Nothing personal, June...but if Cyd Charisse would have me, I'd send Mom & Dad a postcard on our honeymoon.
Posted on 07/10/2006 2:45:35 PM PDT by lunarbicep
June Allyson, the sunny, cracked-voiced "perfect wife" of James Stewart, Van Johnson and other movie heroes, has died, her daughter Pamela Allyson Powell said Monday. She was 88.
Allyson died Saturday at her home in Ojai, with her husband of nearly 30 years, David Ashrow, at her side, Powell said in a telephone interview.
She died of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis after a long illness, Powell said.
During World War II, American GIs pinned up photos of Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable, but June Allyson was the girl they wanted to come home to. Petite, blonde and alive with fresh-faced optimism, she seemed the ideal sweetheart and wife, supporting and unthreatening.
"I had the most wonderful last meeting with June at her house in Ojai. We had gotten lost in the car. She told me: 'I could wait for you forever.' We were such dear friends. I will miss her," lifelong friend Esther Williams said.
With typical wonderment, Allyson expressed surprise in a 1986 interview that she had ever become a movie star:
"I have big teeth. I lisp. My eyes disappear when I smile. My voice is funny. I don't sing like Judy Garland. I don't dance like Cyd Charisse. But women identify with me. And while men desire Cyd Charisse, they'd take me home to meet Mom."
A clip of June's beautiful voice.
Thanks.
Touche..LOL
How about that 'Rhapsody in Blue' travesty with Robert Alda?
She was a FRiend of Ronald Reagan and if I recall, he appointed her to a committee on aging.
I have a vague recollection that June Allyson said it was her late husband Dick Powell who talked Ronald Reagan out of liberalism and into conservatism. I don't know if that's true, but I think it is true that she and Ronald Reagan were good friends, which says a lot about her IMHO.
And ditto on the Glenn Miller story -- one of the great bios.
I didn't see it listed, but could have missed it
June Allyson credits @ IMDb
It's a beautiful town. My brother lives there.
I can see why she was your first crush.
I remember many of her movies. She was 20 years my senior and I wanted to see any movie she was in. I remember her in Good News with Van Johnson. Cute movie. Wholesome.
Amazing woman. The daughter speaking of
her mother's demise was the adopted child
of June and Dick Powell, who were married
for 18 years until his death in 1960's. I
recall she had a lot of problems with her
own mother over money the after Dick Powell
died.
It was that movie that got me interested in the music of Glenn Miller.
She was a talented and classy lady. Something that "stars" nowadays can't claim.
I always loved her. Nice, clean actress. She lived a nice long life...and is now with Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
LOL...took me TWICE to get it!!
I actually hadn't known about that one before I'd seen the travesties about Glenn Miller, Red Nichols (though Danny Kaye was marvelous in that one), Benny Goodman (even if Steve Allen was a dead ringer for His Majesty), the Dorseys, and Gene Krupa. I think I was probably afraid to go near it in that light. ;)
Until someone posted it, I had forgotten "Four Star Productions." There's a memory of my childhood that hadn't surfaced in years!
Nothing personal, June...but if Cyd Charisse would have me, I'd send Mom & Dad a postcard on our honeymoon.
You're right, some mothers wouldn't be happy with ANYONE Sonny brought home.
So who are the next two celebs?
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