Charme Allen

Charme Allen (born Charme Willa Wright, November 19, 1890 – October 4, 1980) 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. 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.

Early life and career Born in Dayton, Ohio, 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. By age of 16, she was listed in the Dayton business directory as a music instructor. Her interest in acting begin to develop shortly thereafter, as she attended the O'Brien School of Elocution and Dramatic Art. 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."

Following the premature death of her mother in 1912, 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. 1932–? King's Castle Mrs. Perkins (the caretaker's wife) 1935 Melody Master Mother Clemens 1935 The March of Time "frequent parts" 1947: "Prud'homme, who portrays 'David Harum' and Charme Allen, who is known to millions as 'Aunt Polly,' are eagerly awaited visitors every morning." 1949: "Prud'homme [as] the kindly but shrewd small-town banker and Charme Allen as the lovable Aunt Polly..." 1950: "Charme Allen portrays Aunt Polly Benson, and Cameron Prud'homme portrays David Harum..." "Charme Allen returns to 'David Harum.'" 1937–? Pretty Kitty Kelly Mrs. Murger 1939 Meet the Dixons July 20, 1939 John Brown's Body NA Radio adaptation of Benet's poem by Norman Corwin. December 1940–January 1941 The Citadel NA Serialized adaptation of A.J. Cronin novel. 1941–? As the Twig Is Bent Mrs. Carlton The show that would later become We Love and Learn. 1942 Mother and Dad Mother Succeeds the late Effie Palmer. 1942–1944 Abie's Irish Rose Mrs. Mueller 1943–? Cohen and the Detective NA September 1, 1945 Grand Central Station Ep. NA NA Co-starring Berry Kroeger and Doro Merande June 10, 1950 Grand Central StationEp. "Marked Money" NA Co-starring Parker Fennelly, Mason Adams, Thomas Hoier and Robert Emhardt March 17, 1951 Grand Central StationEp. "Missing Persons Miss Money" NA Co-starring Edgar Stehli March 22, 1952 Grand Central StationEp. "No Prize for Elmer" NA Co-starring Parker Fennelly, Bobby Nick, Joseph Sweeney and Vaughn Taylor February 28, 1953 Grand Central StationEp. "Return Ticket" NA Co-starring Darren McGavin, Jean Gillespie, and Chester Stratton October 1945–November 1945 The World's Great Novels Ep. "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" NA Serialized adaptation. Circa May 1947 Perry MasonEp. "The Case of the Bartered Bride" Agnes June 28, 1948 We Love and Learn Mrs. Carlton 1949 The Second Mrs. Burton Mother Burton Replacing Hollywood-bound Evelyn Varden 1950–? Just Plain Bill NA "John McGovern, Charme Allen, and Richard Janaver added to 'Just Plain Bill.'" 1952 Lorenzo Jones NA April 1953 Front Page FarrellEp. ? NA "Helen Shields, Charme Allen, Sydney Smith, Cathleen Cordell, Florence Robinson in the new 'Front Page Farrell' sequence." 1956–? The Right to Happiness NA "Charme Allen, Sydney Smith, Cameron Andrews and Lawrence Zerbe into the cast of 'Right to Happiness."

Television + Year Title Role Notes December 1, 1952 Robert Montgomery PresentsEp. "Post Road" NA December 11, 1955 American InventoryEp. "In These Hands" NA Written by Edgar Marvin, starring House Jameson

Theatre 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" 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." 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." 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."

Personal life and death 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. Their union produced one child, radio actress Willa Gene Allen, and lasted until her husband's death on June 9, 1962.

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. Allen's remains are interred at the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, in Dayton, Ohio.