Allan Jones (actor)

Allan Jones
Jones in 1945.
Born	Theodore Allen Jones (1907-10-14)October 14, 1907 Old Forge, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 27, 1992(1992-06-27) (aged 84) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Years active	1928–1987
Spouses	Irene Hervey ​ ​ (m. 1936; div. 1957)​ Mary Florsheim Picking ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1964)​ Esther Marie Villavincie ​ ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	2, including Jack Jones

Allan Jones (October 14, 1907 – June 27, 1992) was an American tenor and actor.

Jones is probably best remembered today as the male romantic lead actor in the first two films the Marx Brothers starred in for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), as well as the film musicals Show Boat (1936) and The Firefly (1937), where he introduced "The Donkey Serenade", which became his signature song.

Early years

Jones was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Scranton, where he graduated from Central High School. His father and grandfather were Welsh coal miners, and he worked in coal mines early in his adult life. He left that occupation to study voice at New York University.

In an interview in 1973, Jones recalled that his father and grandfather were musically talented: "My father had a beautiful tenor voice. So did my grandfather...Grandfather taught violin, voice, and piano when he could. My father sang every chance he could get and realized his ambition through me."

Stage

Jones appeared on Broadway a few times, including 1933's Roberta and the short-lived 1934 revival of Bitter Sweet after debuting in Boccacio in 1931.

Film

Allan Jones and Jane Frazee in When Johnny Comes Marching Home, 1943

Jones starred in many film musicals during the 1930s and 1940s. The best-known of these were the original film version of Show Boat (1936) and The Firefly (1937) where he first performed what became his signature song: "The Donkey Serenade". Jones is probably best remembered today as the romantic lead opposite Kitty Carlisle and Maureen O'Sullivan respectively, in the Marx Brothers first two MGM films A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), filling the straight-man role opened by the departure of Zeppo Marx from the team.

Jones made a brief appearance in the 1936 Nelson Eddy–Jeanette MacDonald film Rose Marie, singing music from Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. According to Merchant of Dreams, Charles Higham's biography of Louis B. Mayer, Eddy, who apparently considered Jones a rival and a potential threat, asked that most of the footage of Jones in Rose Marie be cut, including his rendition of the tenor aria E lucevan le stelle from Tosca and MGM agreed to Eddy's demands. In his final film for MGM, Everybody Sing (1938) with Judy Garland and Fanny Brice, Jones introduced the pop standard "The One I Love".

In 1940, Jones starred in two musicals for Universal Pictures: The Boys from Syracuse, with the stage score by Rodgers and Hart, and One Night in the Tropics with a score by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, which was also the screen debut of Abbott and Costello. After these two films, Jones slipped to leads in several "B" musicals, at Paramount and Universal, including a reunion with his A Night at the Opera co-star Kitty Carlisle in Larceny with Music (1943). The same year, he made a guest appearance, as himself, in the Olsen and Johnson musical Crazy House, where he again performed "The Donkey Serenade".

Recordings

Jones recorded prodigiously throughout his career, primarily for RCA Victor. His 1938 recording of "The Donkey Serenade" ranks third among the all-time best-selling single records issued by RCA Victor.

Radio

In the mid-1940s, Jones and pianist Frankie Carle starred in the Old Gold Show on CBS radio.

Later years

In December 1980, Jones made his final screen appearance on an episode of the ABC-TV series, The Love Boat, which also featured his son Jack Jones and Dorothy Lamour. During the 1980s, Jones appeared in several stage productions of Man of La Mancha, Paint Your Wagon, Guys and Dolls, and Carousel. Jones continued to make concert appearances until a few months before his death in 1992.

Jones also bred and raised racehorses on his ranch in California.

Personal life

Jones was married four times. He was married to actress Irene Hervey from 1936 to 1957; their son was pop singer Jack Jones. His other wives included Marjorie Annette Bull, Esther Marie Villavincie, and Mary Florsheim (granddaughter of Milton S. Florsheim).

Death

Jones died of lung cancer at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on June 27, 1992, aged 84.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Reckless	Allan	Film debut
	A Night at the Opera	Riccardo Barone	with the Marx Brothers
1936	Rose Marie	Romeo	with Jeanette Macdonald
	Show Boat	Gaylord Ravenal	with Irene Dunne
1937	A Day at the Races	Gil Stewart	with the Marx Brothers
	The Firefly	Don Diego	with Jeanette Macdonald
1938	Everybody Sing	Ricky Saboni	with Judy Garland and Fanny Brice
1939	Honeymoon in Bali	Eric Sinclair
	The Great Victor Herbert	John Ramsey	with Mary Martin
1940	The Boys from Syracuse	Antipholus of Ephesus / Antipholus of Syracuse
	One Night in the Tropics	Jim Moore	film debut of Abbott and Costello
1941	The Hard-Boiled Canary	Michael Maddy
1942	True to the Army	Pvt. Stephen Chandler
	Moonlight in Havana	Johnny Norton
	When Johnny Comes Marching Home	Johnny Kovacs - aka Johnny O'Rourke
1943	Rhythm of the Islands	Tommy
	Larceny with Music	Ken Daniels
	Crazy House	Himself
	You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith	Tony Smith
1944	Sing a Jingle	Ray King
1945	Honeymoon Ahead	Orpheus
	Senorita from the West	Phil Bradley
1964	Stage to Thunder Rock	Mayor Ted Dollar
1965	A Swingin' Summer	Mr. Johnson

External links

• Martyn, Marguerite (August 19, 1932). "A New Muny Opera Hero". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

• "Allan Jones Tribute".
• Allan Jones at IMDb
• Allan Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
• "Photographs of Allan Jones".