Barbara Jo Allen (born Marian Barbara Henshall, September , â€"
September , ) was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster
character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the s
and s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a
PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized
the catch phrase "You dear boy!"Allen was born in Manhattan, New York,
to Charles Thomas Henshall and Grace Esther Selby (maiden; â€").
Following her mother's death when Allen was , she went to live with an
aunt and uncle in Los Angeles. She was educated at Los Angeles High
School, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Sorbonne. Her acting
ability first surfaced in school plays. Concentrating on language at
the Sorbonne, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German and
Italian.In , Allen joined the cast of NBC's One Man's Family as Beth
Holly, followed by roles on Death Valley Days, I Love a Mystery and
other radio series. According to Allen, her Vera Vague character was
“sort of a frustrated female, dumb, always ambitious and
overzealous… a spouting bureau of misinformation.†After Vera was
introduced in on NBC Matinee, she became a regular with Bob Hope
beginning in . In the early s, she was a regular on Signal Carnival, a
weekly program on NBC-Pacific Red stations.Allen appeared in at least
movies and TV series between and , often credited as Vera Vague
rather than her own name. The character she created was so popular
that she eventually adopted the character name as her professional
name. From to , as Vera, she made more than a dozen comedy two-reel
short subjects for Columbia Pictures, two of which were nominated for
Oscars in the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film category.
September , ) was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster
character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the s
and s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a
PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized
the catch phrase "You dear boy!"Allen was born in Manhattan, New York,
to Charles Thomas Henshall and Grace Esther Selby (maiden; â€").
Following her mother's death when Allen was , she went to live with an
aunt and uncle in Los Angeles. She was educated at Los Angeles High
School, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Sorbonne. Her acting
ability first surfaced in school plays. Concentrating on language at
the Sorbonne, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German and
Italian.In , Allen joined the cast of NBC's One Man's Family as Beth
Holly, followed by roles on Death Valley Days, I Love a Mystery and
other radio series. According to Allen, her Vera Vague character was
“sort of a frustrated female, dumb, always ambitious and
overzealous… a spouting bureau of misinformation.†After Vera was
introduced in on NBC Matinee, she became a regular with Bob Hope
beginning in . In the early s, she was a regular on Signal Carnival, a
weekly program on NBC-Pacific Red stations.Allen appeared in at least
movies and TV series between and , often credited as Vera Vague
rather than her own name. The character she created was so popular
that she eventually adopted the character name as her professional
name. From to , as Vera, she made more than a dozen comedy two-reel
short subjects for Columbia Pictures, two of which were nominated for
Oscars in the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film category.
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