Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries Read online

  CAUSE: Alexander died in Los Angeles, California, aged 58.

  Ross Alexander

  (ROSS SMITH)

  Born July 27, 1907

  Died January 2, 1937

  Leading man. Brooklyn-born 6́ 1¼˝ Alexander began appearing on stage aged 16 and was signed by Warner Bros in the early Thirties. Groomed for stardom, he never reached the dizzy heights of contemporaries such as Clark Gable and Errol Flynn. He appeared in less than 20 films, including The Wiser Sex (1932) as Jimmy O’Neill, Flirtation Walk (1934) as Oskie, Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Tom Martin, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) as Demetrius, Maybe It’s Love (1935) as Rims O’Neil, Captain Blood (1935) as Jeremy Pitt, China Clipper (1936) as Tom Collins and the posthumously released Ready Willing And Able (1937) as Barry Granville. He married twice – to actress Aleta Friele (1907–1935) on February 23, 1934, and co-star Anne Nagel (1912–1966) on September 16, 1936. On December 7, 1935, his first wife, a successful Broadway actress, killed herself at 7357 Woodrow Wilson Drive in the Hollywood Hills. She was distraught at her own lack of success in Hollywood and believed her husband to be philandering. Thirteen months later, he, too, was dead.

  CAUSE: Deeply in debt, Alexander shot himself, aged 29, at 17221 Ventura Boulevard, Los Angeles. He used the same rifle his first wife had used to kill herself. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks, 1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California 91209. Warner Bros later signed Ronald Reagan as a replacement for Alexander because they had similar voices and mannerisms.

  Elizabeth Allan

  Born April 9, 1908

  Died July 27, 1990

  Blonde, blue-eyed Brit. Skegness, Lincolnshire-born Allan was educated at the Quaker School in Darlington, and began her career at the Old Vic appearing in various Shakespearean plays. She then went into rep before making her film début in Alibi (1931) in which she played Ursula Browne. Her mentor was Herbert Marshall and she signed a contract with MGM that expired in 1938. Her films included: Michael And Mary (1931) as Romo, The Rosary (1931) as Vera Mannering, Down Our Street (1931) as Maisie Collins, Chin Chin Chinaman (1931) as the Countess, Black Coffee (1931) as Barbara Amory, Service For Ladies (1932) as Sylvia Robertson, The Lodger (1932) as Daisy Bunting, Insult (1932) as Pola Dubois, The Chinese Puzzle (1932) as Naomi Melsham, No Marriage Ties (1933) as Peggy Wilson, Ace Of Aces (1933) as Nancy Adams, The Shadow (1933) as Sonia Bryant, The Mystery Of Mr X (1934) as Jane Frensham, The Lost Chord (1934) as Joan Elton, The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, And Observation Of David Copperfield, The Younger as Mrs (Clara) Copperfield, Mark Of The Vampire (1935) as Irena Borotyn, A Tale Of Two Cities (1935) as Lucie Manette, A Woman Rebels as Flora Anne Thistlewaite, Camille (1936) as Nichette, Slave Ship as Nancy Marlowe, The Girl Who Forgot (1940) as Leonora Barradine, Inquest (1940) as Margaret Hamilton, The Great Mr Handel (1942) as Mrs Cibber, Went The Day Well? (1942) as Peggy Pryde, He Snoops To Conquer (1944) as Jane Strawbridge, That Dangerous Age (1949) as Lady Sybil, No Highway (1951) as Shirley Scott, Folly To Be Wise (1953) as Angela Prout, Twice Upon A Time (1953) as Carol-Anne Bailey, The Heart Of The Matter (1953) as Louise Scobie, Front Page Story (1954) as Susan Grant, The Brain Machine (1956) as Dr Phillipa Roberts and Grip Of The Strangler (1958) as Barbara Rankin. On June 6, 1932, 5́ 6˝ Allan married her manager Wilfred J. O’Bryen and theirs was a happy marriage that lasted until his death in 1977.

  CAUSE: She died aged 82 of natural causes in Hove, East Sussex.

  Marc Allégret

  Born December 22, 1900

  Died November 3, 1973

  Gay nepotistic toyboy. Allégret was born in Basle, Switzerland, the son of a French pastor. Aged 16 he became the lover of his 47-year-old adoptive uncle, writer André Gide. Allégret’s father had been best man at Gide’s wedding; Gide wrote Les Faux-Monnayeurs specifically for his toyboy. Allégret also had an affair with Jean Cocteau. Allégret’s films included Fanny (1932) his first directorial success, Les Beaux Yeux (1935), Blanche Fury (1947), Blackmailed (1951), Avec André Gide (1952), L’Amante Di Paride (1953) and L’Amant De Lady Chatterley (1955) among others. In 1947 he went to England where he made three films and later employed Roger Vadim for ten years. His brother Yves (1907–1986) was also a director.

  CAUSE: Died of natural causes, aged 72.

  Adrianne Allen

  Born February 7, 1907

  Died September 14, 1993

  Matriarch. The daughter of Charles D. Allen and Ethel Mapleston, 5́ 4˝ Manchester-born Adrianne Allen was educated in France and Germany before studying for the stage at RADA. She began her career on June 9, 1926, playing Nina Vansittart in Noël Coward’s Easy Virtue where she met Raymond Massey. She became his second wife on November 12, 1929, and they had two children – the actors Daniel and Anna. Raymond Massey got her a job in Coward’s The Rat Trap. On November 2, 1931, she made her Broadway début as Doris Lea in Cynara and was spotted by a Paramount scout and quickly signed to a contract. She had made her first film Loose Ends (1930) playing Brenda Fallon. Her other films included: The Woman Between (1931) as Lady Pamela, The Stronger Sex (1931) as Mary Thorpe, Black Coffee as Lucia Amory, Merrily We Go To Hell (1932) as Claire Hempstead, The Night Of June 13th as Elna Curry, The Morals Of Marcus (1935) as Judith, The October Man (1947) as Joyce Carden, Bond Street (1947) as Mrs Taverner, Vote For Huggett (1949) as Mrs Hall, The Final Test (1953) as Aunt Ethel and Meet Mr Malcolm (1954) as Mrs Durant. On July 6, 1939, she and Massey were divorced. Her case was handled by the lawyer William Whitney who, with his wife Dorothy, would socialise with the Masseys. Not long after the Massey divorce, the Whitneys also separated. In a situation worthy of the television programme Wife Swap, Adrianne then married William Whitney while his ex-wife married Adrianne’s ex-husband. In the Fifties, the Whitneys moved to Glion-sur-Montreux, Switzerland, where they lived happily until his death in 1973.

  CAUSE: Adrianne Allen died aged 86 of cancer in Glion-sur-Montreux.

  Chesney Allen

  Born April 5, 1894

  Died November 13, 1982

  Crazy gangster. Born in Brighton, the son of a successful master builder, Allen worked in a solicitor’s office before he began amusing audiences on stage from 1919. He teamed up with Bud Flanagan to make people laugh and they became members of the Crazy Gang in 1931. Ill-health forced his retirement in 1945 but he outlived the other Gang members, becoming their agent. Among his films were A Fire Has Been Arranged (1935), Underneath The Arches (1937), Okay For Sound (1937)*, Alf’s Button Afloat (1938)*, The Frozen Limits (1939)*, Gasbags (1940)*, We’ll Smile Again (1942), Dreaming (1944), Life Is A Circus (1958)* and Dunkirk (1958). (Those with the Crazy Gang are marked with an asterisk.) In 1922 he married Aleta Turner in Bradford.

  CAUSE: Allen suffered badly from arthritis. He died aged 88, the last surviving member of the Crazy Gang, leaving £92,978 in his will.

  Fred Allen

  (JOHN FLORENCE SULLIVAN)

  Born May 31, 1894

  Died March 17, 1956

  Failed radio comedian. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fred Allen never made the transition to either big or small screens despite excellent backing and big budgets. He made a few films including Thanks A Million (1935) as Ned Allen, Sally, Irene And Mary (1938) as Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Green, It’s In The Bag! (1945) as Fred Floogle and two Marilyn Monroe movies – O. Henry’s Full House (1952) as Sam and We’re Not Married! (1952) as Steve Gladwyn.

  CAUSE: Heart attack. He died in New York, New York, aged 61. He is buried in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven, Stevens Avenue, Hawthorne, New York 10532.

  Gracie Allen

  Born July 26, 1902

  Died August 27, 1964

  Ditzy comedienne. Born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of an entertainer, 5́ Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was scarred for life on her left shoulder and arm aged 18 months when she was scalded with hot tea. While still a child she was hit in the eyes by glass from a smashed lamp leaving her with one blue and one green eye. She made her
début aged three, appearing with her father. She left her Catholic school at 14 to join her family on stage but found it not to her liking and trained to become a secretary. In 1922 she heard the comedy team of George Burns and William Lorraine was splitting and that Lorraine was looking for a new partner. Mistaking Burns for Lorraine she asked if she could join the team. He didn’t tell her of her mistake for three days by which time they had gelled perfectly. So perfectly that on January 7, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, they were married. (In the following decade they adopted two children, Sandra Jean in 1934 and Ronald John in 1935.) In the Twenties they were one of America’s most popular double acts and by the Thirties they had a number one radio show. Allen appeared in several films, often playing herself or someone with a very similar name. They included: Lambchops (1929) as herself, Pulling A Bone (1931) as Gracie, Fit To Be Tied (1931) as herself, 100% Service (1931) as herself, Oh, My Operation (1932) as Nurse Allen, We’re Not Dressing (1934) as Gracie, The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) as Gracie Allen and Two Girls And A Sailor (1944) as herself. In 1958, in poor health, she retired from show business.

  CAUSE: While lying in bed watching a Spencer Tracy film she suffered an angina attack. She was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, 1831 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, where she died of a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction and arteriosclerotic heart disease) aged 62 at 11.55pm. Gracie Allen is buried in the Freedom Hall Mausoleum of the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks, 1712, South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California 91209. Jack Benny read the eulogy at the funeral and 1,300 people attended. Despite the fact that Allen was Catholic, the ceremony was an Episcopalian one. George Burns wanted to be buried alongside his wife but as he was Jewish he would not be allowed in Catholic consecrated ground. Episcopalian was the closest he could get.

  Phyllis Allen

  Born November 25, 1861

  Died March 26, 1938

  Domineering housewife. Born in Staten Island, New York, like many of her contemporaries Allen began her career in vaudeville and entered films towards the end of the Edwardian era. Her early work was at the Selig and Keystone Studios. She worked alongside many of the era’s big names including Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin although her physical bulk meant that she was usually cast in the role of a domineering spouse rather than a romantic leading lady. She appeared in Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914) as a prison matron/restaurant patron. The movie was America’s first feature-length comedy and starred Marie Dressler (her début film), Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. Her films included: On His Wedding Day (1913), Those Good Old Days (1913), The Riot (1913), Fatty At San Diego (1913), Murphy’s I.O.U. (1913), a dancer in Caught In A Cabaret (1914), A Busy Day (1914) as the other woman, Caught In Tights (1914), The Rounders (1914) as Charlie’s wife, His Trysting Place (1914) as Ambrose’s wife, Dough And Dynamite (1914) as a customer, Gentlemen Of Nerve (1914) as his wife, Cursed By His Beauty (1914), Fatty’s Jonah Day (1914), Getting Acquainted (1914) as his wife, Ambrose’s First Falsehood (1914), The Property Man (1914) as Hamlene Fat, Hello, Mabel (1914) as the woman in the hall, A Fatal Sweet Tooth (1914), Her Winning Punch (1915), Ambrose’s Sour Grapes (1915) as a party guest, That Little Band Of Gold (1915), Gussle Rivals Jonah (1915) as Mrs Gussle, Gussle’s Day Of Rest (1915) as Mrs Gussle, A Submarine Pirate (1915) as an awkward guest, A Night In The Show (1915) as a lady in the audience, Hogan’s Wild Oats (1915), Gussle Tied To Trouble (1915), Gussle’s Wayward Path (1915), Gussle’s Backward Way (1915) – the latter three as Mrs Gussle, Giddy, Gay, And Ticklish (1915), Fickle Fatty’s Fall (1915), A Movie Star (1916) as his real wife, The Judge (1916), The Adventurer (1917) as a governess, Monkey Stuff (1919), Her First Flame (1920) as Minnie Fish, White Youth (1920) as Madame Le Moyne, Pay Day as his wife and The Pilgrim as a member of the congregation.

  CAUSE: She died in Los Angeles, California, aged 76.

  Rex Allen

  Born December 31, 1920

  Died December 17, 1999

  Western star. Born in Wilcox, Arizona, Allen first came to prominence on the radio in the Forties before finding B-movie fame in Western pictures such as The Arizona Cowboy (1949) and The Hills Of Oklahoma (1950) in which he first rode his famous mount, Koko the Wonder Horse. In 1958 he starred in the television series Frontier Doctor. He also narrated over 80 Walt Disney films. His son, Rex Jr (b. Chicago, Illinois, August 23, 1947), was the only one of his four children to follow him into the business.

  CAUSE: He died after being run over by his own car in Tucson, Arizona. His caretaker was driving the vehicle and police believe she didn’t know her boss was behind her when she reversed.

  Robert ‘Tex’ Allen

  (IRVING THEODORE BAEHR)

  Born March 28, 1906

  Died October 9, 1998

  The Texas Ranger. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, 5˝11˝ Bob Allen was educated at Dartmouth College where, in 1926, he made his début in front of the cameras as a stuntman in Richard Arlen’s The Quarterback. (However, Halliwell has him appearing in Mr Potter Of Texas four years earlier.) At university he excelled in polo and boxing and upon graduation in 1929 joined a bank that collapsed in the Great Depression. He later worked as a commercial airline pilot although that business also failed. Some sources claim that Allen modelled for a time. He appeared in the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers (1930) as a house party guest. In 1931 Warner Bros signed him to a contract and he appeared in Party Husband (1931), Night Nurse (1931) as a party guest and The Reckless Hour (1931) but he failed to make an impact and turned to the stage. In 1934, the year he married his first wife, he took another shot at films and joined Columbia. He appeared in The Social Register (1934), The Captain Hates The Sea (1934), Broadway Bill as a journalist, Menace (1934) as Andrew Forsythe, Jealousy (1934) as Jim Rainey, I’m A Father (1935), Death Flies East (1935) as Baker, I’ll Love You Always (1935) as Joe, Party Wire as Roy Daniels, Air Hawks (1935) as Bill ‘Okay’ Lewis, Love Me Forever (1935) as Philip Cameron, The Black Room (1935) as Lieutenant Albert Lussan, Guard That Girl (1935) as Larry Donovan, Crime And Punishment (1935) as Dmitri, White Lies (1935) as Arthur Bradford, Lady Of Secrets (1936) as Richard Terrance, Pride Of The Marines (1936) as Larry Allen, Craig’s Wife (1936) as Gene Fredericks, Let’s Get Married (1937) as Charles and Hold ’Em Navy (1937) as a midshipman. He worked with Tim McCoy on three westerns: Law Beyond The Range (1935) as Johnny Kane, The Revenge Rider (1935) as Chad Harmon and Fighting Shadows (1935) as Bob Rutledge. When McCoy left the studio, Allen took over the reins and appeared in the Texas Ranger series of B movies that were directed by Spencer G. Bennett. The first was The Unknown Ranger (1936) and that was followed by Rio Grande Ranger (1936), Ranger Courage (1937), Law Of The Ranger (1937), Reckless Ranger (1937) and The Rangers Step In (1937). The series ended when Allen moved to 20th Century Fox for meatier roles. He appeared as a doctor in Penitentiary (1938), The Big Broadcast Of 1938 (1938) as a petrol pump attendant, Gateway (1938), Keep Smiling (1938) as Stanley Harper, Meet The Girls (1938) as Charles Tucker, Up The River (1938) as Ray Douglas, Fighting Thoroughbreds (1939) as Greg Bogart, Tail Spin (1939) as Charlie, Everybody’s Baby (1939) as Dick Lane, Winter Carnival (1939) as Rocky Morgan, Winner Take All (1939) as Tom Walker and City Of Chance (1940) as Fred Walcott, after which he returned to the theatre for a quarter of a century. He returned to the big screen in 1965 playing a Philadelphia judge in Dirtymouth (1965), a low-budget biopic of Lenny Bruce, the comedian. He was to make just four more films: Terror In The City (1966) as Brill’s father, Naked Evil (1966), Hells Angels On Wheels (1967) as Dr Carstairs and Raiders Of The Living Dead (1986) as Dr Corstairs. Married twice, his first wife (in 1934) was Evelyn Pierce (b. Del Rio, Texas, February 5, 1908, d. Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, August 9, 1960) by whom he had two children, Katherine and Theodore who became a doctor. In 1964 he married, secondly, to Frances Cookman.

  CAUSE: Allen died in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, aged 92 of cancer and a collapsed lung.

  Ronald Allen

  Born Decem
ber 16, 1930

  Died June 18, 1991

  Soap star. For sixteen years Ronnie Allen played motel manager David Hunter on the television soap Crossroads until he was unceremoniously sacked. It had been his third stint on a soap, having played magazine editor Ian Harman on Compact and football manager Mark Wilson on United! Born in Reading, Berkshire, Allen trained at RADA where he won the John Gielgud Scholarship. He joined Salisbury Rep and then the Old Vic where he appeared in Henry V with Richard Burton. He was signed to a two-year contract by 20th Century Fox but never really made it in Hollywood. Allen also appeared in the films A Night To Remember (1958) as Mr Clarke, A Circle Of Deception (1961) as Abelson, Cleopatra (1963), The Projected Man (1967) as Chris Mitchell, Hell Boats (1970) as Commander Ashurst, R.N., The Fiend (1971) as Paul, The Supergrass (1985) as Commander Robertson and Eat The Rich (1987) as Commander Fortune. He was signed to appear in the American soap Generations but was unable to get a work permit and returned to Britain. A homosexual, he lived in London with his long-term boyfriend, Brian Hankins, until Hankins’ death from cancer in 1979 whereupon Allen surprised almost everyone who knew him by moving in with his Crossroads co-star Sue Lloyd. They married six weeks before his death.