She was born in Oklahoma City, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). She was the daughter of William Marshall McConnell (born April 28, 1876, McNairy County, Tennessee) and his wife, Harriet (née Sharp. Born October 10, 1882, Newbern, Tennessee), and had a sister, Hazel.
Gladys McConnell attended Hollywood High School.
Her film career was brief, about four years from the late silent to early sound era (1926 – 1930). She sometimes used the professional name Gladys Morrow. One of her first parts came in The Devil Horse (1926).
The film featured Rex the Wonder Horse, a stallion featured in at least fifteen films.
She starred with Harry Langdon in Three"s A Crowd (1927). In The Chaser (1928), as Langdon"s talkative wife.
She broke ties with the Fox Film Company over differences over her roles, choosing to freelance instead. She was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1927.
WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) was a Hollywood promotional campaign that selected thirteen baby stars (slang at the time for starlets) as most likely to gain success.
Others in the 1927 group included Iris Stuart, Natalie Kingston, Sally Phipps, and Rita Carewe. About 1924, McConnell became an aviator who began flying in Portland. Aside from Ruth Elder, she logged more air hours than any woman in the film colony.
She was once hostess on a Maddux Airlines passenger plane for an aerial breakfast party.
McConnell also flew to various location settings to make films with actors like Harry Langdon and Ken Maynard. Gladys McConnell died in Fullerton, California in 1979, aged 73.
