Allison, May (1890–1989)

views updated

Allison, May (1890–1989)

American actress. Born on a farm in Rising Fawn, Georgia, June 14, 1890; died Mar 27, 1989, in Bratenahl, Ohio; dau. of John S. Allison and Nannie Wise Allison; educated in Birmingham, Alabama; m. Robert Ellis, 1920 (div. 1923); m. James R. Quirk (Photoplay editor) 1926 (died 1932); m. Carl N. Osborne (businessman, died 1982).

One of MGM's stars of the silent screen, started out with a successful career on stage, featured in Everyman and The Quaker Girl on Broadway; made 1st film, A Fool There Was (1915), then starred opposite Will Rogers in David Harum; shot 8 movies opposite Harold Lockwood (1915–17); also co-starred with 1st husband Robert Ellis in Peggy Does Her Darndest and In for Thirty Days; other films include The Great Question (1915), The End of the Road (1915), One Increasing Purpose, The Testing of Mildred Vane (1918), Fair and Warmer (1919), The Woman Who Fooled Herself (1922), Flapper Wives (1924), I Want My Man (1925), Wreckage (1925), The Greater Glory (1926), Men of Steel (1926), and The City (1926); retired from the screen (1927).

See also Women in World History.