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In Remembrance: June Allyson
Born Ella Geisman in October 7, 1917 in the Bronx, New York, Allyson’s father abandoned her family when she was six months old. A bike accident at the age of 8 left Allyson in a back brace for four years and burdened her mother’s already meager income. Allyson made her screen debut in the 1937 Vitaphone short Ups And Downs. She would appear in a handful more shorts between 1937 and 1940 for both Vitaphone/Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, all shot on the studios’ New York City soundstages. Among her co-stars in some of these short subjects were other up-and-coming stars such as Danny Kaye and Imogene Coca and the dancer Hal LeRoy. In 1938, Allyson tried out for and landed a position in the chorus of the Broadway review Sing Out The News. Over the next three years, she would perform in several other Broadway shows. In 1941, she understudied Betty Hutton in the comedy Panama Hattie. When Hutton came down with measles for five days, Allyson took over the role, only to be spotted by producer George Abbott, who offered her a small featured role in his next musical Best Foot Forward. When MGM Studios bought the film rights to the show, Allyson joined show star Nancy Walker and several other cast members, including future director Stanley Donen, out to Hollywood to appear in the big screen version. At MGM, Allyson was quickly cast as a lead in the 1944 musical comedy Two Girls And A Sailor with Van Johnson and Gloria DeHaven. Impressed with the chemistry between Allyson and Johnson, studio execs would pair the two actors in four more films- High Barbaree (1947), The Bride Goes Wild (1948), Too Young To Kiss (1951) and Remains To Be Seen (1953). Never making MGM’s top tier of stars, Allyson found herself being cast in the role of the bubbly, loyal girlfriend of the lead character in films like Her Highness And The Bellboy (1945) and Good News (1947). She also appeared in the literary adaptations The Three Musketeers (1948) and Little Women (1949). As the 1940s gave way to the 50s, Allyson found herself transitioning from loving, supportive girlfriend roles to loving, supportive wife roles. Allyson appeared in three films with Jimmy Stewart – The Stratton Story (1949), The Glen Miller Story (1953) and Strategic Air Command (1955) – always as his character’s wife. She also played the supporting spouse to such actors as William Holden in Executive Suite (1954) and Alan Ladd in The McConnell Story (1955). One wifely role, in 1955’s The Shrike opposite Jose Ferrer, showcased Allyson playing a manipulative woman who pushes her husband into a nervous breakdown was praised by critics but failed to create a sensation at the boxoffice. Towards the end of the decade, Allyson’s career began to fizzle with roles in such films as the 1957 remake of My Man Godfrey and the 1959 melodrama A Stranger In My Arms. Allyson would spend the majority of the remainder of her career on the stage and making guest appearances on several televisions series including Zane Grey Theatre, The Dick Powell Show, Burke’s Law, Vega$, The Love Boat and Airwolf. Allyson’s last film role was in the 2001 independent feature A Girl, Three Guys And A Gun. |
June Allyson, the actress whose wholesome image saw her cast as
supportive girlfriends in wives for a majority of her career, has
passed away on July 10, 2006 in Ojai, CA. She was 88.