I remember exactly where I was standing on that cold February day in 1972 when I took in our mail and gasped at the headline on the cover of that week’s Life magazine. Was it really true? How did it happen?
"LIZ TAYLOR IS 40!" the magazine screamed. I was 12 and I couldn’t believe the news that the Liz we knew and loved was now that ancient. At the time my knowledge of Elizabeth Taylor’s oeuvre was mostly limited to late night TV viewings of her earlier work. “National Velvet,” starring the 12-year-old actress was one of my mother’s favorites and we watched it whenever it aired. I’ll never forget Velvet Brown’s odd philosophy of life: “I want it all quickly 'cause I don't want God to stop and think and wonder if I'm getting more than my share!” I enjoyed young Liz in “Lassie Come Home” and “A Date with Judy” and I thought there was no more beautiful woman on earth than Taylor in George Stevens’ “A Place in the Sun” (I was a little scared to find myself empathizing with Montgomery Clift’s desire to kill shrewish Shelley Winters so he could have a life with luminous Liz).
But my favorite performance by the youthful Elizabeth Taylor, if I'm man enough to admit it, was as stuck-up Amy March in the 1949 version of “Little Women.” 17-year-old Liz seemed to grow up before our eyes in this film, and her conceited Amy eventually proved what a big heart she really had. My favorite scene was when she was passing out the popovers her family had brought to the waif-like children of a destitute family that Marmee was helping. Taylor couldn’t believe the financially strapped Marches had to share their rare Christmas-time treat so she decided to divvy up the popovers in a way that she thought was fair—“one for you and one for me and one for you and another one for me…”
The actress who played Jo March so perfectly in that film was June Allyson, who died this week at the age of 88. Kendall was driving yesterday when she heard the news and immediately called to tell me about it, sounding utterly heartbroken. It is the only thing marring our celebration of her 40th birthday today. The very first chapter in Kendall’s wonderful but as-yet unpublished new book is called “June Allyson Teaches Me Her Rules for Relationships.” Here is how it begins:
I speak in the voice that I do because of June Allyson. No other female in my family speaks in such a low register. And so I have come to the conclusion that the only explanation for my particular alto is my repeated viewings of “Good News” at the time my vocal chords were being formed.
“Good News,” MGM’s 1947 musical delight starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford, was the film of my childhood. If that seems an anachronistic choice for someone born in 1966, it is because I was not exposed to the children’s films of my era. My parents had no interest in sitting through them so I never saw them. But if my parents deprived me of my birthright, they gave me something far better–June Allyson.
For those of you who are familiar with Kendall’s first book, let me just say that this one is equally brilliant and I hope you will be reading it some day soon, even if Kendall is in grief today that June Allyson never will. She goes on about her favorite film:
“Good News” paints a glorious Technicolor picture of college life in the 1920s. And it may be the reason I never attended college. Having watched “Good News” so many times, I felt I’d already been. I also knew the real thing would never live up to the MGM version. However, though “Good News” may have kept me from college, it played a pivotal role in my education and made June Allyson my intellectual role model.
I’m not sure how many others saw singing, dancing June this way, but she was my first example of a woman who prizes her intellect and will not put it aside to appear less threatening to easily intimidated suitors. In “Good News.” June Allyson is the brainy, hardworking college girl who falls for Peter Lawford, the captain of the football team, when he is sent to her for French tutoring. Throughout the movie, even after she falls in love with him, she never tries to hide the fact that she knows more about conjugating French verbs (and the best things in life) than he does. June Allyson showed me early on that you could be smart enough to tutor the boy you loved and still end up dancing the “Varsity Drag” with him (“Up on your heels/Down on your toes/Stay after school/Learn how it goes”).
The way June Allyson handled herself with Peter Lawford became my model for how I would deal with men. She was the straightforward girl whose emotions ran deep and true, but who would never resort to flirting and games to win her love (as Patricia Marshall does throughout the film, to the disgust of both June and myself). And June’s response when Peter Lawford asks her out after he has been dumped by Patricia Marshall I quoted word for word when a boy in the eighth grade did the same thing to me: “Play second fiddle? No thanks.” June Allyson taught me at a very early age the rules by which I have always played.
Kendall then goes on to discuss June’s performance in “Little Women.” She explains that while some people love the Katharine Hepburn or Winona Ryder version of that story, she will always consider them imposters (“One’s first Jo is second in memory only to one’s first love.”)
Kendall and I saw June Allyson in person a few times, most notably on our very first date at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in 1989. Kendall had always reminded me of June and not just because of their distinctive alto voices. Both women were kind and loving and had that rare ability to appear apple pie wholesome and extremely sexy at the same time. Kendall and June were known for being cheerfully nice and yet both had inner lives that were far more complex and full of turmoil than people realized.
Have you ever seen the fascinating film “The Shrike,” the one movie in which June Allyson was allowed to put her “perfect wife” image on the back burner and show her dark side? In that 1955 film, Allyson played the evil, vengeful wife of a successful theatre director played by Jose Ferrer (who also directed this film). Ferrer is in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. Sweet-on-the-outside Allyson visits him every day, causing everyone to think she is a self-sacrificing saint. What they don't know is that whenever they're alone, June torments her poor sap of a husband within an inch of his life, nearly driving him over the edge with her constant harangues. Of course the film was a box office bomb—no one wanted to see their Junie as a Bette Davis-style bitch.
Following this daring and underappreciated performance, June was back in form in “The Opposite Sex,” a musical remake of the MGM classic, “The Women.” This was a film that never should have been made but June did her best in the Norma Shearer role, here a former nightclub singer whose husband was having an affair with Joan Collins. Collins' Crystal Allen didn’t hold a candle to Joan Crawford’s razor sharp performance in the original (“When Steven doesn’t like something I’m wearing, I take it off”) and even the likes of Ann Miller, Joan Blondell, and Agnes Moorehead couldn't save this abomination. MGM originally wanted June's close friend Esther Williams to star in the remake but she wisely refused to have anything to do with it.
June Allyson spent her 40th birthday on October 7, 1957, getting ready for the star-studded premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre of “My Man Godfrey,” her new film co-starring David Niven. This was, of course, a remake of the Carole Lombard/William Powell film that is one of Kendall’s all-time favorites, and June Allyson's updated version is another movie that never should have been made. The fact that Kendall didn’t turn on June after she committed sacrilege with two of Kendall’s most cherished characters just proved how much she loved her Junebug.
If only 40-year-old June had been offered better roles, maybe her movie career wouldn’t have sputtered to an end with her following film, the forgettable “A Stranger in My Arms” with Jeff Chandler. As June turned 40, her personal life was also in shambles. She had just announced her separation from longtime husband Dick Powell. “We have not been getting along for the past few years even though we have tried,” she told Hedda Hopper, “and I have decided that Richard and I have a better chance if we are apart from each other.” Powell shot back, “It is true that we have not been getting along, but I thought it was worth another chance. Unfortunately, June did not agree.” It was only many years later that Allyson admitted that the primary reason for the separation was the torrid affair she’d been having with Alan Ladd. There’s that dark side again, just under the surface. But June did change her tune in the end. She and Dick Powell reconciled and the couple stayed together until Powell’s death in 1963.
And now, according to Kendall, she’s lost June Allyson and her youth in the same week. While Life magazine may not be heralding Kendall’s entry into the 40s, we did have this yummy cake complete with an edible Greer Garson. It’s always nice to nibble on Greer and Walter Pidgeon (hmm, that didn’t come out right), but if I’d known June was fated to leave the planet this week, you can guess who I would’ve put on that cake. At the end of her chapter, after writing about a lost first love, Kendall thanks June Allyson for helping her recover from a broken heart. “She taught me that I need never diminish myself for love and she held out the promise that love would be something I would finally find. With ‘Good News’ and ‘Little Women,’ my romantic character was formed. Now I could move on to those other films on the shelf without fear of who I would become as I watched. For June Allyson had started me safely on the road to who I knew I was.”
Kendall, you will always be my June Allyson. Happy Birthday.
Happy birthday, Kendall.
Posted by: The Retropolitan | July 12, 2006 at 10:23 PM
Awww. Sniff.
Kendall, you will always be my June Allyson too.
Wait....what??
Happy birthday Kendall. I love you very much.
xxoo
your sister in law
Posted by: your sister-in-law | July 12, 2006 at 10:24 PM
hAPpy BirTHDay, kENdaLL.
Your hubby dearest sure knows how to group you in with the best of 'em. It's nice to always *slip into something Hollywood*, isn't it?
Posted by: Pearl | July 12, 2006 at 10:26 PM
Oy, I remembered June's "celebrity endorsement":
Depends
Wilson's Stores
Apparently when Depends approached Allyson to star in commercials for its disposable undergarments, she was reluctant to ink the deal. After talking with her mother, who suffered from incontinence, Allyson decided to become the company's celebrity endorser.
Posted by: Pearl | July 12, 2006 at 11:30 PM
Oy, I tried to leave a comment - but to no avail - all yesterday! What I had wanted to say was:
Happy Happy Day!
Happy Birthday Kendall!
Great post! Great Hubby! Great couple!
Posted by: tamarika | July 13, 2006 at 03:32 AM
Happy, happy birthday, Kendall (maybe one of these days, when we're in the same city, I'll finally get to meet you). Sorry it's a day late (but then, birthdays that go on forever are always nice). And welcome to your forties; they're FABULOUS years. Meanwhile, hurry up, I'm waiting for that book.
And Danny, what a great birthday post.
Posted by: Emily | July 13, 2006 at 05:23 AM
What a wonderful post Danny...A tribute to both your dear sweet wife who began her 41st year today and the just passed on Miss June Allyson...
I saw Kendall earlier today as you know, and we talked about June...I told her I had made a June Allyson scrapbook, "back in the day"...(I just had found it, too...on her next visit I will have to show it to her)...And further, I told her that the two films that made me fall in love with June Allyson were "Two Girls and a Sailor" and "Music For Millions"...Kendall is the only person I know under 70 that not only has seen the movies, but LOVES them! I did not know until today that June was such a major influence on Kendall's life...(And I'm sure she will tell you of the "insider" nickname I told her about today--that no doubt probably came into being during that separation time from Dick Powell!)
A Very Very Happy Birthday Kendall...I LOVE THE "MRS. MINIVER" CAKE...What a swell husband you are, dear Danny!
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | July 13, 2006 at 06:19 AM
Happy birthday to Kendall.
I will also turn 40 this year, but I share June's birthday of October 7th.
I am not as up on movies as your family, but I did see her in The Glenn Miller story and think of her when I hear Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls.
I have read Kendall's first book and will admit that a mention of Kendall in a homeschooler's blog led me here. Once inside, I have enjoyed Danny's writing very much. I look forward to more writing from either of you.
Have a great forty.
Posted by: Heidi | July 13, 2006 at 06:27 AM
Happy birthday, Kendall! Everyone knows that women in their forties are the sexiest.
Posted by: Neil | July 13, 2006 at 07:57 AM
I was just a little tyke when I first saw June in Little Women and it wasn't until I was much older that I saw it again and realized how shocking and wonderful June Allyson's portrayal of Jo was. Her spunk and determination were awesome. I'm sure that film changed me forever!
(I had a major birthday this week too. Major. Turning 40 is nothing, gang!)
Posted by: Nancy | July 13, 2006 at 06:31 PM
lovely post Danny...I always loved June Allyson in Little Women...I cry everytime she cuts her hair off.
Happy birthday Kendall...it only gets better after 40.
Posted by: cruisin-mom | July 14, 2006 at 05:50 AM
Happy Birthday Kendall, yadda yadda yadda. More importantly, where did you get the cake?
Love and best wishes,
Posted by: Elaine Soloway | July 14, 2006 at 12:23 PM
Happy Birthday Kendall!
Posted by: Adam | July 15, 2006 at 08:44 AM
Kendall's writing another book, how fantastic! An early birthday present for me!(my birthday is in Dec.) I found this blog by trying to find another book by Kendall and found 2 fantastic writers.
Great post, Danny.
Posted by: Judy | July 15, 2006 at 06:07 PM
I'm way behind on my blog-reading, and so I am also way behind on wishing Kendall a happy birthday. Please give her a hug and kiss from me. Thanks for the preview of her book-I wish I had the power and money to publish it right now!
Posted by: shari | July 18, 2006 at 10:29 AM
June Allyson and Memories: Gone, but Not Forgotten...
My Tribute to June Allyson
Jack Heinzman's Tribute to June Allyson
Charles Michel's Tribute to June Allyson
Jim Bishop's Tribute to June Allyson
"Like the memory of her smile and her tears and her raspy little voice, some things will stay with us forever." -- from Jim Bishop's Tribute to June Allyson
Down on Your Heels, and Up On Your Toes!
by Len Bourret (Copyright 2006)
She was the girl GIs gravitated towards, the kind of woman every man wanted to marry, and the special friend everyone wanted to know. She loved people, and they loved her back. She exuded positive energy and a sunshiny smile that was uplifting--and, somehow, just being around her was uplifting and made people feel better. She was, and shall always be, "Good News" itself. Harry James' trumpet (from "Two Girls and a Sailor") is blowing in the heavens, and one can hear and see June Allyson exuberantly singing, "He's the young man with a horn!"
To know "Junie" (as she was personified by her closed friends), one only had to become familiar with Ella Van Geisman, the little girl from the Bronx. She was a hard worker, and a powerhouse. She danced her way out of poverty and, on a dare from her schoolchums, learned to dance like and eventually befriended her #1 heroine, Ginger Rogers. And, out of a Third Avenue el, she learned to follow in the footsteps of her #1 hero, Fred Astaire. She had a distinctive voice, and a winsome personality. And, it was not an accident or coincidental that she became destined to become the actress and human being that everyone wanted to emulate and have as their nextdoor neighbor. Hers was a rags-to-riches story, a kind of Shirley Temple real-life doll (more than merely on paper), a Jo March tomboy with feminine grace. She was a princess, who married a prince, Richard Ewing Powell. And Richard, or Dick Powell as he is known to the world, was a kind man who loved kids. But, he was--and taught June Allyson to be, strong as a redwood--and this served to be her strength, after Richard's passing. And, indeed, June Allyson went through an extremely difficult period from 1963 (after Richard passed from this earth) to 1976 (when she married an equally-kind man, David Ashrow). But, during this time of magnificent independence, the little girl became quite a woman. And, she was a loyal friend and partner (she was married to Dick Powell for almost 20 years, and was married to David Ashrow for almost 30 years).
When I was a little boy, Dick Powell used to call me from Four Star Television (where he became a still-respected Louis B. Mayer kind of television mogul), and he gave me a 16m.m. print of "Sister Mary Slugger" (a segment I loved from early-television's June Allyson Show). I deeply cherished and faithfully preserved the print, for years, and presented it to June Allyson on videocassette. And, at the Judy Garland Festival in 2002, I had the rare opportunity to read my poetry to June Allyson. Some people are fortunate to meet their heroine once in a lifetime. I was privileged and proud to meet June Allyson on four special occasions: once when she was appearing in "Goodbye Ghost" (in Coconut Grove, Florida), twice when she was appearing in "Forty Carats" (on Broadway), thrice when she was appearing in "No No Nanette" (in Hollywood), and at the Judy Garland Festival (an annual event held to honor June Allyson's friend in Judy Garland's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota). But, this shall not be yours and my final meeting. We shall see June, Judy, and Richard at the rainbow--and June Allyson will be dancing and singing The Varsity Drag (from MGM's "Good News")!
Posted by: Len Bourret - Poet and Writer | July 19, 2006 at 07:36 AM
I'm not sure where to start, but first and foremost - congratulations to Kendall and Danny!! Wow!!! and a very happy belated birthday - I'm right behind ya baby!! :)
Dearest Kendall - I was one of those who "googled" you in hopes of tracking you down. Probably not a day goes by that you are not a part of in some way. Recently Will and the girls and I moved, and cleaning out my storage room was a box full of your books, and I wanted to get them to you. I have of course saved one for each of my girls (there are 4 by the way!) and most of all I want to get in touch with you. I must say this is a very odd way to do that, but what the heck - hopefully this will reach you and maybe we will connect!
you are deeply missed-
all my love,
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn Llewelyn Penny | August 05, 2006 at 06:58 PM
I was just browsing for pics of the divine Ms Allyson in "Little Women" - I have been watching it religiously this week it seems - to add to my blog when I found this fabulous post (although I'm about a year behind in reading it, it seems). All I can say is that I am desperate to catch up on this mysterious Kendall and hope her book has since been published, because I am absolutely ravenous to read it. I adore and appreciate her musings on Junie and hope to catch up more, as much as I hope anything I write in remembrance of one of my favorite MGM ladies does her justice. Thanks for this great post and all the words of wisdom, I'll be back!
Posted by: Hillary | July 12, 2007 at 07:21 PM
And p.s., the screencaps are fabulous!
Posted by: Hillary | July 12, 2007 at 07:22 PM
I also found my way to you via a search for for Kendall. I read her book only a year or two after it was published. I have been waiting since then for another one. She is such a wonderful, funny writer. All the best to the both of you.
Posted by: Relyn | July 09, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Great post--sorry it's taken so long to find it!
I too was a fan of and correspondent with Kendall back in "the day," shortly after "Autodidact" was published. We both share a love for screwball comedy, intellectual wonderment, and passion for life. I'm so glad that you two are together--wonder in life is wonderful, eh? After 18 years of marriage, I can vouch for its benefits.
Get in touch when you can, and all the best wishes to y'all!
Posted by: Joe Sokohl | September 12, 2008 at 09:56 AM
You Had A Birthday in July I See
By D.K.Milgrim-Heath
You had a birthday in July I see-
On the 12th Kendall-just like me!
Cancer people are special we're so aware-
We're family oriented with a flair!
We become wives and mom's that becomes us-
While doting over loved ones we fuss!
You've now your beloved Charlie-
I've Sabrina,Harris and Emile!
You're also into Hollywood musicals I see-
My Harris's a musical theatre major in year three!
Cancer sign moms are very special by far-
That's something Kendall just who we are!
Posted by: D.K.Milgrim-Heath | January 06, 2010 at 07:35 PM
I just dipped happened onto your tribute to Kendall on her 40th, and related tributes to so many other wonderful women. Please pass belated birthday greetings to Kendall for me. I loved the inclusion of brief excerpts from her new book. Now I'm desperate to read it. When oh when?--Marilyn
Posted by: Marilyn Reynolds | June 22, 2012 at 10:21 AM