Editing June Allyson (section)

==Early life==
Allyson was born Eleanor Geisman,<ref name="census">[http://www.ancestry.com/default.aspx?o_iid=19250&o_lid=19250&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 Ancestry.com] according to the 1920 U.S. census</ref> nicknamed Ella, in [[The Bronx]], New York City.<ref name=":1" /> She was the daughter of Clara (née Provost) and Robert Geisman. She had a brother, Henry, who was two years older. She said she had been raised as a Catholic,{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} but a discrepancy exists relating to her early life, and her studio biography was often the source of the confusion. Her paternal grandparents, Harry Geisman and Anna Hafner, were immigrants from Germany<ref name="census" /> although Allyson claimed her last name was originally "Van Geisman", and was of Dutch origin.<ref name="cnn">[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0107/04/lkl.00.html "June Allyson Discusses Her Career."] ''CNN Larry King Live''. Retrieved September 10, 2009.</ref> Studio biographies listed her as Jan Allyson born to Franco-English parents. Upon her death, her daughter said Allyson was born "Eleanor Geisman to a French mother and Dutch father."<ref>Luther, Claudia. [https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-june-allyson-200600711-snap-story.html "Obituaries: Film Sweetheart June Allyson Dies at 88."] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', July 11, 2006.</ref>{{#tag:ref|During her lifetime Allyson published an autobiography that has led to much of the confusion as her recollections did not correspond to the actual record, starting with her birth date and her family background. MGM was partly to blame as the studio PR machine created a "goody two-shoes" image of a young ingenue, which required some imaginative tailoring of her age, family circumstances, and her famous "tree limb" story.|group=N}} In an interview with [[Larry King]] Allyson denied being of German Jewish descent.<ref>{{cite news |title=CNN Larry King Live – June Allyson Discusses Her Career |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2001-07-04/segment/00 |date=July 4, 2001 |website=CNN |department =Transcripts |access-date=August 26, 2022}}</ref>

In April 1918 (when Allyson was six months old), her alcoholic father, who had worked as a janitor, abandoned the family. Allyson was brought up in near poverty, living with her maternal grandparents.<ref name="Parish and Pitts, p. 1">Parish and Pitts 2003, p. 1.</ref> To make ends meet, her mother worked as a telephone operator and restaurant cashier. When she had enough funds, she occasionally reunited with her daughter, but more often Allyson was "farmed" to her grandparents or other relatives.<ref name="Parish and Pitts, p. 1"/>

===Accident===
In 1925 (when Allyson was eight), a tree branch fell on her while she was riding her tricycle with her pet terrier in tow.<ref name="Obituary">Harmetz, Aljean. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/movies/11allyson.html?_r=1 "June Allyson, Adoring Wife in MGM Films, Is Dead at 88."] ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 11, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2010.</ref> Allyson sustained a fractured skull and broken back, and her dog was killed. Her doctors said she never would walk again and confined her to a heavy steel brace from neck to hips for four years. She ultimately regained her health, but when Allyson had become famous, she was terrified that people would discover her background from the "tenement side of New York City", and she readily agreed to studio tales of a "rosy life", including a concocted story that she underwent months of swimming exercises in rehabilitation to emerge as a star swimmer.<ref name="Parish and Pitts, p. 1"/> In her later memoirs, Allyson describes a summer program of swimming that did help her recovery.<ref>Allyson and Leighton 1982, p. 8.</ref><ref name="bob">{{cite news|title=June Allyson, Actress: 1917–2006|author=Thomas, Bob|work=The Globe and Mail|date=July 11, 2006|page=S.7}}</ref>

After gradually progressing from a wheelchair to crutches to braces, Allyson's true escape from her impoverished life was to go to the cinema, where she was enraptured by [[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Fred Astaire]] movies.<ref name="Parish and Pitts, p. 1"/> As a teen, Allyson memorized the trademark dance routines of Ginger Rogers. She claimed later to have watched ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' 17 times.<ref>Allyson and Leighton 1982, p. 7.</ref> She also tried to emulate the singing styles of movie stars, but never mastered reading music.<ref>Allyson and Leighton 1982, pp. 10, 36.</ref>

When her mother remarried and the family was reunited with a more stable financial standing, Allyson was enrolled in the Ned Wayburn Dancing Academy and began to enter dance competitions with the stage name of Elaine Peters.<ref name="Parish and Pitts, pp. 1, 3.">Parish and Pitts 2003, pp. 1, 3.</ref>