Celebrity Biographies
June Allyson
On July 8, 2006 June Allyson passed away at her home in Los Angeles. At 88 years of age, the so-called “perfect wife” died in the company of her husband, David Ashrow, due to respiratory problems.
New Yorker June Allyson began her acting career on Broadway. She did not have it easy since she suffered a bicycle accident at the age of eight that almost left her in a wheelchair. Thanks to the dance, which she practiced during her rehabilitation, Allyson not only walked again, but she prepared herself to emulate her idols Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers . Thus, at the age of 20 she made her Broadway debut in the musical ‘Sing out the news’ (1938). She soon after participated in ‘Very Warm for May’, ‘Higher and higher’ and ‘Panama Hattie’. But it was Best Foot Forward(1943) the one that opened the doors of Hollywood for him. Metro Goldwyn Mayer offered her a contract to act in the film version of the musical, and from that moment a close relationship began between the studio and the actress, who referred to her as “mother, father, mentor, guide, source of energy and sustenance.” ”. It was this fruitful relationship that led to the arrival of titles such as: Girl Crazy (1943), Meet the People (1944 ), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Two Sisters from Boston (1946), Good News (1947) and the role of Jo March in Little Women (1949), the character the actress had the most affection for. The successes continued in tapes like The Girl in White(1952), Remains to be seen (1953), Music and tears (1954) or An aristocratic butler (1957).
In 1963 June Allyson lost her husband Dick Powell whom she had married 18 years before. After her death, he moved away from the world of celluloid to end up on television. Her small screen gave her great success, making her a well-known character for the North American public. Although her vitality was not satisfied, so Allyson combined her work on television with her return to Broadway (‘Forty Carats’ in 1970) and the publication of an autobiography: ‘June Allyson’ (1982). . It was this way of understanding her life that led her to participate in more than 40 films –between cinema and television– in almost 60 years of her career.
Far from the great divas and exuberant females that proliferated in mid-century Hollywood, June Allyson revealed herself as a woman not only petite in her forms but also simple in her ways. She was a woman that everyone wanted to have close to her because she had become the perfect wife by not being an unattainable star but someone made of flesh and blood. Now she is gone and only the one who was her husband since 1976, David Ashrow, will be able to confirm or deny whether June Allyson was the “perfect wife” or not.