ALLYN ANN McLERIE

(1 December 1926 - 21 May 2018)

The Canadian-born actress, dancer and singer Allyn Ann McLerie, who has died at the age of 91, studied at the Actors Studio and was on stage before she graduated to films and television. She was in One Touch of Venus, Miss Liberty, Where’s Charley?, Redhead, West Side Story and On the Town which was co-written by her first husband Adolph Green whom she divorced in 1953. Her second husband was George Gaynes (of Police Academy fame) to whom she was married for 63 years until his death in 2016. They had two children, Iya and Matthew. Her first film credit was an uncredited appearance in Words and Music (1948). In 1952 she played Amy again in the film of Where’s Charley? with Ray Bolger, then was in The Desert Song and, in Calamity Jane, played Katie Brown, who pretends to be a famous actress appearing in Deadwood City. Other films included Phantom of the Rue Morgue, Battle Cry and 40 Pounds of Trouble. In 1962 she was Shirl in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They and went on to co-star in The Reivers, Monte Walsh, The Cowboys, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, Cinderella Liberty and All the President’s Men. Then television mostly occupied her time, including Punky Brewster, working with her husband George Gaynes. She retired in 1994 after an uncredited cameo in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. 

MICHAEL DARVELL