Hello, earth friends. Forgive my absence, but I had a touch of the bird flu. And it’s not the same thing as what you earthlings call bird flu. I’m a bird, and I had the flu. See? At any rate, I’m back to feature another B-Movie actor, and one who is quite deserving of a mention. Allison Hayes. Born Mary Jane Hayes, March 6th, 1930. Which would have been a great name in the sixties. Mary Jane Haze? Speaking of which, I strafed Seattle and other parts of Washington state last week, and got a huge craving for Doritos. Weird. Wow. Lost my train of thought. Oh yes, Allison.
She entered the Miss America pageant as Miss Washington D.C. in 1949. And although she didn’t win, it lead to exposure, and eventually a contract with Universal pictures. She made her film debut in the donkey comedy Francis Joins the WACS (1954) She found steady work in movies throughout the fifties and sixties, though stardom eluded her. Her first foray into sci-fi/horror was The Undead, in 1957, which lead to a long run in the genre through the acclaimed The Hypnotic Eye in 1960. The Crawling Hand (1963) would turn out to be her last in our favourite genre, although she would appear in other films and TV shows through the remainder of the sixties. She became close friends with Raymond Burr, and appeared on 5 episodes of Perry Mason. In 1958, she appeared in what she will be remembered for most, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, where she played the title role of the afformentioned very tall woman. She played her part with much gusto, and it was quite satisfying to see her dole out revenge on her cruel husband and floozie girlfriend (Also played with floozie gusto by Yvette Vickers)
Unfortunately, her health declined rapidly, as she developed many chronic problems that would later be diagnosed as lead poisoning, which she believed were from a calcium supplement she had been taking for years. She died at the much-too-young age of 46 in 1977. I regret that I never met her, or ever had the pleasure of working with her on a motion picture. Actually, I could have dated her when she was 50 feet tall. We would have made quite the Hollywood couple, wouldn’t we? I can see us walking down the red carpet now…
Best wishes,
GC
“Strafing fine communities like yours since 1957″
Allison Haye’s B-Movie Filmography
The Undead 1957
Zombies of Mora Tau 1957
The Undead 1957
The Unearthly 1957
The Disembodied 1957
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman 1958
The Hypnotic Eye 1960
The Crawling Hand 1963