Allman's first known credit as a voice performer for cartoons was in 1936 with the Porky Pig cartoon Porky's Moving Day. She may have originated the character of Clarabelle Cow prior to this, but there are no records indicating which specific cartoons she voiced Clarabelle in (Clarabelle Cow was featured in 28 Disney cartoons from 1928 to 1942). In 1937 Allman voiced the title role in the cartoon "Little Red Walking Hood", a spoof of Little Red Riding Hood.
Allman made her film debut as an actress in 1940s Road to Singapore in an unbilled bit as a homely woman pursuing Bob Hope. The role was an unbilled bit like the majority of Allman's motion picture appearances in the 1940s. She worked most successfully during this period as a radio comedienne playing assorted guest parts, typically as a shrewish woman. One of her more steady radio gigs was on the Blondie radio series in the part of "Cora Dithers", the domineering wife of Dagwood Bumstead's boss.
Allman became a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s with numerous guest appearances on many programs of the era, usually situation comedies. She made multiple appearances on I Married Joan, December Bride, Love That Bob, and The Abbott and Costello Show, and most notably, three appearances on I Love Lucy including a featured part in the chocolate candy conveyor belt episode as the very tall, aggressive forelady who oversees Lucy and Ethel's stint on the candy conveyor belt. The clip in which Ball and Vance can't keep up with the belt is invariably played at tributes to Ball. It is Allman who yells, "Speed'er up a little!"
In 1957, she reprised her role of "Cora Dithers" in a short-lived TV adaption of Blondie. She also appeared on seven episodes of the series The Jack Benny Show, having worked often with Benny on his radio program in the 1940s and 1950s.
Her visibility on television increased in the 1960s with guest shots on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hazel, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Bewitched, The Lucy Show and The Doris Day Show. Allman's greatest fame came with her semi-regular roles on Petticoat Junction, as local busybody "Selma Plott" (14 appearances, 1963-1970) and a near-duplicate character, "Elverna Bradshaw" on The Beverly Hillbillies (13 appearances, one in 1963, the rest 1968-1970). The 1960s proved to be her most prolific era with 58 appearances on various television series as well as five motion pictures including Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Nutty Professor.
She appeared as Oscar Madison's mother in one episode of the TV series The Odd Couple (she and Oscar are treated to an erotic belly dance at a Greek restaurant). Allman's career slowed down considerably after 1972 and her only television work in the late-1970s was in an Addams Family television movie. Her career revived a bit in the 1980s with eleven television appearances including two appearances on Murder She Wrote.
Allman's final work appropriately brought her full circle, reviving the voice of Clarabelle Cow for the first time in over 50 years in the Mickey Mouse cartoon feature version of The Prince and the Pauper in 1990. She died two years later from pneumonia, aged 87.
Trivia
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)
Elvia Allman worked as a real estate agent in addition to her acting in the 1970s and 1980s. Mary Tyler Moore in her autobiography credits her with finding her house.
External links
Elvia Allman at the Internet Movie Database
Elvia Allman at Allmovie
Elvia Allman at Find A Grave
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvia_Allman"
Categories: 1904 births | 1990 deaths | American film actors | American radio actors | American television actors | American voice actors | People from North Carolina | North Carolina actorsHidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations | Articles with trivia sections from February 2008
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