Allyn Ann McLerie (December 1, 1926 – May 21, 2018) was a Canadian-born American actress, singer and dancer who worked with many of Golden Age musical theatre's major choreographers, including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, and Jerome Robbins.
Life and career McLerie was born on December 1, 1926, in Grand-Mère, Quebec, Canada, the only child of Vera Alma MacTaggart (née Stewart) and Allan Gordon McLerie, an aviator and WWI veteran. Allan Gordon McLerie died of a heart attack four months before his daughter's birth, and Allyn Ann McLerie moved with her widowed mother to the United States at age one. (McLerie's mother, Vera, died on her daughter's 54th birthday in 1980 at age 83.) Allyn studied dancing at a studio in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and made her Broadway debut as a teenager in Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus.Profile, bklyn.newspapers.com; accessed May 20, 2015.
She went on to replace Sono Osato as Ivy in On the Town, then played Amy Spettigue in the 1948 Broadway production of Where's Charley? (Theatre World Award).
A life member of The Actors Studio, McLerie's other Broadway credits include Miss Liberty, the drama Time Limit, Redhead (understudying Gwen Verdon), and West Side Story.
McLerie's film roles include Amy in Where's Charley? (1952); Katie Brown in Calamity Jane (1953); Shirley in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969); and The Crazy Woman in Jeremiah Johnson (1972). Other film work includes Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954), The Cowboys (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Cinderella Liberty (1973), All the President's Men (1976), and TV movies such as Born Innocent (1974) and Death Scream (1975).
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 acerbic and priggish secretary, on The Tony Randall Show (1976–78).
McLerie played the recurring role of Arthur Carlson's wife Carmen on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–82). Though then in her mid-fifties, McLerie was playing a character about a decade younger, as Carmen gave birth to a daughter in a 1980 episode. McLerie also appeared in three episodes of Punky Brewster alongside her husband, George Gaynes (1984). She later appeared as Florence Bickford, the title character's mother on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987–91). Her last role was on an episode of Brooklyn Bridge in 1993.
Personal life McLerie's first marriage was to the lyricist/librettist Adolph Green from 1945 until their divorce in May 1953. She then married actor George Gaynes in 1953. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2016. The couple had two children.
McLerie died at her home in North Bend, Washington, on May 21, 2018, at the age of 91, from Alzheimer's disease.Allyn Ann McLerie, Actress in 'Where's Charley?' and 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?' Dies at 91, hollywoodreporter.com; accessed January 20, 2019.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1948 Words and Music Singer in Garrick Gaeities uncredited1952 Where's Charley? Amy Spettigue 1952 The Desert Song Azuri 1953 Calamity Jane Katie Brown 1954 Phantom of the Rue Morgue Yvonne 1955 Battle Cry Ruby – Waitress in Diner 1962 40 Pounds of Trouble Blanchard's secretary uncredited1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Shirl 1969 The Reivers Alison McCaslin1970 Monte Walsh Mary Eagle 1972 The Cowboys Ellen Price 1972 Jeremiah Johnson Crazy Woman 1972 The Magnificent Seven Ride! Mrs. Donavan 1973 Howzer Faye Carsell 1973 The Way We Were Rhea Edwards 1973 Cinderella Liberty Miss Watkins 1974 France société anonyme L'Américaine 1974 Born Innocent Emma Lasko TV movie1975 Death Scream Alice Whitmore TV movie1976 All the President's Men Carolyn Abbott 1983 Living Proof: The Hank Williams, Jr. Story Audrey Williams TV movie1983 The Thorn Birds Mrs. Smith TV miniseries 1994 Police Academy: Mission to Moscow Irina Petrovskaya uncredited
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