A popular motion picture star in the 1940s and 1950s, Allyson won a 1951 Golden Globe Award for her performance in the comedy Too Young To Kiss. In 1945, she caused Hollywood studio chiefs some consternation by marrying Dick Powell, who was 13 years her senior. On TV, she appeared on television shows such as Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.
She was married to David Ashrow, a dentist turned actor, from 1976 until her death. Ashrow's ancestors immigrated with the Tarlow family to Portland, Oregon in the early 1900s.