Actress June Allyson, the perky blond with the husky voice who was one of Hollywood's most beloved stars in the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 88.
Allyson died Saturday at her home in Ojai of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis after a long illness, her daughter, Pamela Powell, told The Times on Monday. David Ashrow, Allyson's husband of 29 years, was at her side.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday July 13, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
Allyson obituary: A photo caption accompanying the obituary of actress June Allyson in Tuesday's California section said the film "The Glenn Miller Story" was released in 1953. It was released in 1954.
"She was a joy to know," actress Ann Rutherford, who met Allyson at MGM in the 1940s, said Monday. "She was a wonderful actress and just confronted her life with vast enthusiasm."
Aquatic film star Esther Williams, another MGM colleague, said: "Junie and I were wonderful friends. It was a wonderful relationship. Whenever we did a movie we'd trade scripts and talk about it and see if there was a way to make it more interesting. She was a very special little lady. Very strong; people didn't know that."
Allyson rose from teenage chorus girl on Broadway to contract player for MGM. She began in Hollywood as a dancer and singer in short films. She later co-starred with Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson and Dick Powell in a series of wifely and other supportive roles. Powell became her real-life husband in 1945; he died in 1963.
Petite at barely 5 foot 1 and weighing less than 100 pounds, she was everybody's sweetheart. As Ginger Rogers once said of her, "She's the girl every man wants to marry and the girl every woman wants as a friend."
Her simple, blond pageboy, Peter Pan collars and no-nonsense manner stamped her as the all-American girl next door, the woman millions of GIs wanted to come home to. She was consistently voted a top star by movie magazines and box office surveys.
Among her more well-known movies were her breakthrough film, "Two Girls and a Sailor," in which she co-starred with Johnson and Gloria DeHaven; the 1949 remake of "Little Women," playing the tomboy Jo; and three movies with Stewart: "The Stratton Story," "The Glenn Miller Story" and "Strategic Air Command."
After she married Powell and had two children, Allyson made a few films and TV movies and had her own TV show, an anthology series, from 1959 to 1961.
After his death, she continued working in films and appeared on Broadway, succeeding Julie Harris in "40 Carats." She also appeared on many television programs, with guest spots on CBS' "The Judy Garland Show" and roles in several series.
