The Little Picture House

1905–1978 · Stage and screen actress

In Follow the Fleet, Astrid Allwyn gives Randolph Scott’s sailor a reason to look past the woman who loves him. In Love Affair, she is the fiancée Charles Boyer’s character leaves behind. Hollywood often asked her to make a rival credible in a handful of scenes. The smaller studios gave her a different sort of work. In Mystery Liner she plays nurse Lila Kane aboard an experimental ship, and in International Crime she is Phoebe Lane, drawn into the Shadow’s investigations. Turner Classic Movies · AFI on Love Affair · AFI on Mystery Liner · AFI on International Crime

From Springfield to Broadway

Astrid Allwyn is generally identified as Astrid Christofferson, born on 27 November 1905 in South Manchester, Connecticut. Edith Dietz’s 1935 Oakland Tribune profile is cited for the family’s move to Springfield, Massachusetts, when she was three. Two years later, Hollywood magazine called Springfield her home town. The accounts can both be true, since they describe where she was born and where she grew up. Her birth registration remains unverified here. Biographical sources and Dietz citation · Hollywood, November 1937

In E. J. Smithson’s 1937 profile, Allwyn’s first ambition was singing. The magazine describes a concert in Springfield at thirteen, an offer of a scholarship at the Boston Conservatory and a move to New York after school. It places her at a typewriter on Wall Street before she tried out for stock theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. Her first stock production, Lulu Belle, reportedly gave her four parts. Smithson built the piece around friends daring her to audition, a story that comes from a Hollywood publicity-era interview. E. J. Smithson, “Actress by Accident”, pp. 41 and 78

The stage record supplies a firmer date. Elmer Rice’s Street Scene opened on Broadway on 10 January 1929. The Internet Broadway Database lists her as Astrid Alwynn, playing a college girl and a nursemaid. Smithson also places Young Sinners and Once in a Lifetime between Street Scene and her move to California. These later stage credits come from the magazine account. Internet Broadway Database · Hollywood

Hollywood in 1931, a documented screen role in 1932

Smithson dates the MGM signing and Allwyn’s arrival in Hollywood to July 1931. Later accounts sometimes say she arrived in 1932, the year of her first firmly documented role, Lola Goadby in Lady with a Past. The magazine portrait from December 1931 adds contemporary evidence that she was already being publicised. MGM’s West of Broadway (1931) is often listed as her debut, although the AFI cast record omits her and the alleged uncredited appearance has yet to be confirmed. She was Linda Lee in Love Affair the following year, a pre-Code film starring Dorothy Mackaill and Humphrey Bogart. She played Lois Clarke in the unrelated 1939 film of the same name. Hollywood · IMDb biographical account · AFI on West of Broadway · AFI on Lady with a Past · TCM on Love Affair (1932)

Her billing also varied. AFI records “Astrid Allyn” in Beggars in Ermine, Mystery Liner and Monte Carlo Nights. In 1935, she played Vivian Snowden opposite Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray in Hands Across the Table. The following year brought Janice Gage in Charlie Chan’s Secret, Iris Manning in Follow the Fleet and two appearances in Shirley Temple films, as Cleo Marsh in Dimples and Kay Swift in Stowaway. AFI person record · TCM · The Willamina Times, 3 December 1936

Marriage, divorce and the Fee family

Billboard reported that Allwyn and actor Robert Kent married in Tijuana on 10 January 1937. An Associated Press item indexed in Hanover’s Evening Sun gives the same date. IMDb’s biography lists 9 January. The contemporary trade notice is the firmer evidence. Allwyn and Kent had both appeared in Dimples the previous year. Billboard, 30 January 1937, p. 27 · Evening Sun citation · The Willamina Times · IMDb

A dispatch in the Manchester Evening Herald of 6 December 1939 reports that Allwyn obtained a divorce in Los Angeles and attributes to her testimony the allegations about Kent’s temper. Later biographies give 7 December 1940 or simply 1941. California then allowed final judgment at least a year after the interlocutory judgment. That could account for the 1939 court report and a later date for the divorce becoming final. The final decree has yet to be located. By 5 December 1941 the Eugene Register-Guard was describing her as Kent’s former wife. Manchester Evening Herald, 6 December 1939 · IMDb · Later 1941 dating · Helbush v. Helbush (1930) · Eugene Register-Guard

That same 1941 newspaper item reported that Allwyn and insurance executive Charles Fee planned to marry in Las Vegas. It said they met when he returned a book borrowed from her sister. Later accounts date the marriage to 1941, but the announcement gives no confirmation of the ceremony or its exact date. Their daughters Melinda O. Fee and Vicki Fee both acted. Melinda appeared in Guiding Light and Days of Our Lives. IMDb also lists a child for the Kent marriage. The sources reviewed here establish the two Fee daughters, while the separate Kent entry remains unverified. Eugene Register-Guard, 5 December 1941, p. 11 · TV Insider on Melinda · IMDb

Later roles and the end of the screen record

In 1939 Allwyn played Susan Paine, the senator’s daughter, in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and the medium Zelma La Claire in Tod Browning’s Miracles for Sale. The following years took her from Columbia’s The Lone Wolf Strikes to the independent City of Missing Girls, in which she plays journalist Nora Page, and the mystery No Hands on the Clock. Her last documented new film role is Joyce Germaine in Republic’s Hit Parade of 1943, released in March 1943. Accounts that give 1944 as her retirement year may be describing a later personal decision. The screen record establishes her last release, while the date and reasons for leaving acting come from retrospective accounts. AFI on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington · AFI on Miracles for Sale · AFI on Hit Parade of 1943 · Retrospective memorial

Allwyn died in Los Angeles County in March 1978, aged 72. The usually cited date is 31 March, and retrospective accounts give cancer as the cause and Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale as her burial place. An online transcription of a Social Security entry under Astrid Fee gives 1 March. A contemporary obituary or death certificate was unavailable for this draft, so the exact day and cause are reported with attribution. Retrospective memorial · Citation to Allan R. Ellenberger’s cemetery directory

Chronological filmography

The 56 entries below are ordered by U.S. release as far as the sources allow. Dates usually follow AFI. The film titles link to catalogue records, which also document working titles and release histories. A small poster links directly to a film you can watch at The Little Picture House. A dagger (†) marks an appearance or credit that still needs confirmation.

1931

West of Broadway † (28 Nov) — Young woman, reportedly uncredited. MGM announced her for the picture according to the later IMDb account. The AFI cast omits her, and the reported appearance has not been verified.

1932

Lady with a Past (19 Feb) — Lola Goadby.

Love Affair (17 Mar) — Linda Lee. The Dorothy Mackaill and Humphrey Bogart film, distinct from the 1939 romance.

The Night Mayor (19 Aug) — Patsy.

The Girl from Calgary (24 Sep) — Mazie Williams.

Hat Check Girl † (25 Sep) — Party guest. AFI attributes the uncredited role to modern sources.

Iron Master (1 Nov) — Flo Lancert. Often listed as The Iron Master (1933). AFI gives a November 1932 release and cites December 1932 trade reviews.

1933

Bachelor Mother (5 Jan) — Lola Butler. Some later listings date it 1932. AFI gives 1933. A separate film with the same title stars Ginger Rogers and dates to 1939.

Hello, Sister! (14 Apr) — Webster’s secretary. Walking Down Broadway was the working title of the substantially reworked Fox production.

Only Yesterday (6 Nov) — Uncredited appearance, role unspecified. AFI includes her in the cast without a character name.

He Couldn’t Take It (15 Dec) — Blonde. Working titles Born Tough and The Process Server. Here Comes Kelly (1943) reworked the story.

1934

All of Me (19 Jan) — Ray, uncredited.

Beggars in Ermine (22 Feb) — Vivian Dawson. Billed as Astrid Allyn.

Mystery Liner (15 Mar) — Lila Kane. Billed as Astrid Allyn.

Monte Carlo Nights (20 May) — Blondie Roberts. Billed as Astrid Allyn. Working title Numbers of Monte Carlo.

Servants’ Entrance (7 Sep) — Sigrid Hanson (also Hansen).

The White Parade (16 Nov) — Gertrude Mack.

1935

One More Spring (15 Feb) — Girl in antique shop. Also described as girl at the auction.

The Great Hotel Murder (1 Mar) — Nora, the bookstand attendant. Working title Recipe for Murder.

It’s a Small World (12 Apr) — Nancy Naylor.

Ladies Love Danger † (3 May) — Chorus girl. Reported uncredited in later listings. Her name does not appear in the AFI cast record.

Accent on Youth (23 Aug) — Genevieve Lang.

Dante’s Inferno † (23 Aug) — Girl in the stokehold. Reported uncredited in later listings. Her name does not appear in the AFI cast record.

Hands Across the Table (18 Oct) — Vivian Snowden.

Way Down East (25 Oct) — Kate. The Henry Fonda and Rochelle Hudson version of the stage melodrama, separate from Griffith’s 1920 film.

1936

Charlie Chan’s Secret (10 Jan) — Janice Gage (also Janice Lowell Gage).

It Had to Happen † (14 Feb) — Mabel Spears. AFI lists the role. Later filmographies report her scenes were cut, and her appearance in the released print remains unverified here.

Follow the Fleet (21 Feb) — Iris Manning.

Star for a Night (28 Aug) — Josephine Hall. Working title The Holy Lie.

Dimples (16 Oct) — Cleo Marsh. Working title The Bowery Princess.

Flying Hostess (22 Nov) — Phyllis Crawford.

Stowaway (25 Dec) — Kay Swift.

1937

Woman-Wise (22 Jan) — “Bubbles” Carson.

Murder Goes to College (5 Mar) — Greta Barry.

Venus Makes Trouble (14 May) — Iris Randall.

It Could Happen to You (28 Jun) — Angela. AFI notes that some trade items used Gangs of New York, a title also associated with a separate Republic film released in 1938.

Love Takes Flight (13 Aug) — Diane Audre.

The Westland Case (31 Oct) — Miss Bentine. AFI uses Bentine from a record drawing on cutting continuity and trade reviews. IMDb gives Brentino.

1938

International Crime (2 Apr) — Phoebe Lane. Copyright title The International Crime. Working titles The Shadow Speaks and The Shadow Murder Case.

1939

Love Affair (7 Apr) — Lois Clarke. The Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer film. AFI gives The Love Match as a working title.

Miracles for Sale (14 Aug) — Mrs Zelma La Claire. Adapted from Death from a Top Hat, the Clayton Rawson novel.

Honeymoon in Bali (29 Sep) — Fortune teller. Working titles My Love for Yours and Are Husbands Necessary?

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (19 Oct) — Susan Paine.

Reno (1 Dec) — Flora McKenzie.

1940

The Lone Wolf Strikes (26 Jan) — Binnie Weldon.

Gangs of Chicago (19 May) — Virginia Brandt. AFI cites trade reporting that it was to play locally as Gangs of the City.

The Leatherpushers (13 Sep) — Pat Danbury. Also styled The Leather Pushers.

Meet the Missus (29 Nov) — Violet Stevens.

1941

The Hard-Boiled Canary (7 Mar) — Girl, reported uncredited. Rereleased as There’s Magic in Music in May. Interlochen was a working title. AFI records Allwyn without a role name.

City of Missing Girls (Mar) — Nora Page.

Melody for Three (28 Mar) — Gladys McClellan (also McClelland). A Dr. Christian film with Jean Hersholt.

Puddin’ Head (25 Jun) — Yvonne Jones.

Cracked Nuts (1 Aug) — Ethel Mitchell. The 1941 Universal comedy is a separate film from the 1931 RKO title.

Unexpected Uncle (7 Nov) — Sara Cochran.

No Hands on the Clock (Dec) — Gypsy Toland. AFI records a New York opening in the week of 22 December.

1943

Hit Parade of 1943 (26 Mar) — Joyce Germaine.

Other production reports and archive footage

Gentle Julia (1936) — Hollywood Reporter production charts list Allwyn. AFI could not confirm an appearance in the released film. AFI

Torrid Zone (1940) — A production still documents a screen test. AFI records the test in its history notes. AFI

Murder by Invitation (1941) — A trade item names her in the cast. AFI leaves the released-film appearance unconfirmed. The working title was Murder by Appointment. AFI

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1987) — Some retrospective listings identify Allwyn in archival footage. This is a posthumous listing, separate from the acting filmography. Archive footage listing

Research sources

The filmography brings together the AFI Catalog, individual film records and later filmographies. Dates, credited roles and working titles are distinguished from trade announcements and unverified appearances. Contemporary sources include the November 1937 issue of Hollywood, Billboard, the Manchester Evening Herald, the Eugene Register-Guard and The Willamina Times. The 1935 Oakland Tribune profile and the 1937 Evening Sun wedding notice were consulted through indexed references. For the death and burial, later sources include Allan R. Ellenberger’s Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory, p. 34, as cited in the biographical bibliography, and the online cemetery memorial.