WEIRDLAND: June Allyson, Miss Yonkers, and the Rat Pack Girl

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

June Allyson, Miss Yonkers, and the Rat Pack Girl

Partnered sexual activity resulting in climax reduces the time required for both men and women to fall asleep and enhances sleep quality, as per recent findings published in the Journal of Sleep Research (16 June, 2023) by researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The authors stated, “These studies confirm and strongly support previous findings that suggest sexual activity and intimacy can enhance sleep and overall well-being for both genders, thereby providing a basis for future research. The heightened impact of partnered sex can be partially attributed to the increased neuroendocrine changes following orgasm, combined with the valuable effects of experiencing intimacy with a partner.” A previous study suggested that the ability to experience intense orgasms may be influenced by genetic factors. Unfortunately, a 2020 survey revealed that four out of ten Americans have difficulty in experiencing an orgasm. Source: https://globalpulsenews.com

Eve Meyer (born Evelyn Eugene Turner in 1928) was an American pin-up model, motion picture actress, and film producer. She was killed in the Tenerife airport disaster in 1977. Born Eve Turner in Atlanta, Georgia, Meyer was a high-profile pin-up model in the 1950s and was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in June 1955. Her film debut was in Artists and Models (1955) directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Eve Meyer served as producer or executive producer on Russ Meyer's 1960s and early 1970s films, including the camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is considered a roman à clef, with its characters based on famous figures such as Judy Garland, Carole Landis, Dean Martin, and Ethel Merman. Neely O'Hara, the up-and-coming singer played by Patty Duke, is based on pill-popping Judy Garland; Tony Polar (Tony Scotti), a conceited crooner and Jennifer's love interest who is later diagnosed with Huntington's disease, was thought to be loosely based on Dean Martin. The character Jennifer North (Sharon Tate) is based on actress Carole Landis, not on Marilyn Monroe as many suspected. Source: thecut.com

Marie McDonald (born Cora Marie Frye in 1923) had began as a pin model like Eve Meyer. Also, Marie McDonald and June Allyson both were graduates from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York. McDonald began competing in beauty pageants and was named "The Queen of Coney Island", "Miss Yonkers" and "Miss Loew's Paradise". In 1939, McDonald was named "Miss New York State". In 1940 she landed a showgirl role in the Broadway production Earl Carroll's Vanities. In 1947, she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and co-starred with Gene Kelly in Living in a Big Way (1947). In 1958 she was cast as Lola Livingston in The Geisha Boy, a slapstick comedy, opposite Jerry Lewis. McDonald and Allyson kept in contact through the 1940s, and they had often "women talk", according to Jane Wilkie. In June 1945, McDonald asked Allyson: "June, when are you going to marry Dick Powell?" Allyson replied: "I couldn't tell you if I'll ever marry him. After all, he's not yet a free man." McDonald asked: "Does your heart go pitapat when you dance with him?" Allyson burst into laughter and said: "We have such wonderful times together. He's a man you can really talk to without pretense. I miss him, I admit it, but I must think in my career, and in my reputation." McDonald nodded in approval. 

While June Allyson was getting on a promising career on MGM, she started dating composer David Rose. Allyson would recall in her memoir: "David Rose had been taking me out. David was still technically married to Judy Garland but they were separated. I had checked with Judy because I would not hurt her for the world. She didn't mind my dating David and said he was a very nice man. David and I and Gene Kelly and Betsy Blair often double-dated. The one thing Judy and I could never agree about was L. B. Mayer. She hated him because he barely gave her a chance to relax between pictures. I feared and loved him because he had given me my big chance and he was the strong father-figure I had always yearned for. David Rose was a lovely, gentle person and a gifted composer. I was pleased to be singled out by the man who had composed "So in Love" and "Our Waltz." With Papa Mayer's blessing, I was also dating Peter Lawford, for whom I developed mild romantic feelings, but his accent was teddibly british. If I had married either Van Johnson or Peter Lawford, Papa Mayer would have made it a studio event. Dick Powell was taboo for him, though."

Jane McCormick wrote in her memoir Rat Pack Party Girl (2017) about her life in Las Vegas from 1960 to 1972. She met Frank Sinatra in 1960, when he was shooting Ocean’s Eleven. In her time in Las Vegas, McCormick made a half-million dollars a year for twelve years, as much as any big name in showbiz. She revealed her sexcapades with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Vic Damone, Jerry Lewis, and other celebrities. "There, seated at a table, were Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. 
“Would you like a drink?” Dean asked. “Yes,” I smiled, Pausing a moment, I replied, “I’d like scotch and water.” After a few minutes, Frank walked in and sat down next to me, looking dashing. I felt faint and giddy, just like some star-struck teenager. Frank kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye. When I looked at him, he winked and flirted with me. “You are such a pretty girl. Where are you from?” “Fullerton, California. I’m just a hometown girl.” 

“Well, I’ll bet your hometown misses you,” he smiled. One afternoon George, Frank’s valet, called and told me to come down to the Regency Lounge at the Sands to meet Frank. I dressed in my beautiful Ship ‘n Shore designer dress and rushed to meet him. I spotted a marquee at the Sands and knew that Dean Martin was coming to town. I went to the Sands lounge and soon Dean walked in and he came over and whispered in my ear, “Why don’t you come up to my room, baby? I’ve been wondering what Frank’s been getting that I haven’t.” I went to his room, and shortly after he was smiling ear to ear. Afterwards we shared another drink together and I asked him if the rumors about June Allyson were true. "I thought she was crazy about me, but she only wanted to make his stuffy husband jealous." He sounded so irked, so I thought, "Maybe Dick Powell read him the riot act."

One morning Frank Sinatra and I were having coffee in his suite at the Sands and he ranted that he was done with Peter Lawford. Peter had lied about President Kennedy staying at Frank’s house in Palm Springs. After he settled down he said, “I care for you a lot, Janie. I think you have a lot of class. And some people who you think have class don’t have it at all.” I didn’t say a word but I could see his disappointment as he paced the floor.
—"Rat Pack Party Girl" (2017) by Jane McCormick

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