Mary Aileen Allen, born Mary Conquest, (December 22, 1888 – September 4, 1950) was a Canadian-born American diver, swimmer, actress, and sports coach. Born on Prince Edward Island, she was raised in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and studied physical education at what is today the College of New Jersey. She spent two years studying law at George Washington University in Washington D.C. where she met and married her husband Arthur Allen. After her marriage, Allen moved to California where she was a successful competitive swimmer and diver, and appearing as a bathing beauty and diver in several short silent films made with Keystone Studios and Pathé Exchange in the 1910s. She also appeared in stage productions in California.
 Allen, circa 1918 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 22, 1888 Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Died | September 4, 1950 (aged 61) Pasadena, California, United States |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Diving |
Allen won multiple national diving competitions and competed as a diver in the 1920 Summer Olympics. After 1920 she worked as a coach for swimming, diving, and track and field in Pasadena and Los Angeles for the remainder of her life. She was the coach for the United States women's track and field team at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the coach for the United States women's swim team during the 1932 Summer Olympics. Her notable students included Olympic medalist Caroline Fletcher and swimmer and movie star Esther Williams.
Life and career
editMary Aileen Conquest was born on December 22, 1888 on Prince Edward Island[1][2] in Alberton, Canada.[3] She was raised in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, and graduated from Perth Amboy High School.[3] She studied physical education at the Trenton School (now The College of New Jersey), and then pursued further studies in law for two years at George Washington University in Washington D.C. where she met and married Arthur Allen.[3] Allen and her husband moved from Washington D.C. to California where she began competing as a competitive swimmer and diver.[3] In 1913, she was one of the founding members of an all-woman swimming club at the Bimini Baths in Los Angeles, California, which was formed in response to strict dress codes imposed by other clubs.[4] She was later elected captain of the club.[5]
After winning both swimming and diving competitions held in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, she was cast as a water nymph in Norman K. Whisler's The Mystic Pool which was staged at the Hippodrome Theatre in Los Angeles in the summer of 1914.[6] After this she became a member of Vivian Marshall's Bathing Beauties with whom she performed at the Pantages Theatre in San Francisco in October 1914.[7] In January 1915 she returned to the Hippodrome Theatre; appearing in the featured act "Aileen Allen and her California Mermaids" in the musical extravaganza Hippodrome's Passing Show of 1914.[8]
While maintaining a schedule as a competitive and exhibitionist diver and swimmer, Allen worked as an actress in silent films.[9] She performed in several short films for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios (KS) in which she appeared as one of the earliest bathing / diving beauties.[10] The first of these was Their Husbands (1913) in which she appeared as herself.[11] Other KS films she appeared in included Those Bitter Sweets (1915, as beach girl at picnic),[12] and Settled at the Seaside (1915, as girl on pier).[13] During World War I, she sold war bonds as a representative of KS.[14]
Allen's other film work included an appearance in the newsreel series Mutual Weekly (No. 37 in 1915),[15] and two short films for Pathé Exchange released in 1916: Luke and the Mermaids[16] and Luke's Speedy Club Life.[17] She appeared in one feature-length film for Metro Pictures; portraying Mrs. Westfall in Mister 44 in 1916.[18] That same year she won the national competition in the ten foot springboard diving content.[19] In 1917 she won the national high diving competition held in Rye, New York, and from 1915-1921 she had consecutive championship wins in far western and Pacific coast diving championships.[19]
Allen competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp[20] where she finished fourth in the 3 metre springboard event.[2] She served as the track and field coach for the women's team of the Pasadena Athletic Club during the 1920s[21] where she was also active as a diving coach. One her students in Pasadena, Caroline Fletcher, won the national diving championship in 1923 and a bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics.[19] During the 1928 Summer Olympics, Allen served as the coach for the United States women's track and field team.[22] She also coached the United States women's swim team during the 1932 Summer Olympics.[23]
After leaving Pasadena, Allen was a longtime diving and swimming coach at the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC).[24] Esther Williams began training with Allen in 1937 at the LLAC.[25] Allen was convinced that Esther could have a career in film, and it is through her persuasion that she met and signed a contract with talent manager Robert Marchetti who assisted her in her first but unsuccessful audition with Fox Studios.[26] She coached Williams for 1939 win at the U.S., but had a falling out with the swimmer the following year after Williams discovered that Allen hid her invitation to the Pan American Games under the rationale that Williams would not be able to handle the temptations of men and alcohol in Buenos Aires.[27] While this act of betrayal caused Williams to sever her relationship with Allen,[28] years later Williams came to the conclusion that Allen was probably right, and that she may have saved her from making bad choices that could have negatively shaped her life.[29]
Allen died on September 4, 1950 in Pasadena, California.[24]
References
editCitations
edit- ↑ Mary Aileen Allen in the U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, issued 13 Jul 1920, Certificate Number 67551
- 1 2 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Aileen Allen Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 Carew 1930, p. 309.
- ↑ "GIRLS TO SWIM IN MEN'S SUITS LA. WOMEN TO CHALLENGE STATE; Aquatic Experts Will Enter Races of Association at Redondo Beach". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. XXXIX, no. 262. Los Angeles, California. 2 August 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ↑ "SWIMMERS TO COMPETE IN SPORTSMAN'S SHOW". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. XL, no. 168. Los Angeles, California. 16 May 1914. p. 10. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ↑ "Water Nymphs Act at Hippodrome Spectacular". Los Angeles Morning Tribune. August 27, 1914. p. 11.
- ↑ "At the Pantages". The San Francisco Bulletin. October 10, 1914. p. 9.
- ↑ "Hippodrome". South Pasadena Record. January 11, 1915. p. 4.
- ↑ "Mermaid Who Comes to Honolulu for Divers Reasons". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. February 13, 1917. p. 7.
- ↑ Walker 2010, p. 586.
- ↑ Walker 2010, p. 284.
- ↑ Walker 2010, p. 319.
- ↑ Walker 2010, p. 314.
- ↑ "Patriotism among Keystone girls". The Bourbon News. 23 November 1917. p. 2. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ↑ "Mutual Weekly, No. 37". The Moving Picture World. September 25, 1915. p. 2247.
- ↑ D'Agostino 2004, p. 215.
- ↑ D'Agostino 2004, p. 226.
- ↑ DuVal 2002, p. 124.
- 1 2 3 Carew 1930, pp. 309–310.
- ↑ "Aileen Allen". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ↑ "Aileen Allen Funeral Rites to Be Held Tomorrow". Pasadena Star-News. September 6, 1950. p. 23.
- ↑ "Track Coach". Healdsburg Tribune. No. 65. 21 January 1928. p. 7. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ↑ Sheridan, Bob (10 April 1932). "Left Hooks". Las Vegas Age. Las Vegas, Nevada. p. 4. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- 1 2 "Aileen Allen". Los Angeles Times. September 6, 1950. p. 8, part II.
- ↑ Williams & Diehl 2000, p. 25.
- ↑ Williams & Diehl 2000, p. 33.
- ↑ Williams & Diehl 2000, pp. 34–35.
- ↑ Williams & Diehl 2000, pp. 335.
- ↑ Williams & Diehl 2000, pp. 333.
Bibliography
edit- Braff, Richard E. (2002). The Braff Silent Short Film Working Papers: Over 25,000 Films, 1903–1929, Alphabetized and Indexed. McFarland & Co. ISBN 9780786410316.
- Carew, Harold David (1930). History of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, California: With Personal Sketches of Those Men and Women, Past and Present, who Have Builded this "glorious Empire Within an Empire". Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
- DuVal, Gary (2002). The Nevada Filmography: Nearly 600 Works Made in the State, 1897 Through 2000. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786412716.
- D'Agostino, Annette M. (2004). The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786415144.
- Walker, Brent E. (2010). Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of His Studio and His Keystone and Mack Sennett Comedies, with Biographies of Players and Personnel. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786457076.
- Williams, Esther; Diehl, Digby (2000). The Million Dollar Mermaid. Harcourt Books. ISBN 978-0156011358.