Ann Crowley

Ann Crowley (October 17, 1929 – April 24, 2023) was an American actress and singer whose Broadway career spanned from 1943 to 1976. Born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, to Vincent and Helen M. Crowley, she was the sister of actress Pat Crowley. Her father worked as a foreman in a coal mine. As early as 1944, Crowley was performing in hotel clubs, and that same year she auditioned for vocal coach Frank La Forge, making a strong enough impression that the Koch-Conley Post of the American Legion in Scranton awarded her $200 for vocal training with the intention of continuing to sponsor her. A singing scholarship subsequently brought her to New York City, where she studied at Julia Richman High School and graduated in 1947.

An audition with the Theatre Guild in 1945 resulted in Crowley joining the Broadway cast of Oklahoma!, and that same year she appeared in Carousel, a credit for which she received a 1947 Theatre World Award as a replacement player. On September 1, 1946, she was named understudy to Betty Jane Watson, who played Laurey in Oklahoma! When Watson was sidelined by laryngitis on October 4, 1946, Crowley stepped into the role for both the matinee and evening performances while still a high school student. Her work that day drew significant notice, including a feature article in the following day's edition of The New York Times. In 1948, Crowley played Laurey in a London production of Oklahoma!, a run that lasted five months and was interrupted when she underwent surgery for appendicitis. She also toured the United States as Laurey and as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel in 1947.

Crowley's regional theatre work included the role of Looloo Martin in a 1950 production of Hit the Deck at St. John Terrell's Music Circus in Lambertville, New Jersey. Her Broadway career continued with two starring roles: Jennifer in Paint Your Wagon in 1951 and Lola in Seventeen in 1952, the latter of which she originated. The musical Music Is also appears among her Broadway credits. Her television appearances included "Cinderella '53," a one-hour musical broadcast on Studio One on December 21, 1953, as well as work on Schlitz Playhouse and Musical Comedy Time. In May 1955, she headlined the entertainment program at the Statler Terrace Room in Los Angeles.

Crowley's professional success was accompanied by legal complications. In May 1948, her cousin Florence M. Sheehan filed suit in New York Supreme Court seeking $125,000 in damages from Crowley and her parents, alleging that they had failed to honor an agreement to pay Sheehan ten percent of Crowley's wages over five years. Sheehan, a milliner, claimed she had used her industry contacts to advance Crowley's career and had at one point given up her own business to focus on that effort. The complaint stated that Crowley and her parents had agreed to begin payments in August 1945 or once Crowley's earnings reached $200 per week, but that Sheehan had received nothing. The suit sought $25,000 based on estimated earnings, $50,000 for breach of contract, and $50,000 for Sheehan's efforts on Crowley's behalf.

On June 30, 1955, Crowley married Stephen N. Jones in New York City. The couple had five children, and Crowley withdrew from her professional career, concluding that it was incompatible with the demands of her home life. She continued to perform in community theatre and, for many years while living in the Rockville, Maryland, area, taught songs to patients at a children's hospital once a week. Jones died in 2003, and in 2006 Crowley married Jim Simpson, a close family friend, who died in 2016. Crowley died on April 24, 2023, at the age of 93.