Elvia Allman
Encyclopedia
Elvia Allman was a character actress and voice over performer in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies
and Petticoat Junction
and for being the voice of Walt Disney
's Clarabelle Cow
. Her mark in TV history is also insured by her memorable performance as the stern, no-nonsense boss in the classic I Love Lucy
"Candy Factory" episode, "Job Switching" ("If one piece of candy gets past you and into the packing room unwrapped, you're fired!).
in Los Angeles as a programme arranger and children's story reader, and later as a singer. The Los Angeles Times
of the day praises her abilities as a dialectician. It was there she met her first husband, musician Wesley B. Tourtellotte, in 1930. They divorced within several years.
New York beckoned in 1933, where she did a 15-minute network programme of songs. On Oct. 30, 1933, the Times announced she was moving to KNX
on a 15-minute programme to be heard Tuesdays and Thursday evenings. What was supposed to be a long-term contract ended March 3, 1935.
Allman's first big network radio success was on the Blue Monday Jamboree where she portrated beauty expert Auntie MacCasser, high society matron Octavia Smith-Whiffen, and home economist Pansy Pennypincher. She made her debut on The Pepsodent Show starring Bob Hope
on September 27, 1938, as man-chasing Cobina, a parody of society debutante Cobina Wright, Jr.. She portrayed the role in motion pictures and even spoofed it in the Merrie Melodies
cartoon Goofy Groceries.
In the mid-1930s, Allman appeared in cartoons for producer Leon Schlesinger
, released through Warner Bros.
. She can be heard in the first Porky Pig
cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat
in 1935. She may have originated the character of Clarabelle Cow
prior to this, but there are no records indicating which specific cartoons she voiced Clarabelle in (Clarabelle Cow
was featured in 28 Disney cartoons from 1928 to 1942). In 1937 Allman voiced the title role in the cartoon Little Red Walking Hood, a spoof of Little Red Riding Hood
. Allman married sports promotor C.C. Pyle on July 3, 1937 and was with him when he died on February 3, 1939.
Allman also played Tootsie Sagwell on the George Burns
& Gracie Allen
Show during the early 40s. She was Gracie's best friend and constantly chasing show announcer Bill Goodwin
in particular but was open to any man who'd have her.
in an unbilled bit as a homely woman pursuing Bob Hope
. The role was an unbilled bit like the majority of Allman's motion picture appearances in the 1940s. She worked most successfully during this period as a radio
comedienne playing assorted guest parts, typically as a shrewish woman. One of her more steady radio gigs was on the Blondie
radio series in the part of "Cora Dithers", the domineering wife of Dagwood Bumstead
's boss.
Allman became a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s with numerous guest appearances on many programs of the era, usually situation comedies. She made multiple appearances on I Married Joan
, December Bride
, Love That Bob, and The Abbott and Costello Show
, and three appearances on I Love Lucy
, most notably as the stern candy factory boss who thinks that Lucy and Ethel are fast because they have hidden (and eaten) the unwrapped candy from the conveyor belt, says, "Well. You're doing fine," and then turns and shouts off-camera, "Speed it up a little!"
In 1957, she reprised her role of "Cora Dithers" in a short-lived TV adaption of Blondie. She also appeared on seven episodes of the series The Jack Benny Show, having worked often with Benny on his radio program in the 1940s and 1950s.
Her visibility on television increased in the 1960s with guest shots on The Dick Van Dyke Show
, Hazel
, The Addams Family
, The Munsters
, Bewitched
, The Lucy Show
,The Doris Day Show
,and The Andy Griffith Show
. Allman's greatest fame came with her semi-regular roles on Petticoat Junction
, as local busybody "Selma Plout" (14 appearances, 1965–1970) and a near-duplicate character, "Elverna Bradshaw" on The Beverly Hillbillies
(13 appearances, one in 1963, the rest 1968-1970). The 1960s proved to be her most prolific era with 58 appearances on various television series as well as five motion pictures including
Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Nutty Professor
.
She appeared as Oscar Madison
's mother in one episode of the TV series The Odd Couple
(she and Oscar are treated to an erotic belly dance at a Greek restaurant). Allman's career slowed down considerably after 1972 and her only television work in the late-1970s was in an Addams Family television movie. Her career revived a bit in the 1980s with eleven television appearances including two appearances on Murder She Wrote. Allman also worked as a real estate agent in addition to her acting in the 1970s and 1980s. In her autobiography, Mary Tyler Moore
credits Allman with finding her house.
Allman's final work appropriately brought her full circle, reviving the voice of Clarabelle Cow
for the first time in over 50 years in the Mickey Mouse
cartoon feature version of The Prince and the Pauper
in 1990. She died two years later from pneumonia
, aged 87. She was predeceased by her last husband, Jerome L. Bayler, in 1978.
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
and Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
and for being the voice of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she has also...
. Her mark in TV history is also insured by her memorable performance as the stern, no-nonsense boss in the classic I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
"Candy Factory" episode, "Job Switching" ("If one piece of candy gets past you and into the packing room unwrapped, you're fired!).
Radio career
Allman began her radio career in early 1926 at KHJKHJ (AM)
KHJ Radio in Los Angeles, California broadcasts Spanish-language entertainment programming as La Ranchera. It was also one of America's most formidable Top 40 radio stations in the 1960s and 1970s as 93 KHJ before changing its format in 1980....
in Los Angeles as a programme arranger and children's story reader, and later as a singer. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
of the day praises her abilities as a dialectician. It was there she met her first husband, musician Wesley B. Tourtellotte, in 1930. They divorced within several years.
New York beckoned in 1933, where she did a 15-minute network programme of songs. On Oct. 30, 1933, the Times announced she was moving to KNX
KNX (AM)
KNX is an all-news radio station in Los Angeles, California, USA. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KNX broadcasts from facilities shared with sister stations KFWB, KCBS-FM, KTWV, and KAMP on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile...
on a 15-minute programme to be heard Tuesdays and Thursday evenings. What was supposed to be a long-term contract ended March 3, 1935.
Allman's first big network radio success was on the Blue Monday Jamboree where she portrated beauty expert Auntie MacCasser, high society matron Octavia Smith-Whiffen, and home economist Pansy Pennypincher. She made her debut on The Pepsodent Show starring Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
on September 27, 1938, as man-chasing Cobina, a parody of society debutante Cobina Wright, Jr.. She portrayed the role in motion pictures and even spoofed it in the Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon Goofy Groceries.
In the mid-1930s, Allman appeared in cartoons for producer Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
, released through Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
. She can be heard in the first Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat
I Haven't Got a Hat
I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies series. Released by Warner Bros. on March 9, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of several Warner Bros. cartoon...
in 1935. She may have originated the character of Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she has also...
prior to this, but there are no records indicating which specific cartoons she voiced Clarabelle in (Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she has also...
was featured in 28 Disney cartoons from 1928 to 1942). In 1937 Allman voiced the title role in the cartoon Little Red Walking Hood, a spoof of Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
. Allman married sports promotor C.C. Pyle on July 3, 1937 and was with him when he died on February 3, 1939.
Allman also played Tootsie Sagwell on the George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
& Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
Show during the early 40s. She was Gracie's best friend and constantly chasing show announcer Bill Goodwin
Bill Goodwin
Bill Goodwin was for many years the announcer and regular character of the Burns and Allen radio program, and subsequently The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on television from 1950-51...
in particular but was open to any man who'd have her.
Acting career
Allman made her film debut as an actress in 1940s Road to SingaporeRoad to Singapore
Road to Singapore is a 1940 Paramount Pictures film starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, and Bob Hope, which marked the debut of the long-running and popular "Road to …" series of pictures spotlighting the trio.-Plot:...
in an unbilled bit as a homely woman pursuing Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
. The role was an unbilled bit like the majority of Allman's motion picture appearances in the 1940s. She worked most successfully during this period as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedienne playing assorted guest parts, typically as a shrewish woman. One of her more steady radio gigs was on the Blondie
Blondie (radio)
Blondie is a radio situation comedy adapted from the long-run Blondie comic strip by Chic Young. The radio program had a long run on several networks from 1939 to 1950....
radio series in the part of "Cora Dithers", the domineering wife of Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....
's boss.
Allman became a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s with numerous guest appearances on many programs of the era, usually situation comedies. She made multiple appearances on I Married Joan
I Married Joan
I Married Joan is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred veteran vaudeville, film, and radio comedienne Joan Davis as the manic wife of a mild-mannered community judge, Bradley Stevens .-Synopsis:...
, December Bride
December Bride
December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
, Love That Bob, and The Abbott and Costello Show
The Abbott and Costello Show
The Abbott and Costello Show is an American television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello that premiered in syndication in the fall of 1952 and ran until May 1954....
, and three appearances on I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, most notably as the stern candy factory boss who thinks that Lucy and Ethel are fast because they have hidden (and eaten) the unwrapped candy from the conveyor belt, says, "Well. You're doing fine," and then turns and shouts off-camera, "Speed it up a little!"
In 1957, she reprised her role of "Cora Dithers" in a short-lived TV adaption of Blondie. She also appeared on seven episodes of the series The Jack Benny Show, having worked often with Benny on his radio program in the 1940s and 1950s.
Her visibility on television increased in the 1960s with guest shots on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, Hazel
Hazel (TV series)
Hazel is a Screen Gems television series about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966...
, 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...
, The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
, Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
, The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
,The Doris Day Show
The Doris Day Show
The Doris Day Show is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 1968 until September 1973. In addition to showcasing Doris Day, the show is remembered for its many abrupt format changes over the course of its five-year run...
,and The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
. Allman's greatest fame came with her semi-regular roles on Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
, as local busybody "Selma Plout" (14 appearances, 1965–1970) and a near-duplicate character, "Elverna Bradshaw" on The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
(13 appearances, one in 1963, the rest 1968-1970). The 1960s proved to be her most prolific era with 58 appearances on various television series as well as five motion pictures including
Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
.
She appeared as Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison is a character in The Odd Couple, which began as a Broadway play, then was a film and then a television series.In The Odd Couple, Oscar Madison is the everyman, and is a sportswriter for the New York Herald...
's mother in one episode of the TV series The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (TV series)
The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
(she and Oscar are treated to an erotic belly dance at a Greek restaurant). Allman's career slowed down considerably after 1972 and her only television work in the late-1970s was in an Addams Family television movie. Her career revived a bit in the 1980s with eleven television appearances including two appearances on Murder She Wrote. Allman also worked as a real estate agent in addition to her acting in the 1970s and 1980s. In her autobiography, Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
credits Allman with finding her house.
Allman's final work appropriately brought her full circle, reviving the voice of Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she has also...
for the first time in over 50 years in the Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
cartoon feature version of The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
in 1990. She died two years later from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, aged 87. She was predeceased by her last husband, Jerome L. Bayler, in 1978.