Judith Allen

For the scientist, see Judi Allen.

Judith Allen (born Marie Elliott, February 8, 1911 – October 5, 1996) was an American actress.^[4]

Judith Allen
Allen in The Port of Missing Girls (1938)
Born	Marie Elliot (1911-02-08)February 8, 1911 New York City, U.S.
Died	October 5, 1996(1996-10-05) (aged 85) Yucca Valley, California, U.S.
Other names	Mari Colman
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1933–1952
Spouses	Gus Sonnenberg ​ ​ (m. 1931; div. 1933)​ [1] Jack Doyle ​ ​ (m. 1935; div. 1938)​ [2] Rudolph Field ​ ​ (m. 1941; ann. 1945)​ [3]

Early years

Allen was born Marie Elliot in New York City, and she grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts. She attended Leland Powers School in Boston^[5] and gained acting experience with a stock theater company.^[6]

Allen and James Dunn in Bright Eyes (1934)

Allen and Milburn Stone in The Port of Missing Girls (1938)

Using the name Mari Colman, Allen worked as a commercial model in New York for the Walter Thornton Modeling Agency.^[7] That was where she was selected for a leading role in the film This Day and Age (1933).^[6] The role led to her name change to Judith Allen. Robert S. Birchard wrote about the process in his book, Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, comparing it to "a comic sequence in David O. Selznick's 1937 production of A Star Is Born."^[8]

Birchard related: "Mari Colman was subjected to the same treatment as DeMille, and Paramount tested long lists of potential screen names.... Somehow, the name ultimately bestowed upon her was Judith Allen."^[8]

Personal life

Allen married wrestler Gus Sonnenberg in 1931 in New York City. They divorced September 23, 1933, in Reno, Nevada.^[9] She married Irish boxer, professional wrestler, actor, and a tenor Jack Doyle April 28, 1935, in Agua Caliente, Mexico and filed for divorce or annulment of the marriage, but also was quoted saying she hoped for reconciliation, and filed a $2 million suit against the Dodge heiress she said was trying to steal him away. ^{[6] [10]}

Filmography

• The Thundering Herd (1933)
• Too Much Harmony (1933)
• This Day and Age (1933)
• Hell and High Water (1933)
• Dancing Man (1934)
• She Loves Me Not (1934)
• Young and Beautiful (1934)
• Men of the Night (1934)
• Night Alarm (1934)
• The Witching Hour (1934)
• Marrying Widows (1934)
• The Old Fashioned Way (1934)
• Bright Eyes (1934)
• Behind the Green Lights (1935)
• The Healer (1935)
• Reckless Roads (1935)
• Burning Gold (1936)
• Beware of Ladies (1936)
• Git Along Little Dogies (1937)
• It Happened Out West (1937)
• Boots and Saddles (1937)
• Bill Cracks Down (1937)
• Navy Spy (1937)
• Texas Trail (1937)
• Telephone Operator (1937)
• Tough Kid (1938)
• The Port of Missing Girls (1938)
• Four Girls in White (1939)
• The Women (1939)
• Framed (1940)
• Sky Murder (1940)
• I Shot Billy the Kid (1950)
• Train to Tombstone (1950)