Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton was a film, musical theatre, and television actress.
None of her film roles were notable, except for an unbilled role as a singing inmate in The Snake Pit, but in 1945, she was selected to play Julie Jordan in the original Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic, Carousel. She left the show to star in the 1946 Broadway revival of Show Boat, as Magnolia, while Carousel was still continuing its Broadway run.
The 1946 production of Show Boat was the longest-running revival of a stage musical up to that time – 416 performances. Ms. Clayton can be heard on the original cast recordings of both Carousel and Show Boat. The Show Boat album was the first American production of the show to be recorded with its original cast.
Clayton later played Jeff Miller’s ‘s mother on Lassie on television. She played herself in an appearance on Peter Lawford’s short-lived NBC sitcom, Dear Phoebe.