America's Sweetheart, June Allyson, has died at 88. I feel I must say something about her death, since I fell deeply and irrevocably and eternally (as much as a person can, at the age of seven) in love with her. I had just seen Little Women, in which she played the role of Jo. I was totally charmed. In all, she made 25 movies for MGM. Her "perky wholesomeness," her husky voice, her cheerful smile, her eyes, made her famous. Those eyes. How they glistened when she wept. How they sparkled and crinkled when she laughed! I wrote her a letter, detailing my love for her, and she sent me an autographed photo of herself. (One of thousands, I'm sure, but I didn't know that then.) I returned the favor by sending her a picture of me, this one. I found out that her birthday was on October 7th, and I sent her a necklace paid for from my own stash of money. (This gift went unacknowledged, but my love never waivered.) I haven't seen or heard of her in ages, I had almost forgotten her. Now she has died. RIP, June. You were one-of-a-kind!
9 comments:
Thank you for this: it made interesting reading - I remember her in 'Rob Roy' of all things! I loved your 25 things too - you sound so interesting!
Oh, how I loved Little Women when I was a kid...her Jo was classic, and so was she.
Oh, I hadn't heard yet about this. What a shame.
I loved that version of Little Women. I also liked the musical remake she did (with Jack Lemmon) of It Happened One Night - called You Can't Run Away From It. I haven't thought about that movie in years...would love to see it again!
Yeah, she was a class act. May flights of angels sing her to her rest!
Hey, chief! Glad you're back!
twitches, it's nice to see your smiling face so early this morning!
debr! You've changed your avatar!
hey slick! Glad you're back, too!
A lovely memorial, Pepek!
I was saddened by this loss. My favorite movie was her as Jimmy Stewart's wife in the "Benny Goodman Story." Not sure I got the name right. Love the old movies!
Rest in peace June
pepek: you and your friends will like this Imagining the Tenth Dimension
You bet! I have already bookmarked this!
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