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Broadway DebutHelen Hayes Advises Jonelle AllenBy DAN LEWISJonelle Allen vividly recalls her Broadway debut as a child actress in the play. The Wisteria Trees She remembers standing in awe in the wings, watching the stars perform Helen Hayes, Walter Matthau. Will Geer, Cliff Robertson and Ossie DavisJonelle had a small role playing little Miss Lucie, daughter of .1 domestic. It was virtually a walk on. but there was a stage presence about her that prompted Helen Hayes, the First Lady of theater, to counsel her mother. Always keep this kid in the theater. She has a natural gift.”Years later, 18 years to be precise. Jonelle Allen was starring on Broadway in Two Gentlemen of Verona. a musical adaptation of the Shakespeare play Helen Hayes was in the opening night audience She also attended the parly after the opening, and Jonelle approached the great actress and recounted her adviceMiss Hayes listened, shook her head, waved her hand and declared. 'I was right. then she quickly turned and walked away.Jonelle Allen enjoys telling the story It is a symbol of her success from Broadway to television where she recently starred in the limited CBS series. I'alrnerstown. VSA. the family drama that marked the collaborative efforts of two prestigious men in Hollywood, author Alex Haley (Roots! and producer Norman l,ear. whose All In The Family changed TV comedv for the better during the 197lt;lsTalmcrsiown. USA ’ is the story of two young boys one black, the other white who grow up together in a southern town in the 1930sJonelle plaved the black hoy s mother. She was warm and credible. She's tall, well-toncd. and at first glance doesn't look old enough to be the mother of an cight-year-old boy.When she read for the role’ dressed in a simple, but well-tailored cotton dress. Lear listened, looked, and then toldher. Come back, but dress down.Her agent, who is a bit heavier, loaned her a dress. It was big and hung like a house dress. It was more suited for the character. Two days after her second reading in the baggy dress. Lear called to say she had the roleNorman (Lear) told me the part didn’t come alive until I read for it. Jonelle recalls.She was pleased with the quality of the show The scripts, she says, were so well written that the characters evolved quite naturally.More important, the series showed a very positive family image for blacks, as well as whiles There were no heroes. Kach family - the white and the black - was treated alike.Jonelle came west with Two Gentleman of Verona for an engagement in Los Angeles after her Broadway run. She thought there might be work in television following the success in the play. It didn't happen, so. she returned to New York.In 1976. she again tried Los Angeles, this time with an ABC development contract. She had no problems getting work, but the right scries concept never emerged She co-starred in the TV movie. Foster and Laurie. about two New York policeman assassinated as they walked their beat She appeared in episodes of Love Boat, Barney Miller. All In The Family and White Shadow.She also met John Sharpe, manager of a very popular Beverly Hills restaurant They were married in 1978 Sharpe now owns his own restaurant in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.Her Hollywood career started out in the wrong direction. She claims her agency William Morris, peddled mlt; as a variety act. to which she objectedHer turning point came when she did a guest shot on All In The Family.”Those who say they don't want a series, well, that’s just b ..s.... You work so hard to get there. A TV series gives you the freedom to do whatever else it is you want.Now she's working hard to achieve a life-long ambition — to star in her own show at the fabled Palace in New York.
Newspaper Details
Blytheville Courier News
Blytheville, Arkansas, US
Sat, May 24, 1980
Page 14
Full Page
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MI, USA 06 Nov 2017
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