AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Elizabeth Allen

Artist:Elizabeth Allen

Song:Do I Hear a Waltz?

Album:Do I Hear a Waltz?: Original Broadway Cast

Actress Elizabeth Allen started out in the mid 50s and was active mostly on TV until her 1996 retirement. But the highlight of her career was her Tony nominations for the musicals The Gay Life (1962) and Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965). She was born Elizabeth Gillease Jan. 25, 1929 in Jersey City, NJ. She started out as a Ford Agency model. She was spotted by a talent scout who cast her as The Away We Go Girl on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1957. She was working on a production for Helen Hayes Equity when Helen Hayes spotted her and advised her to pursue an acting career. Her first serious role was in the 1957 show Romanoff and Juliet written by and starring Peter Ustinov. Then she appeared in the TV shows The Twilight Zone and Tales of Wells Fargo. Her next big break was in the 1962 Broadway musical The Gay Life starring with Barbara Cook and Jules Munshin. Elizabeth was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Tony award. That led to two John Ford films, Donovan's Reef (1963) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Then she won the lead for the 1965 musical Do I Hear a Waltz?. Arthur Laurents based it on his 1952 play The Time of the Cuckoo which had previously been turned into the 1955 film Summertime starring Katherine Hepburn. The songs were written by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim. Elizabeth starred with Sergio Franchi. The main criticism of Elizabeth was that she was too young for the role. The show ran for six months. Laurents hated the casting. He thought Elizabeth was too young and Franchi couldn't act. But he overlooked this to get the play produced. It was nominated for three Tonys including one for Elizabeth. I guess this show is now forgotten, But the original cast album is available on CD. After that Elizabeth appeared regularly on TV mostly in guest shots on shows like Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive and Mannix. She was a regular on Bracken's World, The Paul Lynde Show and C.P.O. Sharkey. But none of those shows lasted. She continued to appear in films and TV but nothing major. In the 80s she appeared on the daytime soap Texas and a 1986 film revival of the musical 42nd Street. Elizabeth retired in 1995 and died on Sept. 19, 2006 at age 77. Here's Elizabeth Allen performing Do I Hear a Waltz on the Mar. 28, 1965 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. Sergio Franchi appears in the clip but does not sing.