Allyn Joslyn
Encyclopedia
Allyn Joslyn was an American
stage, film and television actor
.
, Pennsylvania
, the son of a mining engineer. On stage from age 17, Joslyn scored as a leading man in such Broadway
productions as Boy Meets Girl (1936) and Arsenic and Old Lace
(1941), appearing in the latter as beleaguered theatrical critic Mortimer Brewster. However, Hollywood didn't see Joslyn as a leading type. Thus he spent most of his film career playing obnoxious reporters, weaklings, and formless "other men" who never got the girl, while stars such as James Cagney
and Cary Grant
took the roles he originated on Broadway.
Among his more notable film appearances were tough flier Les Peters in Only Angels Have Wings
(1939); George in The Great McGinty
(1940); the caustic director in No Time for Comedy
(1940); reporter Chic Clark in My Sister Eileen
(1942); Albert Van Cleve, Don Ameche's snobbish rival for the attentions of Gene Tierney
in Heaven Can Wait
(1943); an eccentric poet in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
(1947); and the cardshark disguised as a woman in Titanic
(1953).
In the sprightly B picture It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946), Joslyn was for once cast in the lead, even winning heroine Carole Landis
at the fade-out. A prolific radio and television performer, Joslyn was a co-star of the 1953-1954 ABC
sitcom Where's Raymond?
, in which he played Jonathan Wallace, brother of the title character Raymond Wallace, the role of Ray Bolger
. Betty Lynn
played June Wallace, Joslyn's young wife in the series. Joslyn and Lynn left the series in the 1954-1955 series, when it was renamed The Ray Bolger Show
.
In 1957, Joslyn costarred as literary agent George Howell in the short-lived CBS
sitcom, The Eve Arden Show
. In the 1960-1961 season, Joslyn guest starred on Pat O'Brien
's ABC sitcom, Harrigan and Son
. He played one-half of the title role on the 1962 TV sitcom McKeever And The Colonel
. That same year, he guest starred in ABC's crime drama television series Target: The Corruptors!
.
He was featured in some episodes of The Addams Family
playing the role of beleaguered Sam L. Hilliard, whose efforts as a school administrator and politician were continually undone by the Addams family.
In 1935, he married Dorthy Yockel Joslyn, and they were married until her death in 1978. They had one daughter.
In 1981, Allyn Joslyn died of heart failure in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
at the age of 79.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage, film and television actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Biography
Allyn Joslyn was born in MilfordMilford, Pennsylvania
Milford is a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat. Its population was 1,021 at the 2010 census. It was founded in 1796 by Judge John Biddis, one of the state's first four circuit judges, who named the settlement after his ancestral home in Wales.Milford has a...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the son of a mining engineer. On stage from age 17, Joslyn scored as a leading man in such Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions as Boy Meets Girl (1936) and Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace (play)
Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on January 10, 1941. On September 25, 1943, the...
(1941), appearing in the latter as beleaguered theatrical critic Mortimer Brewster. However, Hollywood didn't see Joslyn as a leading type. Thus he spent most of his film career playing obnoxious reporters, weaklings, and formless "other men" who never got the girl, while stars such as James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
and Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
took the roles he originated on Broadway.
Among his more notable film appearances were tough flier Les Peters in Only Angels Have Wings
Only Angels Have Wings
Only Angels Have Wings is a movie directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. It is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its portrayal of the professionalism of the pilots, its atmosphere, and the flying sequences.It inspired the 1983 television...
(1939); George in The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's first film as a director; he sold the story to Paramount Pictures for just $10 on condition...
(1940); the caustic director in No Time for Comedy
No Time for Comedy
No Time for Comedy is a 1940 comedy-drama film based on the play of the same name by S. N. Behrman, starring James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles.-Plot summary:...
(1940); reporter Chic Clark in My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen (1942 film)
My Sister Eileen is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Alexander Hall. The screenplay by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov is based on their 1940 play of the same title, which was inspired by a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney originally published in The New...
(1942); Albert Van Cleve, Don Ameche's snobbish rival for the attentions of Gene Tierney
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
in Heaven Can Wait
Heaven Can Wait (1943 film)
Heaven Can Wait is a 1943 American comedy film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay was by Samson Raphaelson based on the play Birthday by Leslie Bush-Fekete. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Edward Cronjager.The film tells the story of a man who has...
(1943); an eccentric poet in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is a 1947 American musical comedy film written and directed by George Seaton, starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes...
(1947); and the cardshark disguised as a woman in Titanic
Titanic (1953 film)
Titanic is a 1953 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco. Its plot centers on an estranged couple sailing on the maiden voyage of the , which took place in April 1912.-Plot:...
(1953).
In the sprightly B picture It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946), Joslyn was for once cast in the lead, even winning heroine Carole Landis
Carole Landis
Carole Landis was an American film and stage actress whose break-through role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. Landis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1765 Vine Street....
at the fade-out. A prolific radio and television performer, Joslyn was a co-star of the 1953-1954 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
, in which he played Jonathan Wallace, brother of the title character Raymond Wallace, the role of Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
. Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
played June Wallace, Joslyn's young wife in the series. Joslyn and Lynn left the series in the 1954-1955 series, when it was renamed The Ray Bolger Show
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
.
In 1957, Joslyn costarred as literary agent George Howell in the short-lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom, The Eve Arden Show
The Eve Arden Show
The Eve Arden Show is a 26-segment American television sitcom which aired during the 1957-1958 season on CBS, alternately sponsored by Lever Brothers and Shulton, Inc. .-Overview:...
. In the 1960-1961 season, Joslyn guest starred on Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
's ABC sitcom, Harrigan and Son
Harrigan and Son
Harrigan and Son is an ABC sitcom about a father-and-son team of lawyers, played by Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry as Jim Harrigan, Sr., and Jim, Jr. In supporting roles, as secretaries, are Georgine Darcy as Gypsy and Helen Kleeb as Miss Claridge. The series aired 34 episodes at 8 p.m. Eastern Time...
. He played one-half of the title role on the 1962 TV sitcom McKeever And The Colonel
McKeever And The Colonel
McKeever and the Colonel is a situation comedy that was broadcast on NBC television in the United States from 1962-1963. Its setting was a Westfield military academy. Dick Powell's Four Star Television produced the series....
. That same year, he guest starred in ABC's crime drama television series Target: The Corruptors!
Target: The Corruptors!
Target: The Corruptors! is a 35-episode crime drama starring Stephen McNally as newspaper reporter Paul Marino, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1961 to June 8, 1962. The character Jack Flood, Marino's undercover agent, was portrayed by Robert Harland...
.
He was featured in some episodes of The Addams Family
The Addams Family (TV series)
The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966...
playing the role of beleaguered Sam L. Hilliard, whose efforts as a school administrator and politician were continually undone by the Addams family.
In 1935, he married Dorthy Yockel Joslyn, and they were married until her death in 1978. They had one daughter.
In 1981, Allyn Joslyn died of heart failure in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
at the age of 79.