Actress June Allyson Dies At 88

ktla.trb.com ^ | July 10, 2006 | Bob Thomas

[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."

[Rte66]

In the bio I just read, she said she didn't really want to do the Depends commercials, either - BUT her mother was having the problem at the time and asked her please to talk about the subject.

I felt better reading that and I hope you do, too.

[Tall_Texan]

Thanks for the info. That's still rather obscure. Of course, some of today's generation would say the same about Murray and Allyson.

[Rte66]

Wow, I *did not know that.* (Tip of the hat to Johnny Carson.) Loved the show mucho, mucho.

[JustAmy]

Yes it is so sad. So many of our screen legends are gone.

Didn't realize how great it was to have a crush and not worry about his political views. Screen stars in the 40's, 50's kept their political opinions to themselves.

[lawnguy]

I loved her. One of my favorites.

[Rte66]

What made me read the thread at the time was that I had *just seen* Smilin' Jack a few days ago on TV on an Andy Griffith/Mayberry re-run.

To have him come up twice in a week after not at all in 40 years was kind of surprising.

[pepperdog]

Your comment brings tears to my eyes.

[SandRat]

here,.....

[pepperdog]

Thanks.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Sorry, don't know. It was a googled image.

[BluesDuke]

Smilin' Jack Smith was the last (thank God!) host of the original You Asked For It, a textbook example of the warning about being careful what you ask for. Or, in a non-political sense, answering H.L. Mencken's warning about the common people knowing what they want and deserving to get it, good and hard.

Jan Murray was actually a funny fellow. His career as a game show host (Treasure Hunt, Charge Account) didn't exactly do him justice. Earlier, he'd done a couple of turns on one of the last of the classic radio shows, Tallulah Bankhead's The Big Show, and he was marvelous.

[lunarbicep]

it's been 2 weeks but you could include Eileen Barton of "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" fame.

[Malesherbes]

Well said.

[BluesDuke]

Four Star was one of the best of the newly-minted studios of the 1950s dedicating itself strictly to television production. They had quite a few hits and quite a few very, very underrated shows. (Law of the Plainsman was one of the smartest-written, smartest-played Westerns of its time, maybe a little ahead of its time. And Richard Diamond, Private Detective might seem to have been camp but it played the private-eye genre for laughs, stayed true to the show's radio root, and didn't overdo things quite the way the infamous Warner Brothers private-eye shows---77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, etc.---went on to do.)

[L.N. Smithee]

Cyd Charisse is still with us at 85. As is her husband Tony Martin, 93. Married 58 years. Wow!!

I'm not surprised! Could you divorce those legs? Would you want to die knowing as long as you kept waking up every day, that body would be there?

[garyhope]

"There is a great second hand book store there called Barts."

Darn it, it was closed the day I was there the last time I was in Ojai.

I love second hand book stores. They're magic. I think they make the books better.

[good old days]

I absolutely loved June Allyson! RIP, Junie.

[L.N. Smithee]

"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.

I was just thinking about Esther Williams last night. KTVU-TV (Oakland) replayed an award-winning special on the World's Fair of 1939-40, held on man-made Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. This was 18-year-old Williams' debut as a swimming star alongside Olympic hero and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller.

Williams is still alive and kicking too, and she sells beautiful pre-string swimwear on her website.

[ohioWfan]

I knew that! (I'm friends with a HUGE Dick Powell fan).

I'm so sad to hear this news. My Dad had a big crush on June Allyson.

(But my Mom was MUCH prettier than June, so he did good. :)

[Westlander]

Strategic Air Command


Studio Credit
Paramount Pictures Studio
Director Credit
Anthony Mann Director
Cast Credit
James Stewart Lieutenant Colonel Robert Holland
June Allyson Sally Holland
Barry Sullivan Lieutenant Colonel Rocky Samford
Frank Lovejoy General Ennis C Hawkes
Alex Nicol Ike Knowland
Bruce Bennett General Espy
Jay C Flippen Doyle
James Millican General Castle
James Bell Reverend Thorne
Rosemary DeCamp Mrs Thorne
Richard Shannon Aircraft Commander
John R McKee Captain Symington
Henry Morgan Sergeant Bible
Don Haggerty Major Patrol Commander
Glenn Denning Radio Operator
Anthony Warde Colonel
Strother Martin Airman
Helen Brown Nurse
William Hudson Forecaster
David Vaile Captain Brown
Vernon Rich Captain Johnson
Harlan Warde Duty Officer
House Peters Jr Air Force Captain
Richard Lupino Lieutenant Controller
William August Pullen Controller Okinawa
Stephen Wyman Non Commision Technical Sergeant

The B-47 cockpit mockup used for filming the interior scenes of the plane is today an exhibit at the impressive March Field Air Museum, located in Riverside.