Actress June Allyson Dies at 88

In Memory


Coming from the Broadway stage to MGM in the 1940's June Allyson did most of her early work in the musical genre, but became best known for her regular one screen paring with James Stewart and real life marriage to Dick Powell. Though never the name or draw of her 'some what friend' Joan Crawford, Allyson worked regularly and after her 'leading lady' years came to an end in the 1960's, continued to appear on stage and in television into the 1990's.

Perhaps the best word to describe June Allyson would be to describe her as 'sweet'. Now that might seem condescending but it isn't, Allyson always invested her wife and mother roles with a dignity and attractiveness that transcended her looks and acting ability, you just sensed she was really as good a person as she seemed on screen. While I've always been most attracted to the 'strong-willed independent types' of classic cinema such as the Hepburns and the Stanwycks, Allyson always made the traditional domestic housewife concept seem appealing and new. Though she is quoted as saying that in reality she was "a poor dressmaker and a terrible cook" her image will always be associated with that of the warm and caring wife and mother, a group that could ask for no better representative.