Barbara Jo Allen

Barbara Jo Allen was an American actress who found her signature role in Vera Vague, the man-crazy spinster she invented and played on radio and in films. Born in Manhattan and raised in Los Angeles, she studied at UCLA, Stanford University and the Sorbonne. Her radio work began in 1933 on NBC's One Man's Family, and she became a regular on Signal Carnival before leaving in 1941 for Bob Hope's radio troupe. She appeared in RKO comedy shorts in 1939, and from 1943 to 1952 made sixteen two-reel comedies for Columbia as Vague, two of which earned Academy Award nominations. Her animation voice work for Disney included Fauna in Sleeping Beauty (1959), Goliath II's mother in Goliath II (1960) and the Scullery Maid in Disney's The Sword in the Stone (1963), her last film role. As Vera Vague she was honored with two Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, one for motion pictures and one for radio.