Allan Jones (born October 14 1907 in Old Forge, Pennsylvania - died June 27 1992 in New York, New York) was an American actor and singer. For many years he was married to actor Irene Hervey; their son is American pop singer Jack Jones.
Jones starred in many film musicals during the 1930s and 1940s. The best-known of these were Show Boat (1936), and The Firefly (1937) (in which he sang the popular Donkey Serenade). However, he is now best remembered as the romantic straight man to the Marx Brothers in their first two, and most highly acclaimed, MGM productions, A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races.
On the strength of his appearance in A Night at the Opera, however, he won the coveted role of Gaylord Ravenal in the 1936 film version of Show Boat (opposite Irene Dunne), right out from under the noses of such screen musical favorites as Nelson Eddy and John Boles, neither of whom was noted for his acting. This was to become Jones's most distinguished screen role, in which, under the direction of James Whale, he was to display dramatic acting ability as well as musical talent.
He made a brief appearance in the 1936 Nelson Eddy - Jeanette MacDonald film Rose Marie, singing music from Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, but according to Merchant of Dreams, Charles Higham's biography of Louis B. Mayer, Eddy, who apparently considered Jones a rival and a potential threat, asked that most of Jones's footage in Rose Marie be cut, including his rendition of the great Puccini aria E lucevan le stelle - and MGM agreed to Eddy's demand.
After 1940, the year in which Jones starred in the rather unsuccessful film version of Rodgers and Hart's The Boys from Syracuse, he was relegated to appearances only in B-films. In later years, he began appearing onstage in touring companies of such shows as Man of La Mancha.
At some point in time after World War II, Jones became a practicing dentist.
He died in New York City, aged 84 from lung cancer.
See also Show Boat (film).
Allan Jones is a prominent British music journalist and editor.
Following his graduation he got a job working in the stock room of Hatchard's on Piccadilly. While there he applied for a writing opening at the famous rock weekly Melody Maker with a letter that concluded, "Melody Maker needs a bullet up its arse. I’m the gun – pull the trigger". He joined the staff in 1974, became editor ten years later. During his tenure, Melody Maker provided early publicity for bands ranging from The Stone Roses to Pearl Jam. One of Jones's most significant early decisions was to resist the publisher's instruction to put Kajagoogoo on the cover; instead, Jones chose The Smiths.
In 1997, Jones left to become editor of music and film monthly Uncut, a position he retains today. Launched under unpromising circumstances, at the same time as Total Film and Neon (magazine), Jones changed the periodical's focus almost overnight from film to the intersection of music and film. Today it has a circulation of 90,000. Under his editorship Uncut won Consumer Specialist Magazine of the Year and International Consumer Magazine of the Year PPA Awards in 2003, and Consumer Specialist Magazine of the Year in 2004.
