June Allyson | Hollywood Yesterday

BOTD in 1900, the Extraordinary Agnes Moorehead…

December 6, 2022 By Joi

James Stewart, Agnes Moorehead, and June Allyson in The Stratton Story

The extraordinary Agnes Moorehead was born on December 6, 1900 in Clinton, Massachusetts. In some ways, it’s almost unfortunate that she’s most remembered for her role as Endora on Bewitched. I say “almost” because she created one of the most colorful and entertaining characters ever portrayed on television and gave one outstanding performance after another. I say “unfortunate,” because, in her own words, she didn’t want to be remembered as a witch.

“I’ve been in movies and played theater from coast to coast, so I was quite well-known before ‘Bewitched’ and I don’t particularly want to be identified as a witch.” ~ Agnes Moorehead

Can’t blame her.

Agnes Moorehead’s filmography is filled with wonderful films. In fact, four of her films have been honored in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant: Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), All That Heaven Allows (1955) and How the West Was Won (1962). in each of these, as in each of EVERY film or appearace, she gave an excellent performance. My personal favorite of her performances is one I don’t see often mentioned: Ma Stratton in The Stratton Story (1949, directed by Sam Wood).

She gives such a completely believable, beautiful performance in a role that many actresses would have over-sold. She allowed the script to tell the story, gave her co-stars all the space they needed and never once tried to upstage one of them or the script, itself. She played the role of a woman who had had to be strong all her life, and when tragedy comes to her family, she remains so TRUE to character it’s mesmerizing. She had always been the strong one for her son and she handles his horrible accident in the same manner.

Agnes Moorehead was an extraordinary actress but seems to have been an even more extraordinary person. Known for being a very Spiritual person, she would often show up to work with a script in one hand and a Bible in the other.

I LOVE that so much!

Happy Heavenly birthday to one of the truly great ones.

You can buy The Stratton Story on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the wonderul movie on Prime Video.

The Beautiful Janet Leigh (Pictures of the Day)

March 28, 2021 By Joi

Janet Leigh

I have long been a “fan” of Janet Leigh’s, in spite of having not seen a lot of her films. Truth be told, until recently I had only seen two of her movies! I have no idea how I spent a lifetime watching old movies and had not crossed her lovely path more frequently. As one would expect from a Westerns’ fanatic, it was in a Western I saw her first… The Naked Spur. I actually saw her in this western before I did in Little Women.

I loved her even more in the 1949 classic Little Women (Amazon link) than I did in The Naked Spur. Around this time, I also saw her in Bye Bye Birdie and that was all it took for her to become a personal favorite.

Margaret O’Brien, Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, and June Allyson

I love Ann-Margret as much as anyone, but Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, and Maureen Stapleton make Bye, Bye Birdie the FUN movie it is. They are always my favorite part about the whole movie!

After Bye Bye Birdie, I made it a point to find more Janet Leigh movies and I have come to absolutely ADORE her.

It always boggles the mind how, as I said, after a lifetime of watching movies, you can STILL discover new favorites along the way. Janet Leigh is now one that I “collect” – the tier of personal favorites who I collect all of their films, magazines, photos, cards, etc. It’s always costly to find a new “top tier” favorite, but it’s even more exciting!

June Allyson and Ray McDonald: Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

January 9, 2020 By Joi

June Allyson and Ray McDonald, Till the Clouds Roll By

As I’ve often said, June Allyson is my Doris Day, as in the actress I most associate with sunshine. Whereas most people feel that Doris Day was the human equivalent of sunshine, June is that for me.

Nothing in the world against Doris Day, mind you! It’s simply that I’ve seen all but a few June Allyson films (I watch, re-watch, and collect them like my life depends on it) and I have seen…. are you ready for this?…. only one Doris Day film.

One!

I’m not sure how she has missed my radar, but she has almost completely. I need to watch more of her films this year, don’t I?

Today’s picture of the day is the wonderful June Allyson and the wonderful Ray McDonald in the musical Till The Clouds Roll By (1946). I will always wonder what might have been with Ray McDonald. He was only 38 years old when he died. Could the man ever dance?!?!

If you’ve never seen this musical (or if you have and it’s time for a re-watch), I hope you’ll check it out soon. Judy Garland, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Angela Lansbury, Robert Walker, Van Johnson, Kathryn Grayson, Van Heflin, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore…. what a cast!

Love, Love, Love, Love Her!

The Bride Goes Wild with June Allyson and Van Johnson

October 26, 2019 By Joi

Two of my favorite Old Hollywood stars are June Allyson and Van Johnson. I was actually a huge fan of each star before I saw my first film of them together. Once I began watching the movies they made together, however, my level of obsession for each grew to new heights. There was something extraordinary about their chemistry and the way they worked together.

Do I, personally, put them on par with Hollywood’s greatest, most iconic movie couples:

Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
Myrna Loy and William Powell
Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, Jr.
Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda
Doris Day and Rock Hudson

Yes. Yes I do. And without hesitation. Comedic pairings are just as delicious and iconic as dramatic pairings, after all, and they were two of the best.

June Allyson and Van Johnson made five films together for MGM from 1944 to 1953 and every single one of them is excellent.

The most recent one I watched (for the first time, oddly enough, in spite of having seen all of the others multiple times) was The Bride Goes Wild (1948). This was the third film the duo made together and, IMO, one of their best. It might just be their best, in my opinion, but I’ll have to wait for the initial “wow” factor to calm down to determine for sure. You know how it is, when you first fall in love with a film, you forget nearly every one you’ve ever seen before it.

I’ll get to just how much I love this movie in a moment, but I have to just say that this is one of the most oddly-named films of all time. Sure, there is a bride and, sure, she goes wild… but not for the vast majority of the film.

It’s just not at all what the film is about! I realize a film’s title doesn’t amount to a hill of beans (weird phrase) but it was odd enough for me to mention.

Now for the movie: It is a hilarious delight from the opening to the closing. There are more than a handful of laugh out loud moments, thanks both to a darn good script AND the wonderful comedic talents of June Allyson, Van Johnson, Hume Cronyn, Una Merkel, Jackie “Butch” Jenkins and Arlene Dahl (in a small but memorable role).

June Allyson plays Martha Terryton, an illustrator who happens to also be a school teacher. She is hired as the illustrator for children’s book author Greg Rawlings. Hume Cronyn is Greg’s much put-upon publisher, John McGrath, and Una Merkel is his wonderful secretary Miss Doberly.

Hume Cronyn and Una Merkel had a very similar quality – whenever each graced a movie, they always left you wanting MORE. They worked the same magic in The Bride Goes Wild… while I LOVED every second of Martha and Greg’s adventures, I wanted desperately to see more of John and Miss Doberly’s! They could have had a movie of their own and I’d have sat glued to every scene.

One of the best things about the movie stood oh, only about “this high.” Jackie “Butch” Jenkins stars as an adorable little boy named Danny and he does an absolutely outstanding job. I would say that he is outstanding “for such a young boy,” but his performance was wonderful for any age. He conveys each and every emotion perfectly and draws you into what his character (a central one, at that) is feeling and makes what he is going through palpable.

If I’m a director, I ask for no more than that!

The Bride Goes Wild (going to take exception to this title for the rest of my life, it seems) is an absolutely delightful, fun, and hilarious film. Plenty of laugh out loud moments and just a solid good time. I hope you’ll check it out as soon as possible – and then go on to see the rest of Van Johnson and June Allyson’s movies.

They’re all so much fun!

One of the Best Old Hollywood Biographies I’ve EVER Read: June Allyson’s Autobiography

October 21, 2019 By Joi

June Allyson by June Allyson

My husband has a passion for BBQ that is, in my opinion, completely unrivaled. The man can smell a BBQ restaurant three miles away – when he locates one, we either visit it right away or, if we’ve recently eaten, he instantly make plans for when we WILL be back.

Sometimes he even tells it, on the way by, that we’ll be back.

When he has a plate of BBQ in front of him, it’s quite the production. JUST the right amount of sauce is added (after first tasting it to see how much will be required), the perfect amount of onions and perfect number of pickles are invited to the party, the napkin placed in his lap and… he dives in without a care in the world. It’s one of his greatest passions and seeing him “BBQ happy” makes me happy.

This is very much how I am with cats, chocolate, strawberry sundaes, fried catfish, old movies, classic tv and radio, and old Hollywood biographies/autobiographies. Fortunately, for cats, I only eat three of these passions.

As I’ve often said in my Hollywood Yesterday Book Reviews, I am always, always, always in the middle of at least 3 books at any given time. I can’t help myself, I just love them that much.

I recently read one that is, now, officially one of my all-time favorites: June Allyson by June Allyson.

First, a few words about how I feel about June Allyson. She’s my Doris Day. Is that a strange thing to say? Well, stick with me, kid, you’ll get used to it. I say a lot of strange things – sometimes within one sentence.

Doris Day is sunshine, personified to many people. Perhaps they were going through a rough patch in their life when they saw her in a movie and her rays of sunshine broke through their clouds. Or, maybe they didn’t have any dark clouds to break through – maybe she simply caused the sun to seem brighter.

I have nothing against the wonderful Doris Day, mind you – but June Allyson is MY personal Doris Day.

Except she’s my June Allyson.

I warned you about me.

June Allyson and Her Beloved Husband, Dick Powell

My parents both died far too young. My dad was just in his 50s (after a long illness) and my mom was in her early 60s (complications from diabetes and heart disease – both of which are monsters). June Allyson movies were like medication on both occasions.

Recently, one of my beautiful daughters had a high-risk pregnancy that had this mother hen beside herself. I can’t even begin to tell you how many June Allyson movies I watched!

Naturally, I watch June Allyson even when my world isn’t turned upside down. I just adore her and everything about her. Whether she brings Van Johnson or Dick Powell with her into my den, it doesn’t matter -she is always, always, always welcome.

Her wonderful autobiography, June Allyson is as sunny, honest, and unpretentious as she was. It was an absolute joy to read every single step of the way.

In fact, I did something after finishing this one that I have never done before. Instead of placing her on one of my Old Hollywood book shelves, I turned back to page one so I could enjoy the journey through her life one more time.

I say “one more” but there will be other journeys – and plenty of them.

June Allyson pours her heart out in this poignant autobiography. She takes us inside her early days in Hollywood with wonderful stories about Mickey Rooney, Van Johnson, and her very close friend Judy Garland. As is the case with all exceptional memoirs, you meet household names along the way and, in this case, you get to enjoy their presence as well as June’s adorable instances of being starstruck.

Stars you’ll meet along the way: Lucille Ball, Dick Powell, Judy Garland, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Van Johnson, JFK, Peter Lawford, Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, Alan Ladd (oh boy, is there some Alan Ladd content), Merle Oberon, Rita Hayworth, Susan Hayward, Joan Blondell (who happened to be Dick Powell’s glamorous wife, then ex-wife during the course of the book), Charles Boyer, Mary Pickford, Jack Benny, Ronald Colman, Gracie Allen, George Burns, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Margaret O’Brien, Gloria DeHaven, Louis B. Mayer, Kathryn Grayson… and more.

Reading about the movie “The Conqueror” (the deaths of John Wayne, Dick Powell, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendariz, and Agnes Moorehead have all been tied to the making of this film) was unsettling and interesting at the same time.

Most compelling (for me, anyway) was the love story between her and Dick Powell. Their marriage lasted 17 years – until his death. When she lost her soulmate, she had a horrifying downward spiral – understandably. Her book tells how her friends helped her find her way out of the devastating darkness.

With a personality few stars could even hope to rival, spending time with June Allyson, the author, is as joyful as spending time with June Allyson, the actress.

While you journey through the valleys and mountaintops with this wonderful lady, you can’t help but be awestruck how she survived it all. One of the things I love most is that it all ends on a mountaintop with her husband Dr. David Ashrow. It may sound like a Hallmark greeting card but there’s only one way to put it: He helped her find happiness again.

As I often say, one of my greatest and perhaps guiltiest pleasures with autobiographies and memoirs is hearing about the other stars. When an actor or actress tells about their experiences with fellow stars, you learn a lot about the stars they are referring to as well as the one doing the reminiscing. Katharine Hepburn, June Allyson, and Fred Astaire are three that come immediately to mind when thinking about stars who were kind to other stars.

There are one or two stars who June Allyson doesn’t shine an especially favorable light on, but it isn’t, shall we say, an unflattering light we didn’t already know about!

Overall, she is extremely positive about everyone she knew along the way and I love that about her.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about June Allyson (the book or the actress!). Every word is a delight – whether it makes you feel warm, happy, shocked (two words: Alan Ladd), or sad. You’ll laugh out loud in places and probably swipe at a few tears in others (I certainly did). You’ll come to love stars you already loved even more (for me: Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, James Stewart, Rita Hayworth, Van Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Susan Hayward, John Wayne) and you’ll become a fan of stars you didn’t know much about before but want desperately to know them better now (for me: Alan Ladd, Alan Ladd, Alan Ladd, and Alan Ladd).

You’ll also find that some of your favorite stars were as complex and multi-layered as you always suspected (for me: Joan Crawford, Joan Blondell). I love that June doesn’t attempt to judge anyone – she knows something I always preach: Everyone fights their own battles in their own ways. Period.

In addition to the wonderful writing and priceless memories and stories, the pictures in this book are extra wonderful. I have been a huge fan of June Allyson and Dick Powell for years and there were many pictures I have never seen.

Read more about June Allyson by June Allyson on Amazon. As for me, I’m going to kick back and read another chapter right now. Yes, for the second time. What can I say… she’s my Doris Day.

20 Fast Facts About June Allyson

September 21, 2019 By Joi

The wonderful, adorable,talented, and ever-vivacious June Allyson is one of my absolute favorite stars. She’s in a delectable group of similar stars (Doris Day, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Eve Arden…) who bring us more joy and happiness than we could ever describe, yet don’t often break into our top 3 of “favorite actors or actresses.” Why? I suppose there are several reasons. For one, with a few notable exceptions, their roles weren’t usually the type of roles that brought critical acclaim or award nominations.

They understood their “role” in Hollywood as well as they did their “roles” – they were there to bring happiness to movie-goers. The fact that they did so with such passion makes them among my favorite kinds of stars.

I mean, a legacy of happiness, laughter, and ear to ear smiles isn’t just a wonderful legacy – it’s the best legacy.

Another reason they may not make most people’s top 3 lists is the fact that they, more than many stars, seemed more like family. It’s often hard to think of Bob Hope or June Allyson as “actors” because we simply believe that IS them on the screen!

Naturally, if we slow down and think it through, we realize that they were as talented as anyone. They simply played the roles given to them so beautifully that we fell for the act hook, line, and sinker.

Below are 20 facts about June Allyson you may not know. She was a very lovable lady – onscreen and off.

June Allyson was born on October 7, 1917 in The Bronx, New York.
She initially turned down the offer to be a celebrity spokesperson for Depends undergarments. Understandably, given the sensitive nature of the subject. However, word is her mother changed her mind when she made June realize this was a serious problem many people dealt with and seeing a star they love talk about the subject could remove the stigma – making them feel less self conscious. She could also present them with a wonderful product that could help them a great deal.
On August 28, 2019, she was honored as one of Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars (I made a holiday of it and only budged from the den a handful of times!).
Was close friends with: Esther Williams, Van Johnson, Claudette Colbert, Kathryn Grayson, Judy Garland, Jane Wyman, Gloria DeHaven, Ann Rutherford, James Stewart, and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Reagan.
The Love Boat often paired actors and actresses who had worked together in the past. In 1978, in a segment titled, “Her Own Two Feet,” June Allyson and her friend and frequent costar Van Johnson starred in a story about a husband who is struggling to face the truth that his wife is losing her sight.
June was very good friends with James Stewart and played his wife in three different films.
She initially wanted to be a doctor, and got into acting merely as a way to make money to pay for medical school. Lucky for us, she stuck with acting and, instead, paid for her brother to become a doctor.
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1537 Vine Street.
June could cry on cue, a talent she shared with her “Little Women” (1949) co-star Margaret O’Brien. June’s method for triggering tears was to “try very, very hard not to cry . . . So the more I thought about not crying the more I cried.” According to Allyson, during O’Brien’s death scene in Little Women, the two of them, “could not stop” crying!
June Allyson was as huge a fan of Agatha Christie as I am. Like me, she collected every novel Agatha Christie ever wrote. She also cited the Christie character Jane Marple to be her favorite female detective.
When she was eight years old, she was crushed by a falling tree limb while riding a bicycle. She wore a steel back brace for four years. Swimming therapy helped her regain her mobility and strength.
She taught herself to dance by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films.
She married actor Dick Powell in 1945. They remained married until his death in 1963. He was only 58.
Their first child, Pamela Powell, was adopted in 1948. As the couple were set to adopt a baby boy, June discovered that she was, in fact, pregnant. Their son Dick Powell, Jr. was born in 1950.
June Allyson and Judy Garland were very, very close friends. In interviews after Judy Garland’s death, Allyson said that she could hardly talk about Judy without crying because she was such a special lady who didn’t have appropriate help available to her in her lifetime.
She confessed, in her autobiography, that she had a short-term relationship with Alan Ladd.
In May 2014, she was honored as Turner Classic Movie’s Star of the Month.
She was a very petite 5′ 1.”
Along with her husband Dick Powell, she persuaded future President of the United States Ronald Reagan to switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in 1962.
She was fan of the TV shows Touched by an Angel, Mad About You, and Law & Order.

June Allyson Quote About Studio Life

March 21, 2019 By Joi

“The only parental authority I had was the studio. When I was a star, there was always somebody with me, to guard me. I was not allowed to be photographed with a cigarette, a drink, a cup of coffee or even a glass of water because someone might think it was liquor. When I left the studio I was already married and had two children, but I felt as sad as a child leaving home for the first time.” ~ June Allyson

June Allyson Quote About…. June Allyson!

October 21, 2017 By Joi

June Allyson and James Stewart in The Stratton Story

“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.” ~ June Allyson