Allan Jones (actor)

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Allan Jones (born October 14, 1907 in Old Forge , Pennsylvania as Theodore Allen Jones ; † June 27, 1992 in New York City , New York ) was an American actor and tenor singer, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s -Years of greater notoriety.

life and career

Allan Jones, who had ancestors from Wales, initially worked as a miner in his hometown of Old Forge. But then he studied music at New York University and made his first appearance on Broadway in the late 1920s with the drama Gambling . In 1933 he was seen in the musical Roberta by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach next to Bob Hope again on Broadway. In the mid-1930s, the aspiring actor came to Hollywood, where his good voice made him ideal for musical films and vocal parts. He quickly received leading roles in high-class films, including his appearance as Gaylord Ravenal in James Whales Show Boat , the second film adaptation of the musical of the same name by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. In the following year Jones starred alongside Jeanette MacDonald in Robert Z. Leonard's film operetta Tarantella . Here he sang the well-known song The Donkey Serenade, among other things . Also noteworthy are his appearances as a romantic hero in the Marx Brothers comedies Scandal in the Opera (1936) and A Day at the Race (1937). He was used as a "straight man" to the eccentric comedian brothers.

In the following years Jones took on other leading roles, for example in the musical film Three Quarter Time on Broadway (1939), the film adaptation of the life of Victor Herbert , as well as the musical comedy The Boys from Syracuse (1940), in which Jones to the music of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart sang. In addition to his film appearances, he also released various records. Under contract with MGM , however, he was in direct competition with the even better-known Nelson Eddy , so that in 1940 he moved to Universal Studios . There the quality of his films decreased noticeably. As one of the first movie stars, he was also involved in overseas troop entertainment. Jones left Hollywood in the mid-1940s and toured the UK for two years . While he played mainly as a singer in nightclubs or shows and as an actor in various theater plays in the next few decades, he only occasionally came to supporting roles in film and television. In 1982 Jones recorded a record at the age of 75 and toured Australia until a few weeks before his death .

Since 1929 Jones was married to Marjorie Annette Bull; the couple had a son. In 1936, in the year of his first divorce, Jones married the actress Irene Hervey , their son Jack Jones (* 1938) later became a successful pop singer. His marriage to Harvey ended in divorce in 1957, as did the third marriage to Mary Florsheim Picking, which lasted from 1958 to 1964. In his fourth marriage, Jones was married to Esther Marie Villavincie from 1967 until his death. Allan Jones died of lung cancer in 1992 at the age of 84 .

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Tom Vallance: Obituary for Allan Jones In: The Independent . July 19, 1992
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Allan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jones, Theodore Allen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and singer
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Old Forge , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1992
Place of death New York City , New York