# Allan Jones (actor)

Allan Jones (October 14, 1907 – June 27, 1992) was an American tenor and actor.
Jones is probably best remembered today as the male romantic lead actor in the first two films the Marx Brothers starred in for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), as well as the film musicals Show Boat (1936) and The Firefly (1937), where he introduced "The Donkey Serenade", which became his signature song.

## Early years

Jones was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Scranton, where he graduated from Central High School. His father and grandfather were Welsh coal miners, and he worked in coal mines early in his adult life. He left that occupation to study voice at New York University.
In an interview in 1973, Jones recalled that his father and grandfather were musically talented: "My father had a beautiful tenor voice. So did my grandfather...Grandfather taught violin, voice, and piano when he could. My father sang every chance he could get and realized his ambition through me."

## Stage

Jones appeared on Broadway a few times, including 1933's Roberta and the short-lived 1934 revival of Bitter Sweet after debuting in Boccacio in 1931.

## Film

Jones starred in many film musicals during the 1930s and 1940s. The best-known of these were the original film version of Show Boat (1936) and The Firefly (1937) where he first performed what became his signature song: "The Donkey Serenade". Jones is probably best remembered today as the romantic lead opposite Kitty Carlisle and Maureen O'Sullivan respectively, in the Marx Brothers first two MGM films A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), filling the straight-man role opened by the departure of Zeppo Marx from the team.
Jones made a brief appearance in the 1936 Nelson Eddy–Jeanette MacDonald film Rose Marie, singing music from Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. According to Merchant of Dreams, Charles Higham's biography of Louis B. Mayer, Eddy, who apparently considered Jones a rival and a potential threat, asked that most of the footage of Jones in Rose Marie be cut, including his rendition of the tenor aria E lucevan le stelle from Tosca and MGM agreed to Eddy's demands. In his final film for MGM, Everybody Sing (1938) with Judy Garland and Fanny Brice, Jones introduced the pop standard "The One I Love". "My Love For Yours" 1939.
In 1940, Jones starred in two musicals for Universal Pictures: The Boys from Syracuse, with the stage score by Rodgers and Hart, and One Night in the Tropics with a score by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, which was also the screen debut of Abbott and Costello. After these two films, Jones slipped to leads in several "B" musicals, at Paramount and Universal, including a reunion with his A Night at the Opera co-star Kitty Carlisle in Larceny with Music (1943). The same year, he made a guest appearance, as himself, in the Olsen and Johnson musical Crazy House, where he again performed "The Donkey Serenade".

## Recordings

Jones recorded prodigiously throughout his career, primarily for RCA Victor. His 1938 recording of "The Donkey Serenade" ranks third among the all-time best-selling single records issued by RCA Victor.

## Radio

In the mid-1940s, Jones and pianist Frankie Carle starred in the Old Gold Show on CBS radio.

## Later years

In December 1980, Jones made his final screen appearance on an episode of the ABC-TV series, The Love Boat, which also featured his son Jack Jones and Dorothy Lamour. During the 1980s, Jones appeared in several stage productions of Man of La Mancha, Paint Your Wagon, Guys and Dolls, and Carousel. Jones continued to make concert appearances until a few months before his death in 1992.
Jones also bred and raised racehorses on his ranch in California.

## Personal life

Jones was married four times. He was married to actress Irene Hervey from 1936 to 1957; their son was pop singer Jack Jones. His other wives included Marjorie Annette Bull, Esther Marie Villavincie, and Mary Florsheim (granddaughter of Milton S. Florsheim).

## Death

Jones died of lung cancer at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on June 27, 1992, aged 84.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1935 | Reckless | Allan | Film debut |
| 1935 | A Night at the Opera | Riccardo Barone | with the Marx Brothers |
| 1936 | Rose Marie | Romeo | with Jeanette Macdonald |
| 1936 | Show Boat | Gaylord Ravenal | with Irene Dunne |
| 1937 | A Day at the Races | Gil Stewart | with the Marx Brothers |
| 1937 | The Firefly | Don Diego | with Jeanette Macdonald |
| 1938 | Everybody Sing | Ricky Saboni | with Judy Garland and Fanny Brice |
| 1939 | Honeymoon in Bali | Eric Sinclair | |
| 1939 | The Great Victor Herbert | John Ramsey | with Mary Martin |
| 1940 | The Boys from Syracuse | Antipholus of Ephesus / Antipholus of Syracuse | |
| 1940 | One Night in the Tropics | Jim Moore | film debut of Abbott and Costello |
| 1941 | The Hard-Boiled Canary | Michael Maddy | |
| 1942 | True to the Army | Pvt. Stephen Chandler | |
| 1942 | Moonlight in Havana | Johnny Norton | |
| 1942 | When Johnny Comes Marching Home | Johnny Kovacs - aka Johnny O'Rourke | |
| 1943 | Rhythm of the Islands | Tommy | |
| 1943 | Larceny with Music | Ken Daniels | |
| 1943 | Crazy House | Himself | |
| 1943 | You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith | Tony Smith | |
| 1944 | Sing a Jingle | Ray King | |
| 1945 | Honeymoon Ahead | Orpheus | |
| 1945 | Senorita from the West | Phil Bradley | |
| 1964 | Stage to Thunder Rock | Mayor Ted Dollar | |
| 1965 | A Swingin' Summer | Mr. Johnson | |