Belle Montrose

{{short description|American actress and vaudeville performer (1886-1964)}}

{{Infobox person

|image=Belle Montrose, film actress (SAYRE 6870).jpg

|caption=Montrose in the early 1920s

|birthname=Isabelle Donohue

|birth_date={{birth date|1886|4|23}}

|birth_place=Illinois, United States

|death_date={{death date and age|1964|10|26|1886|4|23}}

|death_place=Hollywood, California,
United States

|occupation=Actress

|yearsactive=1920–1963

|spouse = Carroll Abler

|children = 1 (Steve Allen)

}}

Belle Montrose (born Isabelle Donohue; April 23, 1886 – October 26, 1964) was an American actress and vaudeville performer.

Career

The Illinois-born Montrose appeared on stage with her husband Carroll Abler (stage name: Billy Allen; 1888–1923) in the comedy team of Allen and Montrose (with Allen as the straight man), touring with the Orpheum vaudeville circuit.

File:Belle Montrose, film actress (SAYRE 6002).jpg

On December 26, 1921, Montrose and Carroll Abler became the parents of Steve Allen. After Carroll Abler died in 1923, young Steve Allen began living with the Montrose family on Chicago's South Side, near Hyde Park, while his mother toured. After Carroll's death, Belle continued in vaudeville, working as a solo act and with other comedians. In 1925, the 17-year-old comedian Milton Berle toured with Montrose. Years later, Steve Allen wrote about her in his memoir, Mark It and Strike It: An Autobiography (1960).

=Television=

Milton Berle once described Montrose as "the funniest woman in vaudeville." In her later years, Montrose acted on television, including several appearances on Steve Allen's Sunday show (1956–59), The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1959–60), and later on The New Steve Allen Show (1961). She was a regular on The Hathaways (1961), starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston.

=Films=

Montrose's movie credits include The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963).

Death

At the age of 78, Montrose died of a heart attack in Hollywood. She is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery in San Fernando, California.

Filmography

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
1961	The Absent-Minded Professor	Mrs. Chatsworth
1963	Son of Flubber	Mother in Commercial	Uncredited, (final film role)

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1961

The Absent-Minded Professor

Mrs. Chatsworth

1963

Son of Flubber

Mother in Commercial

Uncredited, (final film role)