Allison Hayes

Allison Hayes
Allison Hayes
	Hayes in Mohawk (1956)
Born	Mary Jane Hayes; March 6, 1930; Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	February 27, 1977 (aged 46); San Diego, California, U.S.
Burial place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City; Mother of Sorrows, Lot 618, section N, grave 1 GPS (lat/lon): 33.99248, -118.38374
Education	Calvin Coolidge High School
Occupations	Actress; model; advocate;
Years active	1954–1967
Known for	Count Three and Pray; Gunslinger; Attack of the 50 Foot Woman; Mohawk; The Undead; The Steel Jungle;
Title	Miss District of Columbia 1949

Allison Hayes (born Mary Jane Hayes; March 6, 1930 – February 27, 1977)^[1] was an American film and television actress and model.

Early life

Allison Hayes was born^[2] to William E. Hayes and Charlotte Gibson Hayes in Charleston, West Virginia. She was in the class of 1948 at Calvin Coolidge High School. Hayes won the title of Miss District of Columbia. She represented D.C. in the 1949 Miss America pageant. Although she did not win the competition, it provided her with the opportunity to work in local television before moving to Hollywood to work for Universal Pictures in 1954.

Career

Hayes made her film debut in the 1954 comedy Francis Joins the WACS. Her second film, Sign of the Pagan, provided her with an important role in a relatively minor film. Opposite Jack Palance, she played the part of a siren who ultimately kills him. Despite the strength of her second film role, she played minor roles in her next few films. Originally cast in Foxfire (1955), she was removed from the film during a lawsuit filed against Universal Pictures for injuries, including broken ribs, that she had sustained during the filming of Sign of the Pagan. Released from her contract, she was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1955.

In Chicago Syndicate, her first film for Columbia, Hayes played Joyce Kern – alias Sue Morton – who seeks vengeance for the death of her father at the hand of local gangster Arnie Valent. Count Three and Pray gave her the role that she later described as the best of her career. Hayes played with Van Heflin, co-starring with Raymond Burr and Joanne Woodward in her debut. As an arrogant Southern belle, she was in love with Heflin, returning from the Civil War as a minister. After being spurned by him, Hayes is reduced to becoming Burr's live-in "housekeeper". Hayes had several well-played dramatic scenes. However, when the film was released much of the attention of reviewers was focused on Woodward, and Hayes was largely ignored. She appeared in films such as The Steel Jungle, Mohawk, and Gunslinger (all 1956), but a fall from a horse during the filming of the latter left Hayes with a broken arm and unable to work. After she recovered, she began appearing in supporting roles in television productions.^{[citation needed]}

In 1958, she played in several B movies, including Wolf Dog as well as taking the lead role in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, where she plays the part of an abused socialite who grows to giant size because of an alien encounter. In this film, she starred with Yvette Vickers and William Hudson, and it is probably her best-known role.^[3] The film did not lead to better roles, though she remained constantly employed and found work as a model.^{[citation needed]} During 1963 and 1964, she played a continuing role in General Hospital but by this time her movie career was virtually over.

In 1958, she appeared in the recurring role of Ellie Winters, poker dealer/secret agent, in seven episodes of the western series Bat Masterson starring Gene Barry. In 1959, she was cast in season 2, episode 7 of Rawhide as Rose Morton. A close friend of Raymond Burr since filming Count Three and Pray,^{[citation needed]} she made five guest appearances on Perry Mason during this time, including the role of Pearl Chute in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Bogus Books".

As her acting career declined, she began to experience severe health problems and was unable to walk without a cane. In severe pain, her usually good-natured personality began to change and she became emotional and volatile, making it difficult for her to secure acting work.^{[citation needed]} She was given a minor role in the 1965 Elvis Presley film Tickle Me, and made her final appearance in a guest role on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1967.

Later years and death

Hayes later said that the pain of her illness caused her to contemplate suicide, and that her doctors did not take her symptoms seriously. Reading a medical book about the metal poisoning of factory workers, Hayes recognized the symptoms described as being similar to her own. Hayes began to question the ingredients of a calcium supplement made from bone meal she had been taking for a long time. When she employed a toxicologist to test a sample of the product, he determined that it had an extremely high content of lead and concluded that Hayes was most likely suffering from lead poisoning. Hayes mounted a campaign to have the FDA ban the import or sale of the food supplement.^[4]

An invalid, Hayes moved to San Clemente, California, and her health continued to deteriorate. In 1976, she was diagnosed with leukemia and was treated regularly in La Jolla, California. While at the hospital receiving a blood transfusion, her condition unexpectedly and rapidly deteriorated as she experienced chills, flu-like symptoms and intense pain. She was transferred to the University of California Medical Center in San Diego, California on February 26, 1977, where she died the following day, at age 46. Hayes was interred with her father at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Her mother Charlotte died eight months later and was buried in a nearby unmarked grave. In a letter that arrived after her death, the FDA advised her that amendments were being made to the laws governing the importation of nutritional supplements, largely as a result of her situation.^[4]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
^ Room, Adrian (2012). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. McFarland. p. 223. ISBN 9780786457632. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
^ Hogan, David J. (1997). Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film, p. 65. McFarland Classics.
^ a b Davis, W. Marvin (2006). Consumer's Guide to Dietary Supplements and Alternative Medicines, pp. 1–3. The Haworth Press, Inc.