108951"},"modified":"2026-06-15T10:53:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:53:51","slug":"the-billingsleys-part-vi-sudden-riches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-billingsleys-part-vi-sudden-riches.html","title":{"rendered":"The Billingsleys, Part VI: \u2018Sudden Riches\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this sixth and final part of a six-part series, James Pylant tells the saga of the Billingsley family in America, a tale involving genealogy, crime and Hollywood. James is an editor at GenealogyMagazine.com and author for JacobusBooks.com, is an award-winning historical true-crime writer, and authorized celebrity biographer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is the sixth and final article in this series about the Billingsley family. Touching on genealogy, crime, and celebrity, it traces the family connections from Barbara Billingsley of Leave It to Beaver<\/em>\u00a0to Peter Billingsley of A Christmas Story<\/em>, as well as to the owner of the famous Stork Club.<\/p>\n

\"Photos
Photos (left to right): Sherman Billingsley at his celebrity Stork Club, taken from a 1951 Fatima Cigarettes ad; Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver from the television program \u201cLeave It to Beaver,\u201d 1958; Peter Billingsley, from 2014, best known for portraying Ralphie Parker in \u201cA Christmas Story.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In January 1920, Glenn Young \u2013 four months shy of his 16th birthday \u2013 lived with his parents in Lexington, Kentucky, where the family had moved from Louisville and, before that, from Glenn\u2019s native Oklahoma. However, in 1921, the family relocated to Wichita, Kansas. There, Glenn took a job at an art shop, and in April 1922, he became engaged to 17-year-old Iva Beaver, who worked at a local theater. (1) Changing jobs, Glenn drew a $30-a-week salary as a Kansas Gas & Electric Company clerk. (2)<\/p>\n

Glenn\u2019s mother gave the couple her blessing, but she advised her son to change his last name to that of his long-lost father, Logan Billingsley. Glenn had been ten years old when Chloe Billingsley married James E. Young in Topeka, Kansas. (3)<\/p>\n

Not long after his mother\u2019s advice, Glenn came across a New York Times<\/em> story about a group of Empire State businessmen constructing the largest apartment complex ever built in New York City. One of these entrepreneurs had the same name as his father: Logan Billingsley.<\/p>\n

Wondering if this man was his father, Glenn sent him a letter and received a telegram confirmation. \u201cCome at once!\u201d his father beckoned.<\/p>\n

And so, Glenn left Kansas behind and headed for a new life in New York City \u2013 as fast as a train could take him there. Iva soon joined him.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Quincy Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Massachusetts), 12 July 1923, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am glad for Glenn,\u201d his mother said. \u201cMoney doesn\u2019t mean anything to me; I only want the love which I have found. But Glenn needs the many advantages his father can give him.\u201d (4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Gotham, Glenn enrolled at Columbia University to study architecture. Plunged into a wealthy, exclusive social whirl, Iva quickly adapted to a lifestyle she called \u201calmost maddening but it\u2019s thrilling.\u201d (5) But two years later, Iva Billingsley was back in Kansas, without Glenn, boarding at her mother\u2019s Wichita home. (6)<\/p>\n

Glenn remarried on 23 November 1932 to Gladys Krasner in the Bronx. This wedding announcement misspelled the bride\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
New York Evening Journal (New York, New York), 25 November 1932, page 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Glenn Billingsley, 35, restaurant manager, and wife Gladys, 34, and five-year-old son Glenn Jr. lived in Westchester County, New York, as shown on the 1940 federal census<\/a>. Glenn turned 36 in May, but he changed his birth year to 1908<\/a> when registering for the World War II draft. He also changed wives that year, divorcing Gladys in Florida. (7) On October 14, the Key West Citizen<\/a> announced:<\/p>\n

Glenn Billingsley, 32, owner of the Key West Stork Club, and Barbara Combes, 24, of this city, were married late Friday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Uncle Sherman Billingsley in New York was unhappy that nephew Glenn encroached on his territory by opening his own Florida version of the Stork Club. When Sherman asked friend Ernest Hemingway if he could recommend legal counsel in the matter, the famous author replied, \u201cI\u2019ll be your lawyer.\u201d Hemingway called Sherman back about an hour later and said, \u201cThe Key West Stork Club has changed its name to Billingsley\u2019s Cooked Goose<\/a>.\u201d Hemingway\u2019s intervention made headlines. (The final name of the Florida club was the \u201cWhite Heron.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Key West Citizen (Key West, Florida), 23 December 1940, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The uncle and nephew\u2019s feud continued when Glenn wanted to use the Billingsley name for a Hollywood caf\u00e9. \u201cI can\u2019t help it if my father is your brother,\u201d Glenn told his uncle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Glenn\u2019s third bride, Los Angeles native Barbara Lillian Combes, was born on 22 December 1915. She worked as a model<\/a> for a wholesale dress studio in New York City shortly before becoming Glenn\u2019s bride. The couple moved to California, where the third Mrs. Billingsley pursued an acting career under her married name. \u201cBarbara was thrilled about her first movie role \u2013 a bit part with Clark Gable in \u2018This Strange Adventure,\u2019\u201d reported the Los Angeles Herald<\/em><\/a> on 25 May 1945.<\/p>\n

Barbara Billingsley\u2019s best-known role, as June Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver<\/em>, wouldn\u2019t come until 1957. By then, the Billingsley marriage was long over, Barbara having secured a default divorce<\/a> from her \u201cabsentee\u201d husband on Valentine\u2019s Day 1947. She raised their two sons, Drew and Glenn A. (the latter is not to be confused with his same-named half-brother).<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: the Cleaver family from the television program \u201cLeave It to Beaver,\u201d 8 January 1960. From left: Hugh Beaumont (Ward), Tony Dow (Wally), Barbara Billingsley (June), Jerry Mathers (Theodore AKA \u201cBeaver\u201d). Credit: ABC Television; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, Glenn again remarried and altered his age. His new birth year, 1912, as appearing in Social Security records, made him a nine-year-old at his engagement to first wife Iva. In 1950, Glenn was listed as 37 \u2013 rather than 45 \u2013 in the 1950 federal census<\/a> with 25-year-old wife Lynn, the former Doris Lynell Shaw. They had one son, Christopher Billingsley.<\/p>\n

By 1961, Glenn owned a dozen restaurants<\/a> in California, including the famed Golden Bull eateries, drawing praise from a Los Angeles newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Los Angeles Examiner (Los Angeles, California), 4 April 1960, page 32<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Glenn Billingsley died on 5 February 1984<\/a> in Riverside, California; funeral services<\/a> were private. His former wife, actress Barbara Billingsley<\/a>, died on 16 October 2010. She was 94.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), 17 October 2010, page 43<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> old photos and correspondence. Credit: https:\/\/depositphotos.com\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n

_________________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cBetrothal Announced This Evening,\u201d Wichita [Kan.] Beacon, 17 April 1922, p. 6.
\n(2) \u201cWichita Girl\u2019s Dream of Sudden Wealth Comes True,\u201d Wichita Eagle, 2 September 1923, p. 8A.
\n(3) \u201cMarriage Licenses,\u201d Topeka [Kan.] Daily Capital, 23 September 1914, p. 6.
\n(4) \u201cWichita Clerk Becomes Wealthy Man Over Night,\u201d Wichita Eagle, 2 May 1923, p. 1.
\n(5) \u201cNew York Has Stamped Its Claim on a Wichita Girl,\u201d Wichita Eagle, 27 August 1923, p. 5.
\n(6) Wichita City Directory, 1925 (Wichita, Kan: R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers, 1925), p. 130.
\n(7) Glenn Billingsley, no. 8651 (1940), \u201cFlorida, U.S., Divorce Index, 1927-2001,\u201d online database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com<\/a>: accessed 14 February 2025).<\/p>\n

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