From Wikipedia
From Wikipedia
Barbara Jo Allen (September 2, 1906 – September 14, 1974) was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized the catch phrase "You dear boy!"
Allen's acting ability first surfaced in school plays. Following her high school graduation, she went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Concentrating on language, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German and Italian. After the death of her parents, she moved to Los Angeles where she lived with her uncle.
In 1937, she debuted on network radio drama as Beth Holly on NBC's One Man's Family, followed by roles on Death Valley Days, I Love a Mystery and other radio series. According to Allen, her Vera Vague character was “sort of a frustrated female, dumb, always ambitious and overzealous… a spouting Bureau of Misinformation.” After Vera was introduced in 1939 on NBC Matinee, she became a regular with Bob Hope beginning in 1941.
Allen appeared in at least 60 movies and TV series between 1938 and 1963, often credited as Vera Vague rather than her own name. The character she created was so popular that she eventually adopted the character name as her professional name. From 1943 to 1952, as Vera, she made more than a dozen comedy two-reel short subjects for Columbia Pictures.
In 1948, she did less acting and instead opened her own commercial orchid business, while also serving as the Honorary Mayor of Woodland Hills, California. In 1953, as Vera, she hosted her own television series, Follow the Leader, a CBS audience participation show. In 1958, she appeared as Mabel, the boss of the flight attendants, in Jeannie Carson's syndicated version of her situation comedy Hey, Jeannie! The program aired only six episodes in syndication.
Allen's first marriage was to actor Barton Yarborough. They had one child together. In 1946, the couple co-starred in the two-reel comedy short, Hiss and Yell, nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Subject. In 1931-32, Allen married Charles H. Crosby. In 1943, she married Bob Hope's producer, Norman Morrell. They had one child and were married for three decades, until her 1974 death in Santa Barbara, California.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0020289
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2883970
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Filmography (Movies)
Disney’s Coyote Tales
Character:Goliath II’s Mother (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)
Release Date:11/11/1991
The Three Stooges Follies
Character:Vera Clayton (archive footage)
Release Date:01/11/1974
The Sword in the Stone
Character:Scullery Maid (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:25/12/1963
Goliath II
Character:Goliath II's Mother
Release Date:21/01/1960
Born to Be Loved
Character:Irene Hoffman
Release Date:01/06/1959
Sleeping Beauty
Character:Fauna (voice)
Release Date:17/02/1959
The Opposite Sex
Character:Dolly DeHaven
Release Date:15/11/1956
Mohawk
Character:Aunt Agatha
Release Date:01/04/1956
Columbia Laff Hour
Character:Vera Vague (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/1956
Happy Go Wacky
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:07/02/1952
She Took a Powder
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:11/08/1951
Nursie Behave
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:11/05/1950
Square Dance Katy
Character:Gypsy Jones
Release Date:25/03/1950
Wha' Happen?
Character:Vera
Release Date:10/11/1949
Clunked in the Clink
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:13/07/1949
Miss in a Mess
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:13/01/1949
Cupid Goes Nuts
Character:Vera Vague / Prudy Vague
Release Date:01/05/1947
Reno-Vated
Character:Vera Butts
Release Date:21/11/1946
Earl Carroll Sketchbook
Character:Sherry Lane
Release Date:22/08/1946
Headin' for a Weddin'
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:15/08/1946
Hiss and Yell
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:14/02/1946
Calling All Fibbers
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:29/11/1945
Snafu
Character:Madge Stevens
Release Date:22/11/1945
The Jury Goes Round 'n' Round
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:01/06/1945
She Snoops to Conquer
Character:Vera
Release Date:30/12/1944
Lake Placid Serenade
Character:Countess
Release Date:23/12/1944
Girl Rush
Character:Suzie Banks
Release Date:21/10/1944
Strife of the Party
Character:Vera Clayton
Release Date:13/10/1944
Rosie the Riveter
Character:Vera Watson
Release Date:08/04/1944
Moon Over Las Vegas
Character:Auntie
Release Date:01/04/1944
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
Character:Mrs. Terwilliger ("Blue Eyes")
Release Date:01/04/1944
Cowboy Canteen
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:09/02/1944
Doctor, Feel My Pulse
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:22/01/1944
You Dear Boy!
Character:Vera
Release Date:04/11/1943
Get Going
Character:Matilda Jones
Release Date:21/06/1943
Swing Your Partner
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:20/05/1943
Ice Capades Revue
Character:Aunt Nellie
Release Date:24/12/1942
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Character:Tabitha Hazy
Release Date:01/10/1942
Priorities on Parade
Character:Mariposa Ginsbotham
Release Date:23/07/1942
Larceny, Inc.
Character:Mademoiselle Gloria
Release Date:24/04/1942
Design for Scandal
Character:Janie
Release Date:01/12/1941
Buy Me That Town
Character:Henriette Teagarden
Release Date:03/10/1941
Ice-Capades
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:19/08/1941
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Character:Myra Stanhope
Release Date:01/08/1941
The Mad Doctor
Character:Louise Watkins (as Barbara Allen [Vera Vague])
Release Date:20/12/1940
Melody and Moonlight
Character:Adelaide Barnett
Release Date:10/10/1940
Melody Ranch
Character:Veronica Whipple
Release Date:15/09/1940
Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot
Character:Susan
Release Date:10/08/1940
Broadway Melody of 1940
Character:Ms. Konk (uncredited)
Release Date:09/02/1940
Village Barn Dance
Character:Vera Vague
Release Date:30/01/1940
Kennedy the Great
Character:Mrs. John Potter
Release Date:08/12/1939
The Women
Character:Receptionist (uncredited)
Release Date:01/09/1939
Moving Vanities
Character:Mrs. Errol
Release Date:05/05/1939
Television Appearances
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