Jan Clayton

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Jan Clayton (b. August 26, 1917 in Tularosa, New Mexico - d. August 28, 1983 in West Hollywood, California) was a stage and film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.

[edit] Career

None of her film roles were notable, except for an unbilled role as a singing inmate in The Snake Pit, but in 1945, she was selected to play Julie Jordan in the original Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical, Carousel. This ultimately became her most famous role, and it led to her leaving that show to star in the 1946 Broadway revival of Show Boat, as Magnolia, while Carousel was still continuing its Broadway run. The 1946 production of Show Boat was the longest-running revival of a stage musical up to that time - 416 performances. Ms. Clayton can be heard on the original cast recordings of both the 1945 Carousel and the 1946 Show Boat. The Show Boat album was the first American production of the show to be recorded with its original cast - American Original cast recordings did not yet exist in 1927, when the first production of the musical opened on Broadway.

Viewers of a later generation may remember Jan Clayton as the mother in the first, 1954 TV incarnation of Lassie (aka Jeff's Collie in re-runs). She played the mother of Jeff Miller (played by Tommy Rettig) in the show.

Also in 1954, she was one of the many guest stars in a spectacular tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein on television, known as the General Foods 25th Anniversary Show. The program featured all the then-surviving stars - with the exception of Alfred Drake - of all the classic shows that the team had written between 1943 and 1954. Ms. Clayton and John Raitt, in full makeup and costume, performed the If I Loved You scene (also known as the Bench Scene) from Carousel. It was the first opportunity for millions of viewers to see a scene from the musical - none of the film versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals had yet been released.

In later years, she appeared many times on television, as a frequent guest star in many series. She worked right up to the end of her life.

Jan Clayton died of cancer in 1983, two days after her 66th birthday.

[edit] Filmography

• "The Love Boat"

- Take a Letter, Vicki/The Floating Bridge Game/The Joy of Celibacy (1981) TV Episode

• "The Dukes of Hazzard"

- The Legacy (1981) TV Episode .... Lucinda

• "Scruples" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... Mrs. Elliott
• "Time Express"

- Garbage Man/Doctor's Wife (1979) TV Episode

• "The Streets of San Francisco"

- The Thrill Killers: Part 1 (1976) TV Episode

• "Police Story"

- The Long Bull (1976) TV Episode .... Janet Handy

• "Medical Story"

- The Quality of Mercy (1976) TV Episode

• "Archer"

- The Turkish Connection (1975) TV Episode .... Helen Gentry

• "Nakia"

- The Sand Trap (1974) TV Episode

• Blood Sport (1973) (TV) .... Blanche Birdsong
• "Ghost Story"

- Touch of Madness (1972) TV Episode .... Mother

• "Daktari"

- Miracle in the Jungle (1967) TV Episode .... Sister Maria Francis

- Return of the Killer (1966) TV Episode .... Mrs. Fosby

• "My Three Sons"

- Charley O' the Seven Seas (1967) TV Episode .... Verna Benson

• "Never Too Young" (1965) TV Series .... Mrs. Porter (1966)
• "Death Valley Days"

- One Fast Injun (1966) TV Episode .... Margaret

• "Gunsmoke"

- Gilt Guilt (1965) TV Episode .... Mary Rice

- Bently (1964) TV Episode .... Clara Wright

• "Wagon Train"

- The Isaiah Quickfox Story (1965) TV Episode

- The Jed Whitmore Story (1964) TV Episode .... Jean Lewis

- The Prairie Story (1961) TV Episode .... Charity Kirby

• "Pantomime Quiz"

- Episode dated 17 September 1962 (17 September 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Jerry Lewis vs. Jayne Mansfield (17 September 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Dick Van Dyke vs. Imogene Coca (24 September 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Episode dated 24 September 1962 (24 September 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Episode dated 1 October 1962 (1 October 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Lee Marvin vs. Gypsy Rose Lee (1 October 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Yvonne DeCarlo vs. Art Linkletter (15 October 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Episode dated 29 October 1962 (29 October 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Gisele MacKenzie vs. Tab Hunter (29 October 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Terry Moore vs. Cesar Romero (5 November 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Episode dated 5 November 1962 (5 November 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Episode dated 19 November 1962 (19 November 1962) - Regular Panelist

- Hedy Lamarr (19 November 1962) - Regular Panelist

• "The Tall Man"

- St. Louis Woman (1962) TV Episode .... Widow Harper

• "Tales of Wells Fargo"

- The Bride and the Bandit (1960) TV Episode .... Ellen Stevens

• "The Deputy"

- Lady with a Mission (1960) TV Episode .... Agatha Stone

• "The Millionaire"

- The Irene Marshall Story (1959) TV Episode .... Irene Marshall

• "Lassie" (1954) TV Series .... Ellen Miller (1954-1957)
• General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein (1954) (TV) .... Julie Jordan (in 'Carousel' sequence)
• "Racket Squad"

- The Case of the Dancing Lady (1953) TV Episode .... Mary

• "Your Jeweler's Showcase"

- Three and One Half Musketeers (1953) TV Episode

• The Wolf Hunters (1949) .... Renee
• "Your Show Time"

- The Manchester Marriage (1949) TV Episode

• The Snake Pit (1948) (uncredited) .... Singing Inmate
• Spreadin' the Jam (1945) .... Sally
• This Man's Navy (1945) .... Cathey Cortland
• The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942) (uncredited) .... Poe's Young Mother
• Those Good Old Days (1941) .... Mrs. Joe La Rue formerly Miss Harris
• Six-Gun Gold (1941) .... Penny Blanchard
• Father Is a Prince (1940) .... Constance 'Connie' Bower
• Flight Angels (1940) .... Jane Morrow
• The Showdown (1940/I) (as Jane Clayton) .... Sue Willard
• The Llano Kid (1939) (as Jane Clayton) .... Lupita Sandoval
• Sunset Trail (1939) (as Jane Clayton) .... Dorrie Marsh
• In Old Mexico (1938) (as Jane Clayton) .... Anita Gonzales
• Hail, Brother (1935) (as Jane Clayton)