From WikipediaBarbara Jo Allen (September 2, 1906 – September 14, 1974) was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. 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!Allens acting ability first surfaced in school plays. Following her high school graduation, she went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Concentrating on language, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German and Italian. After the death of her parents, she moved to Los Angeles where she lived with her uncle.In 1937, she debuted on network radio drama as Beth Holly on NBCs One Mans Family, 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 1939 on NBC Matinee, she became a regular with Bob Hope beginning in 1941.Allen appeared in at least 60 movies and TV series between 1938 and 1963, 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 1943 to 1952, as Vera, she made more than a dozen comedy two-reel short subjects for Columbia Pictures.In 1948, she did less acting and instead opened her own commercial orchid business, while also serving as the Honorary Mayor of Woodland Hills, California. In 1953, as Vera, she hosted her own television series, Follow the Leader, a CBS audience participation show. In 1958, she appeared as Mabel, the boss of the flight attendants, in Jeannie Carsons syndicated version of her situation comedy Hey, Jeannie! The program aired only six episodes in syndication.Allens first marriage was to actor Barton Yarborough. They had one child together. In 1946, the couple co-starred in the two-reel comedy short, Hiss and Yell, nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Subject. In 1931-32, Allen married Charles H. Crosby. In 1943, she married Bob Hopes producer, Norman Morrell. They had one child and were married for three decades, until her 1974 death in Santa Barbara, California.
Fauna (voice)
Film 1959
Louise Watkins (as Barbara Allen [Vera Vague])
Film 1940
Mrs. Errol
Film 1939
Mademoiselle Gloria
Film 1942
Myra Stanhope
Film 1941
Vera Vague
Film 1941
Irene Hoffman
Film 1959
Tabitha Hazy
Film 1942
Madge Stevens
Film 1945
Auntie
Film 1944
Mrs. Terwilliger ("Blue Eyes")
Film 1944
Receptionist (uncredited)
Film 1939
Vera Vague
Film 1946
Vera Vague
Film 1940
Sherry Lane
Film 1946
Ms. Konk (uncredited)
Film 1940
Aunt Nellie
Film 1942
Adelaide Barnett
Film 1940
Susan
Film 1940
Gypsy Jones
Film 1950
Matilda Jones
Film 1943
Henriette Teagarden
Film 1941
Vera Vague
Film 1944
Veronica Whipple
Film 1940
Vera Vague (archive footage)
Film 1956
Countess
Film 1944
Vera Vague
Film 1952
Vera
Film 1943
Vera Vague
Film 1944
Vera Clayton
Film 1944
Vera
Film 1944
Vera Vague
Film 1945
Vera Vague
Film 1945
Vera Vague
Film 1946
Vera Butts
Film 1946
Vera Vague / Prudy Vague
Film 1947
Vera Vague
Film 1949
Vera Vague
Film 1949
Vera
Film 1949
Vera Vague
Film 1950
Vera Vague
Film 1951
Scullery Maid (voice) (uncredited)
Film 1963
Janie
Film 1941
Vera Vague
Film 1943
Mrs. John Potter
Film 1939
Goliath II’s Mother (voice)
Film 1991
Vera Clayton (archive footage)
Film 1974
Tv 1960
Mrs. Parkinson
Tv 1953
Self
Tv 1954