Allyn McLerie
Encyclopedia
Allyn Ann McLerie is a Canadian-born, Brooklyn
-reared actress, singer and dancer who worked with most of Golden Age musical theatre
's major choreographers, including George Balanchine
, Agnes de Mille
, and Jerome Robbins
.
McLerie made her Broadway debut as a teenager in Kurt Weill
's One Touch of Venus
. She went on to replace Sono Osato
as Ivy in On the Town, then created the role of Amy Spettigue in the 1948 Broadway production of Where's Charley?
(Theatre World Award
). Her other Broadway credits include Miss Liberty
, the drama Time Limit
, Redhead
(understudying Gwen Verdon
), and West Side Story. McLerie also danced as a guest soloist with American Ballet Theatre
during its 1950-51 European and South American tour.
McLerie's best-known film appearances are as Amy in Where's Charley? (1952), Katie Brown in Calamity Jane
(1953), Shirley in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and as The Crazy Woman in Jeremiah Johnson
(1972). Other film work includes Words and Music
(1948) and The Desert Song
(1952). She enjoyed a long career as a character actress on television, making frequent guest appearances on shows such as Bonanza
, The Waltons
, The Love Boat
, Barney Miller
, Benson
, Hart to Hart
, St. Elsewhere
, and Dynasty
, among many others. She played Miss Janet Reubner, Tony Randall
's assistant, on The Tony Randall Show
from 1976-1978. McLerie played the recurring role of Arthur Carlson's wife, Carmen on WKRP in Cincinnati
(1978–82). She may be best-remembered as Florence Bickford, the title character's mother on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
from 1987-1991. Her last role was on an episode of Brooklyn Bridge
in 1993.
from 1945 until their divorce in May 1953. She has been married to actor George Gaynes
since 1953. The couple has two children and are retired in California
.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
-reared actress, singer and dancer who worked with most of Golden Age musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
's major choreographers, including George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
, Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
, and Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
.
McLerie made her Broadway debut as a teenager in Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
. She went on to replace Sono Osato
Sono Osato
Sono Osato is an American dancer and actress of half-Japanese, half European descent.Osato began her career at the age of fourteen with the Ballet Russe; she later went on to dance with American Ballet Theatre...
as Ivy in On the Town, then created the role of Amy Spettigue in the 1948 Broadway production of Where's Charley?
Where's Charley?
Where's Charley? is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway and in the West End...
(Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
). Her other Broadway credits include Miss Liberty
Miss Liberty
Miss Liberty is a musical with a book by Robert E. Sherwood and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the Statue of Liberty in 1886...
, the drama Time Limit
Time Limit (film)
Time Limit is a 1957 legal drama film directed by Karl Malden, his only directing credit. In his autobiography, Malden stated that "he preferred being a good actor to being a fairly good director."-Plot:...
, Redhead
Redhead
Redhead may refer to:* A person with red hair* Redhead , an album by Bleu* Redhead , a North American duck, Aythya americana...
(understudying Gwen Verdon
Gwen Verdon
Gwenyth Evelyn “Gwen” Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s...
), and West Side Story. McLerie also danced as a guest soloist with American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
during its 1950-51 European and South American tour.
McLerie's best-known film appearances are as Amy in Where's Charley? (1952), Katie Brown in Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
(1953), Shirley in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and as The Crazy Woman in Jeremiah Johnson
Jeremiah Johnson
Jeremiah Johnson is a 1972 western film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford as the title character and Will Geer as "Bear Claw" Chris Lapp...
(1972). Other film work includes Words and Music
Words and Music (1948 film)
Words and Music is a 1948 movie loosely based on the creative partnership of the composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart. The film starred Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake, Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett, and Ann Sothern, It is best remembered for the final screen pairing between Rooney and Judy...
(1948) and The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
(1952). She enjoyed a long career as a character actress on television, making frequent guest appearances on shows such as Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
, Barney Miller
Barney Miller
Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
, Benson
Benson (TV series)
Benson is an American television sitcom which aired from September 13, 1979, to April 19, 1986, on ABC. The series was a spin-off from the soap opera parody Soap ; however, Benson discarded the...
, Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
, St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
, and Dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
, among many others. She played Miss Janet Reubner, Tony Randall
Tony Randall
Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
's assistant, on The Tony Randall Show
The Tony Randall Show
The Tony Randall Show is an American television sitcom that debuted on September 23, 1976 and aired on ABC during its first season and on CBS for its second and final season.-Synopsis:...
from 1976-1978. McLerie played the recurring role of Arthur Carlson's wife, Carmen on WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...
(1978–82). She may be best-remembered as Florence Bickford, the title character's mother on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is an NBC/Lifetime comedy-drama that aired from 1987 to 1991. It was created by Jay Tarses and starred Blair Brown in the title role.-Premise:...
from 1987-1991. Her last role was on an episode of Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge (TV series)
Brooklyn Bridge is an American television program which aired on CBS between 1991 and 1993. It is about a Jewish American family living in Brooklyn in the middle 1950s...
in 1993.
Personal life
McLerie was married to the lyricist/librettist Adolph GreenAdolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
from 1945 until their divorce in May 1953. She has been married to actor George Gaynes
George Gaynes
George Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...
since 1953. The couple has two children and are retired in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.