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Charme Allen
Born
Charme Willa Wright

(1890-11-19)November 19, 1890
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
DiedOctober 4, 1980(1980-10-04) (aged 89)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting placeWoodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Other namesCharme Wright
EducationCincinnati Conservatory of Music
Occupation(s)Actress, pianist
Years active1908–1961
Spouse
Joseph Brown Allen
​
​
(m. 1913; died 1962)​

Charme Allen (born Charme Willa Wright,[1] November 19, 1890 – October 4, 1980)[2][3] was an actress in old-time radio, on television, and on the stage, as well as a pianist, best known for her long tenure as Aunt Polly on the radio serial David Harum.[4][5][6] She was also the voice of Borden's Elsie the Cow at the 1939 World's Fair and the original narrator for the American Ballet Theatre's debut production of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.[7][8]  

Early life and career

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Born in Dayton, Ohio,[1] Allen was the only child of Theresa Wolf and Charles A. Wright.[9][10][11][12] She was performing in public as early as June 1902, when, at age 11, she was one of several piano students giving a recital at the studio of Lottie Schaeffer.[13] By age of 16, she was listed in the Dayton business directory as a music instructor.[14] Her interest in acting begin to develop shortly thereafter, as she attended the O'Brien School of Elocution and Dramatic Art. [15] However, in deference to the steadfast opposition of her mother (who envisioned her daughter as a concert pianist), she continued her musical studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music while restricting her dramatic endeavors to local summer stock, initially with the Wright Huntington Players and later the Manhattan Stock Company. As she later recalled, "I took the roles the others didn't want. They were servant and other character parts. I suspect they gave me more valuable training than the heroine got."[16]

Following the premature death of her mother in 1912,[17] and a catastrophic flood which destroyed her place of employment and nearly proved fatal, Wright abruptly wed her colleague and fellow Conservatory alumnus, Joseph B. Allen, and the couple soon relocated to Buffalo, New York, where they would reside for more than 20 years.[16]

In Buffalo, Allen joined the musician's union and quickly found work with local pit orchestras. Shortly thereafter, she connected with drama instructor Jane M. Keeler at the Twentieth Century Club, where she studied for approximately five years before becoming a member of Keeler's Studio Theater Players.[16]

In the table below is a chronological listing of some of Allen's more notable radio roles.

Radio

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Year Title Role Notes
1930–? Nine O'Clock Show various, inc. May Robson and Marie Dressler [18]
1932–? King's Castle Mrs. Perkins (the caretaker's wife) [19]
1935 Melody Master Mother Clemens [20]
1935 The March of Time "frequent parts" [20]
1935–? The Story of Mary Marlin Sarah Jane Kane [21]
1935 Backstage Wife Mercy [22]
1937–1951 David Harum Aunt Polly Benson 1941: "She has been Polly in the David Harum series four years."[18]
1942: "Charme Allen is known as 'Radio's Aunt Polly.' She has won the hearts of thousands of radio listeners as the genial sister of David Harum."[23]
1947: "Prud'homme, who portrays 'David Harum' and Charme Allen, who is known to millions as 'Aunt Polly,' are eagerly awaited visitors every morning."[24]
1949: "Prud'homme [as] the kindly but shrewd small-town banker and Charme Allen as the lovable Aunt Polly..."[25]
1950: Charme Allen portrays Aunt Polly Benson, and Cameron Prud'homme portrays David Harum..."[26] "Charme Allen returns to 'David Harum.'"[27]
1937–? Pretty Kitty Kelly  Mrs. Murger [21]
1938–? Valiant Lady  Mrs. Scott [21]
1938–? County Seat  Sarah Whipple With Ray Collins as Doc Hackett and Cliff Carpenter as Jerry Whipple.[22]
June 30, 1938 Pulitzer Prize Plays
Ep. "Why Marry?" 		 NA [28]
1939 Meet the Dixons   [29]
July 20, 1939 John Brown's Body  NA Radio adaptation of Benet's poem by Norman Corwin.[30]
December 1940–January 1941 The Citadel NA Serialized adaptation of A.J. Cronin novel.[31]
1941–? As the Twig Is Bent Mrs. Carlton The show that would later become We Love and Learn.[22]
1941–1942 Into the Light Ma Owen [32]
1942 Mother and Dad Mother Succeeds the late Effie Palmer.[33]
1942–1944 Abie's Irish Rose Mrs. Mueller [22]
1943–? Cohen and the Detective NA [22]
1944 Columbia Presents Corwin
Ep. Untitled 		Mrs. Peters Written, produced and directed by Norman Corwin; with Frederic March as Hans Peters, Hester Sondergaard as the Music teacher, Kermit Murdock as the Editor, and Michael Ingram as the Nazi.[21]
September 1, 1945 Grand Central Station
Ep. NA
NA
Co-starring Berry Kroeger and Doro Merande[34]
June 10, 1950 Grand Central Station
Ep. "Marked Money"
NA
Co-starring Parker Fennelly, Mason Adams, Thomas Hoier and Robert Emhardt[35]
March 17, 1951 Grand Central Station
Ep. "Missing Persons Miss Money"
NA
Co-starring Edgar Stehli[36]
March 22, 1952 Grand Central Station
Ep. "No Prize for Elmer"
NA
Co-starring Parker Fennelly, Bobby Nick, Joseph Sweeney and Vaughn Taylor[37]
February 28, 1953 Grand Central Station
Ep. "Return Ticket"
NA
Co-starring Darren McGavin, Jean Gillespie, and Chester Stratton[38]
October 1945–November 1945 The World's Great Novels
Ep. "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" 		NA Serialized adaptation.[39]
Circa May 1947 Perry Mason
Ep. "The Case of the Bartered Bride" 		Agnes [40]
June 28, 1948 We Love and Learn Mrs. Carlton [41]
1949 The Second Mrs. Burton Mother Burton Replacing Hollywood-bound Evelyn Varden[42]
1950–? Just Plain Bill NA "John McGovern, Charme Allen, and Richard Janaver added to 'Just Plain Bill.'"[43]
1952 Lorenzo Jones  NA [44]
April 1953 Front Page Farrell
Ep. ? 		 NA "Helen Shields, Charme Allen, Sydney Smith, Cathleen Cordell, Florence Robinson in the new 'Front Page Farrell' sequence."[45]
1956–? The Right to Happiness  NA "Charme Allen, Sydney Smith, Cameron Andrews and Lawrence Zerbe into the cast of 'Right to Happiness."[46]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
December 1, 1952 Robert Montgomery Presents
Ep. "Post Road" 		 NA [47]
December 11, 1955 American Inventory
Ep. "In These Hands" 		 NA Written by Edgar Marvin, starring House Jameson[48]

Theatre

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Although Allen never did get to realize her "fondest wish" (that being to "play on Broadway [and] show New York what I really can do"[18]), she did manage to give New York—or at least its Off-Broadway contingent–at least one reasonably representative sample when she appeared in a 1948 revival of Lennox Robinson's Church Street, a one-act play presented by New Stages Inc. as the opening act of a double bill with Jean-Paul Sartre's The Respectful Prostitute. And while the critical consensus regarding the two pieces presented that night strongly favored the latter, that imbalance did not carry over into their assessment of performances, least of all as regards Allen. J.T.S. of The New Leader wrote, "This work is given a somewhat less smooth performance, but the women especially are good, from Florida Friebus as the fluttery and starving Miss Pettigrew to the soberly sharp work of Charme Allen as Aunt Moll."[49] The Hollywood Reporter's Lee Rogow devoted so much space to Sartre's play that he had scarcely a paragraph left for Church Street, which he judged, in closing, "an overlong but interesting curtain-raiser [that] was illuminated by beautiful performances by Florida Friebus, Charme Allen, and Gertrude Corey."[50] Similarly, Women's Wear Daily critic Thomas R. Dash, leaving himself little space to discuss Church Street, made sure to acknowledge the "superb portrayal by Charme Allen of the cantankerous yet highly intelligent Aunt Moll."[51] Even the Times' Brooks Atkinson, who, alone among these critics, judged Church Street's presentation as harshly as he did the work being presented, exempted exactly one participant from this critique.

"'Church Street' turns out to be more charade than drama, and with the exception of Charme Allen's acting, the performance is typical of most non-commercial productions; the characters are always just sliding out of the actors' grasp."[52]

Personal life and death

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In Dayton, Ohio, on April 7, 1913, prompted by their harrowing experience in that season's well-publicized flood, Charme Wright and her then employer, saxophonist/clarinetist and bandleader Joseph Brown Allen, were married.[53][1][54] Their union produced one child, radio actress Willa Gene Allen,[55] and lasted until her husband's death on June 9, 1962.[56]

On October 4, 1980, Allen died following a long illness at age 89, at the Actor's Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, where she had moved ten years prior.[8] Allen's remains are interred at the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, in Dayton, Ohio.[2]   

References

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  1. ^ a b c Knox, Charles Victor (April 20, 1935). "Charme Allen a Dependable Studio Theater Performer". The Buffalo News. p. 19.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7864-5098-5./
  3. ^ "Society: Sweet Sixteen". The Dayton Herald. November 20, 1906. p. 3.
  4. ^ "Obituaries: Charme Allen". Variety. August 29, 1973. p. 45. ProQuest 286057640. Charme Allen, 89, widow of musician Joseph B. Allen, died Oct. 4 in Englewood, N.J. She was born in Dayton, Ohio. and made her professional debut with Thomas Meighan in 1908. The bulk of her career was spent performing on radio. Allen had over 40 radio credits. Among these were 'Able's Irish Rose,' 'Pretty Kitty Kelly,' 'The Goldbergs,' 'The Man,' 'Henry Aldrich,' Mr. District Attorney,' 'Perry Mason,' and 'Inner Sanctum.' She was also Aunt Polly on 'David Harum' for 15 years. During the 60's she appeared on several TV commercials. She retired to The Actor's Fund Home in 1970. She is survived by a daughter.
  5. ^ "KSTP, Northwest's Leading Radio Station: Charme Allen portrays 'Aunt Polly'". Minneapolis Star Tribune. June 17, 1946. p. 10.
  6. ^ "David Harum in Living Portraits: Aunt Polly". Radio and Television Mirror. January 1942. p. 17.
  7. ^ Young, Roz (November 1, 1980). "Who Was That Man With All the Initials?". The Dayton Journal Herald. p. 44.
  8. ^ a b "Charme Allen Dies at 89; Pioneer Radio Actress". The Buffalo News. October 10, 1980. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Short Illness Followed by Death". Dayton Daily News. September 12, 1912. p. 5.
  10. ^ "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM6W-Z8K : Thu Apr 11 17:38:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Charles A Wright and Therasa Wright, 1900.
  11. ^ "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLFX-KDN : Sun Mar 10 23:11:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Charles A Wright and Theresa Wright, 1910.
  12. ^ "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8HQ-7S6 : Fri Mar 08 10:53:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Chas. A. Wright and Theresa Walf, 1889.
  13. ^ "Musical People; Musical Clubs". Musical Courier. July 7, 1902. p. 8.
  14. ^ "United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZCC-NSXY : Sun Mar 10 04:33:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Charme W Wright, from 1907 to 1908.
  15. ^ "Talk on Known and Unknown". Dayton Herald. December 18, 1909. p. 12.
  16. ^ a b c Gooding, E. H. (May 9, 1934). "Interfering Parent Rapped by Actress; Charme Allen Thinks Efforts to Remake Careers of Children Wicked". The Buffalo News. p. 11.
  17. ^ "Death Closes Kind Woman's Life; Mrs. C. A. Wright Passes Away Tuesday at Family Home; Summons Was Sudden". The Dayton Herald. Sep 3, 1912. p. 3.
  18. ^ a b c "Ex-Local Actress Stars Over NBC; Charme Debut in 'March of Time'". The Buffalo News Magazine. April 5, 1941. p. 5.
  19. ^ "Sunday: Dr. Scherer—New Dramatic Series—Price and Rubinoff—Russian Gaieties". The Buffalo News. September 10, 1932. p. 23.
  20. ^ a b Haeffner, Joe (October 30, 1935). "Charme Allen Established as Big-Time Radio Actress". The Buffalo News. p. 29.
  21. ^ a b c d Buxton, Frank; Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast. New York: The Viking Press. pp. 4, 23, 56, 63, 67, 163, 180, 190, 228, and 249, 253. ISBN 067016240X.
  22. ^ a b c d e Terrace, Vincent (1981). Radio's Golden Years : The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs, 1930-1960. New York: A. S. Barnes & Company. pp. 2-3, 19, 22, 59, 63, 71, 281. ISBN 0-498-02393-1.
  23. ^ "WHAM: Serving America 24 Hours a Day: David Harum Heard Daily 3:00 P.M.". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. June 1, 1942. p. 6.
  24. ^ "Great Dramatic Serials Monday Through Friday". The Baltimore Sun Magazine. November 30, 1947. p. 39.
  25. ^ "Aunt Polly and David". The Charlotte Observer. April 21, 1949. p. 40.
  26. ^ "David Harum". The Daily Sentinel-Tribune April 22, 1950. p .10.
  27. ^ "From the Production Centres: In New York City". Variety. October 18, 1950. p. 24. ProQuest 1286080247.
  28. ^ "Notes for Coming Week". The Montreal Gazette. June 30, 1938. p. 19.
  29. ^ Tranter, Don (August 6, 1939). "Announcing". Buffalo Courier Express. p. 27.
  30. ^ Ibee (July 26, 1939). "Radio Reviews: 'John Brown's Body'". Variety. p. 36. ProQuest 1475960578. With Ray Collins, Everett Sloan, Florence Robinson, Luis Van Rooten, Ruth Yorke, David Gothard, John Carroll, Santos Ortega, Arnold Moss, Charme Allen, Canada Lee, Ed Latimer, Neil O'Malley, Laura Bauman, John James, John Mitchell, Joseph Julian, John Griggs.
  31. ^ Hobe (January 1, 1941). "Radio Reviews: 'The Citadel'". Variety. p. 29. ProQuest 1505747235. With Ralph Forbes, Jill Esmond, Neil O'Malley, Charme Allen, Burford Hampden, Nelson Case, John GriggsBill Meeder.
  32. ^ Cox, Jim (1998). The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 347 ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
  33. ^ "Charme Allen Cast". Radio Daily. August 25, 1942. p. 2.
  34. ^ Bird, Bill (August 31, 1945). "Radio on Review: For Saturday". Pasadena Independent. September 1, 1945. p. 12.
  35. ^ "Television—WTVR—Channel 6". Richmond Times-Dispatch. June 10, 1950. p. 16.
  36. ^ Atcheson, Marion (March 17, 1951). "Running of Banker's Mile to Be Carried by ABC-WQAM". The Miami Herald. p. 29.
  37. ^ "Cast Headed by Boy Actor and Broadway Veteran". Pasadena Independent. March 16, 1952. p. 58.
  38. ^ "Radio Highlights". Tampa Bay Times. February 28, 1953. p. 6.
  39. ^ "Radio Reviews: 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'". Variety. January 1, 1941. p. 29. ProQuest 1285860666. Other prformances of Will Geer, Charme Allen and Bess McCammon, as the father and relatives, respectively, were commendably done.
  40. ^ "Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Bartered Bride". Radio Mirror. June 1947. p. 21.
  41. ^ "KFAM Program Hilights". St. Cloud Times. June 26, 1948. p. 8.
  42. ^ "Radio Dialing". Dayton Daily News. April , 2. p. 55.
  43. ^ "From the Production Centres: In New York City". Variety. September 13, 1950. p. 26. ProQuest 1286004685.
  44. ^ "From the Production Centres: In New York City". Variety. January 9, 1952. p. 42. ProQuest 962802882. Charme Allen and Cathleen Cordell have joined the cast of 'Lorenzo Jones.'
  45. ^ "From the Production Centres: In New York City". Variety. April 22, 1953. p. 26. ProQuest 963058326.
  46. ^ "From the Production Centres: In New York City". Variety. July 18, 1956. p. 28. ProQuest 963291600.
  47. ^ "Dorothy Gish Featured in Comedy Play". The Portsmouth Star. November 30, 1952. p. 3.
  48. ^ "Talent Show Sheet, December 9 – December 18, 1955". Ross Reports on Television. December 12–18, 1955. p. 3.
  49. ^ J. T. S. (February 28, 1948). "New Stage's Second". The New Leader. p. 13. ProQuest 1308957789.
  50. ^ Rogow, Lee (February 10, 1948). "The New York Play". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 3. ProQuest 2320665928.
  51. ^ Dash, Thomas R. (February 10, 1948). "New Stages Twin Bill". Women's Wear Daily. p. 77. ProQuest 1565144685.
  52. ^ Atkinson, Brooks (February 15, 1948). "Off Broadway: New Stages Produces Brief Melodrama by Sartre in Bleecker Street". The New York Times. p. B1. ProQuest 108342301.
  53. ^ "Wedding Is One Result of Flood". Dayton Daily News. April 12, 1913. p. 12.
  54. ^ "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKVQ-8YL8 : Sat Feb 24 03:13:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Joseph Brown Allen and Charme W Allen, 26 Apr 1942.
  55. ^ "Studio Audiences Are Wise to Average Program Queries; News Nuggets". The Buffalo News. August 16, 1939. p. 19.
  56. ^ "Obituary: Joseph B. Allen". The Buffalo News. June 12, 1962. p. 34.
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