Actress Jean Allison Has Died

Jean Allison, a veteran TV actress known for roles in shows like Charlie’s Angels, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Perry Mason, has died. Allison passed away in Rancho Palos Verdes, California on Wednesday, Feb. 28, her family confirmed in an obituary. She was 94. A cause of death was not disclosed.

Born in New York in October 1929, Allison attended Marymount High School in Tarrytown, New York, and Adelphi College, also in New York. She later studied acting under Sanford Meisner and was scouted by an agent while appearing in a stage performance of the drama Teach Me How to Cry, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She went on to make her on-screen debut in 1957 on CBS’ General Electric Theater.

Allison’s career would go on to span several decades and dozens of credits. Just a year after her on-screen debut, the actress made her big screen debut as a woman menaced by a psychopath in the United Artists drama Edge of Fury in 1958 opposite Michael Higgins. Her other big-screen credits include The Devil’s Partner (1960), The Steagle (1971), Bad Company (1972) and Hardcore (1979).On the small screen, Allison appeared in shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Perry Mason, as well as episodes of popular series like Charlie’s Angels, The Detectives, Emergency!, Hawaiian Eye, Starsky & Hutch, The Waltons, and many more, per her IMDb page. Her other credits include Wanted: Dead or Alive, 77 Sunset Strip, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Rookies, and St. Elsewhere. She made her final screen appearance in a 1984 episode of Highway to Heaven.

Allison was married three times, including to fellow character actor/director Lee Philips, boxing trainer Jerry Boyd, and Philip Toorvald, whom she married in 1961. The couple were together until his death in 1994 and raised three children. Allison and cinematographer Jack Couffer, who she first met on the set of Edge of Fury 50 years prior, later began a companionship that lasted until his death in 2021. The actress is survived by her three children, Erin, Sven and Tina.