Classic Movie Travels: Allen Jenkins
Allen Curtis Jenkins was born on April 9, 1900, on Staten Island, New York, to Robert and Leona Jenkins. His parents were musical comedy performers, but Jenkins did not begin performing until he was in his 20s.
Jenkins worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard before transitioning to work as a stage mechanic following World War I. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1922, and worked steadily on Broadway plays. Among his early stage roles was The Front Page (1928), in which Jenkins portrayed the character Endicott.
He eventually signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1932, quickly building a reputation as a character actor. He appeared in the film short Straight and Narrow (1931) and made his feature film debut in The Girl Habit (1931).
In films, Jenkins could be spotted across multiple genres as a regular Warner Bros. contract player. Jenkins could dance, so he appeared in musicals, not to mention also being used in comedies and dramas, entertaining audiences with exceptional wisecracking delivery. The New York Times labeled him the “greatest scene-stealer of the 1930s.” He could be seen in many hit films, including Grand Hotel (1932), Three on a Match (1932), 42nd Street (1933), and several others for Warner Bros.
In 1931, Jenkins married Mary Landee, with whom he had three children: Anthony, Dorothy, and Nancy. They divorced in 1962.
Off-screen, Jenkins was close friends with Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and Frank McHugh—a group of Irish-American actors dubbed the “Irish Mafia” of classic Hollywood.
Once Jenkins’ seven-year contract with Warner Bros. ended, he turned to freelancing for the remainder of his career. This included working at smaller-scale studios, such as Monogram Pictures and Republic Pictures. He also began appearing on television, which was steadily growing in popularity.
During World War II, Jenkins entertained soldiers overseas with the United Service Organizations (USO).
Despite largely focusing on television, Jenkins returned to films with Pillow Talk (1959) in addition to carrying out guest star roles on television shows such as I Love Lucy, The Tab Hunter Show, The Ernie Kovacs Show, and more. Among his best remembered roles is providing the voice for Officer Dibble in the Top Cat (1961) cartoon series.
He also made a cameo appearance in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Just 11 days before his passing, Jenkins made his final film appearance in The Front Page (1974), which was released posthumously. The film was a remake of a 1931 film by the same name. Incidentally, Jenkins was a member of the original Broadway cast for the 1928 play of the same name.
Jenkins passed away from lung cancer on July 20, 1974, at 74 years old. His ashes were scattered at sea.
Today, some locations of relevance to Jenkins remain. In 1900, he lived at 69 Harrison Ave., Staten Island, New York. By 1910, the family relocated to 3368 N. Richmond Ter., Staten Island, New York. In 1918, the family lived at 8 Lincoln Ave., East Hampton, New York. None of these buildings remain.
In 1925, Jenkins was listed as living at 617 W. 143rd St., New York, New York. This location remains.
In 1930, his address is listed as 610 W. 143rd St., New York, New York, which also remains.
In 1940, Jenkins and his family lived at 456 Arbramar Ave., Pacific Palisades, California. This home also stands.
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.
Annette Bochenek, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
