Allan Jones (14th October 1907 – 27th June 1992) was an American tenor and film actor, best remembered as the romantic leading man opposite the Marx Brothers in 'A Night at the Opera' (1935) and 'A Day at the Races' (1937), and for starring in the film musicals 'Show Boat' (1936) and 'The Firefly' (1937), in which he introduced the song 'The Donkey Serenade'. He was the father of the American pop singer Jack Jones.
Allan Jones was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, and raised nearby in Scranton, the son of a Welsh immigrant coal miner, Daniel Henry Jones. His Welsh connection is therefore a genuine but ancestral one through his father's emigration from Wales rather than a birthplace connection. Exactly which part of Wales the family came from has not been independently confirmed; a longstanding local claim links them to the Aberdare area, possibly Cwmbach, but no documented source verifies this precisely, so it is presented here honestly as unconfirmed family tradition rather than established fact.
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Star of Show Boat and A Night at the Opera, father of Jack Jones
Allan Jones
Hollywood tenor and film actor
Ancestral connection: his father, Daniel Henry Jones, was a Welsh immigrant coal miner
Jones worked in the Pennsylvania coal mines as a young man before training as a singer in New York, Paris and London. He went on to a long Hollywood career, later performing on stage and television into the 1980s. He died on the 27th of June 1992.
Career Highlights
Show Boat (1936)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Firefly (1937), featuring The Donkey Serenade
ℹ️ Allan was born on the 14th of October, 1907, in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, USA.
ℹ️ Allan died on the 27th of June, 1992.
Ancestral connection: his father, Daniel Henry Jones, was a Welsh immigrant coal miner