After many years, the Martins move to Australia but must leave Lassie behind due to animal quarantine regulations. Jan Clayton (Ellen Miller): Died August 28, 1983, of cancer. She appeared in the role of Julie Jordan in the original 1945 Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Carousel. [citation needed], In the 1970s Clayton began receiving treatment for her alcoholism. Once he is back in bed and asleep, he dreams Lassie pulls a huge tooth from his mouth, then runs away up a starry staircase with it; when Timmy follows, he meets Casseopeia (played by Jan Clayton), Hercules (George Cleveland), Mercury (Donald Keeler), and the proprietor of the celestial dog pound, "B. Sirius" (Tommy Rettig). His death was worked into the television story; see the fourth season page. She joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1970 and helped counsel other alcoholics on how to reclaim their lives. In the story-line, Francine is in town to make a special appearance with Bolger.[3]. Then, in 1961, she again starred in a comedy pilot based on Bess Streeter Aldrich's book Cheers for Miss Bishop. Her son, Joseph Clayton Lerner, said that Miss Clayton did not want a funeral, but that a tribute had been scheduled for Thursday at the Coronet Theater in Los Angeles. According to the IMDb, last credit 2009 as the voice of the titular character in Christmas the Horse. Clayton also performed in the 1961 episode "The Prairie Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. She was 66 years old. Hugh Reilly (Paul Martin): Died July 17, 1998, of emphysema. Don Collier played Wilbarger, for whom Wilbarger County, Texas, is named, along with Wilbarger's brother. '', Miss Clayton also had several roles on Broadway, playing Julie in the original production of ''Carousel.'' Most famous for playing Young Caine in Kung Fu. It was the first opportunity for millions of viewers to see a scene from the musical, since none of the film versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals had yet been released. The One With the Braids): Sporadic movie and television appearances; last credit 2006's Jeremiah's Secret. Dick Foran (Ed Washburne): Died August 10, 1979. Nolan Leary (Dan Cook, later Judge Baxter): Died December 12, 1987. Clayton quit the production as well at that time. Florence Lake (Jenny the operator): Died April 11, 1980. See the article in its original context from. Jay W. Macintosh (Elaine Baker): Last listed appearance 1994 as a guest on the series Picket Fences. Lassie debuted September 1954 in the Sunday 7:00 P.M. time slot. Visit his website. In recent years, she served on the National Council of the United Service Organizations Inc., touring the world. She produced and starred the next year in "The Brown Horse", another proposed series about a woman trying to pay for her daughter's college tuition by working in a San Francisco restaurant. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Frank Ferguson (Dr. Wilson): Died September 12, 1978, of cancer. The episode, written by Jean Holloway, examines how the harsh prairie causes havoc in the lives of some of the women on the wagon train. Robert Horton starred in this episode, which aired three months after the death of Ward Bond. Prior to her daughter's tragic death, Clayton had divorced Russell Hayden in 1943. Born near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the only child of two schoolteachers, Clayton started singing by age four. JAN CLAYTON DEAD; ACTED ON BROADWAY AND IN TV 'LASSIE'. Todd Ferrell (Ralph "Boomer" Bates): No acting credits since the 1950s. Robert Foulk (Sheriff Miller): Died February 25, 1989. Jon Provost (Timmy Martin): Sells title insurance. [citation needed] Clayton during this period also played herself in an appearance on Peter Lawford's short-lived NBC sitcom Dear Phoebe. He is the pizza man in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and appeared in The Patriot with Mel Gibson. Every Thursday she worked as a volunteer answering the phone for the Alcoholism Council of Greater Los Angeles, where she later became a board member in the organization.[4]. In 1954, Clayton was one of the many guest stars in a television spectacular tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein, The General Foods 25th Anniversary Show, which featured all the then-surviving stars (except Alfred Drake) of all the classic Broadway musicals that the team had written (1943–1954). Flip Mark (Flip): Apparently no acting credits since the 1960s. She starred in the popular 1950s TV series Lassie. There were only a few times in Lassie when Clayton exhibited her impressive singing talents, most notably in the episode "The Gypsys" (Season 2, Ep. Clayton was posthumously inducted into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012. She appeared in the role of Julie Jordan in the original 1945 Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Carousel. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Clayton appeared in only one more Lassie episode after those cast changes. Clayton played the first four seasons of Lassie, from September 1954 to December 1957, as Ellen Miller, a war widow living on her father-in-law's farm with her preteen son, Jeff, and her late husband's cantankerous old father, Gramps (played by the Canadian-born George Cleveland). Jan Clayton died of cancer in West Hollywood, California, on August 28, 1983, just two days after her 66th birthday. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. She was 66 years old. Clayton would become best known to TV audiences as the mother of Jeff Miller (Tommy Rettig) on the television series Lassie (aka Jeff's Collie in syndication re-runs). The sudden death of George Cleveland hastened the departure of the remaining cast. None of those three pilots was ever "picked up" or purchased by a sponsor for production as a weekly series. Jan Clayton, who played Tommy Rettig's mother in the original ''Lassie'' television series, died of cancer and other diseases Sunday at her home in West Hollywood. In ''Lassie,'' she played Ellen Miller, the mother of Jeff Miller - the character played by Tommy Rettig - from 1954 to 1957. "Before that I was a social drinker. The ongoing saga of the Martin family and their beloved collie, Lassie. [2] The Show Boat album was the first American production of the show to be recorded with its original cast. He still makes appearances at charity events in connection with Lassie and supports no-kill animal shelters. Andy Clyde (Cully Wilson): Died May 18, 1967. "Jan Clayton's Life, Like a Lassie TV Show, Has Had Its Dramas, but the Ending Is of Course Happy", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jan_Clayton&oldid=972746912, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2010, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 August 2020, at 16:24. (There's a photo of an adult Flip on Jon Provost's website.). Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. Skip Burton (Ron Holden): Last IMDb credit As the World Turns in 1982. According to Jon Provost's website, he is now a writer in England. "Then came Lassie"; "I took it because I was dying to work." Clayton brought her extensive acting experience on Broadway to the Lassie series, portraying in her character Ellen the traits of a loving mother with a wide range of heartfelt emotions ranging from sorrow and tragedy to great comedic relief. In the 1962 episode "St. Louis Woman" on NBC's The Tall Man, Clayton performed in the role of Janet Harper, a widow engaged to Tom Davis ( Canadian-born Russ Conway), a friend of Sheriff Pat Garrett (Barry Sullivan). 15) in which she sang the song "Marushka". Per a correspondent, he lives in Oregon and owns his own business. "My drinking got worse after my daughter died," she explained in her 1976 People interview. Correspondent Teno Pollick tells me Correll has successfully produced several television series, including The Hogan Family. In "The Man Who Wouldn't Die", a 1967 episode of the syndicated series Death Valley Days, Clayton was cast as the Margaret Wilbarger, the sister of Texas pioneer Josiah Wilbarger, who lived for 11 years after being scalped by the Comanche.