Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen was born in Houston, Texas, United States on January 16th, 1950 and is the TV Actress. At the age of 74, Debbie Allen biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, TV shows, and networth are available.
At 74 years old, Debbie Allen has this physical status:
Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, television producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
She is perhaps best known for her appearance on the 1982 musical-drama television series Fame, where she portrayed dance instructor Lydia Grant and served as the series' principal choreographer.
Catherine Fox appears on Grey's Anatomy now.
Phylicia Rashad's younger sister is the younger sister of actress/director/singer Phylicia Rashad.
Early life
Allen was born in Houston, Texas, the third child of orthodontist Andrew Arthur Allen and Pulitzer Prize-nominated artist, writer, playwright, and publisher, Vivian (née Ayers) Allen. She obtained a B.A. Howard University earned a bachelor's degree in classical Greek literature, expression, and theater, as well as acting at HB Studio in New York City. She was a member of Chi Chi Mu Health Professional Fraternity. She holds honoris causa doctorates from Howard University and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Debbie Allen auditioned at the Houston Ballet Academy at the age of twelve. She was refused admission. Allen was given a second chance by a Russian instructor who mistakenly saw Allen perform in a show a year later. Allen was allowed to stay because they recognized her talent from the academy's discovery. She studied under Suzelle Poole while at the academy and learned about her culture.
Allen's time at the Houston Ballet Academy is not the only time Allen was refused admission. When she was sixteen, she had a fruitful audition for the North Carolina School of the Arts and was given the opportunity to demonstrate dance techniques to other prospective students enrolling in the program. Allen was turned down for admission, and was told that her body was not meant for ballet. Allen, after receiving multiple rejections, decided to mainly concentrate on her academics, and from there, she was on her way to begin her career.
Personal life
Allen is married to former NBA player Norm Nixon; the couple have three children: dancer Vivian Nichole Nixon (who appeared in the Broadway production of Hot Feet) basketball player Norman Ellard Nixon Jr. (Women College & Southern University) and DeVaughn Nixon. Allen was married to Win Wilford from 1975 to 1983. Tex Allen, a jazz composer who was born 1945), and actress/director/singer Phylicia Rashad (she appeared in an episode of In the House and also Greys Anatomy).
Career
Allen began her career on Broadway. Allen made her Broadway debut in the Purlie chorus in 1970. She performed Beneatha in the Tony Award-winning musical Raisin (1973) and appeared in Truckload and Ain't Misbehaving.' She received critical praise for her role as Anita in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award in 1980.
Allen made her television debut in 1976 when she appeared in CBS sitcom Good Times' "J.'s Fiancée" as J.J.'s heroin-addicted fiancée Diana. Following year, she appeared on the NBC variety show 3 Girls 3. Allen was selected later this year to appear in Alex Haley's 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, in which she plays Haley's wife. She made her big screen debut in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh earlier this year. Sarah was one of the leading actresses of 1981, but she played a significant role in the movie adaptation of the best-selling book Ragtime's Sarah. Audra McDonald was given a Tony Award for her work in the Broadway musical.
Allen was first introduced as Lydia Grant in the film Fame (1980). Lydia, although her role in the film was brief, became a central figure in the television adaptation, which ran from 1982 to 1987. "You've got big dreams?" Grant told her students during the first montage of each episode.You want fame?
Well, fame comes at a price. And here is where you get to begin paying... in sweat." During the show's run, Allen was nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Actress four times. She is the only actress to have appeared in three separate screen versions of Fame, including Lydia Grant in both the 1980 film and 1982 television series as well as playing the school principal in the 2009 remake. Allen was also the lead choreographer for the film and television series, earning two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography and one in the category Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She was the first Black woman to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series—Musical or Comedy.Allen received her second Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Musical, for her role in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity in 1986. Also this year, she appeared in Jo Jo Dancer's comedy-drama film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling produced by and starring Richard Pryor.
Allen began focusing on being a choreographer and off-camera after Fame. “Carrie” was a performance by Stephen King's "Carrie" alumni Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford, and Gene Anthony Ray. After only 12 previews and 5 performances, the show opened to mixed reviews and closed. Allen's choreography, on the other hand, was as vibrant and vibrant as it could possibly be.
Allen's influence as the producer-director of the television series A Different World was portrayed in a CNN article. The program, which was broadcast on NBC, was about students at Hillman, a fictional historically black college, and it lasted for six seasons. Debbie Allen, the actress and occasionally director of A Different World's first season, has transformed it "from a dull Cosby spin-off" to a vibrant, socially conscious ensemble situation comedy," the Hollywood Reporter claims. She produced 83 episodes in total.
Allen has released two solo albums, Sweet Charity (1986) and Special Look (1989), which also produced several singles. Polly, her first year, was also a producer on Polly. She produced Out-of-Sync (1995) and a number of television films later. She was choreographer of The Academy Awards Show for ten years, six of which were consecutive. Allen lent her voice (as well directing the voice cast) to the children's animated film C Bear and Jamal for Film Roman and Fox Kids in 1995. She starred in the NBC sitcom In the House, which lasted two seasons, as well as last year. Amistad, a 1997 Steven Spielberg historical drama film, was co-produced by the Producers Guild of America, winner of the Producers Guild of America Award.
Allen formed the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, a 501(c)3 non profit group in 2001. Allen has been a judge and mentor for the So You Think You Can Dance (USA) version since 2007. Will, one of her former dancers, made it to the top 20 in Season 4 and had to step aside at the end of Vegas week to avoid exposure of bias.
Allen produced the all-African-American Broadway production Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring stage veterans James Earl Jones (Big Daddy), Phylicia Rashad (Big Mama), and Anika Noni Rose (Maggie the Cat), as well as Broadway actor Terrence Howard, who made his Broadway debut as Brick in 2008. The production, which had some parts recast, had a limited run in London (2009 to April 2010). In addition, she starred and appeared in the 2001 play and its television adaptation The Old Settler.
Allen produced 44 episodes of All of Us, as well as Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris, How to Get Away with Murder, Empire, Scandal, and Jane the Virgin. In 2011, she appeared on ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Catherine Fox. She appeared as an executive producer in the 12th season. Dolly Parton, a female film on the Square, was directed by her in 2020.
Awards and honors
- Allen was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 as a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
- For her contributions to the television industry, Debbie Allen was honored in 1991 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard in the center of Hollywood directly opposite the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
- Allen was presented with the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, at the 1992 UCLA Spring Sing.
- Three-time Emmy Award winner for Choreography for the series Fame and The Motown 25th Anniversary Special.
- 10 Image Awards as a director, actress, choreographer, and producer for Fame, A Different World, Motown 25, The Academy Awards, The Debbie Allen Special and Amistad.
- On February 4, 2009, Debbie Allen was honored for her contributions to dance and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Nia Peeples at The Carnival: Choreographer's Ball 10th anniversary show.
- Allen was awarded an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as from her alma mater, Howard University.
- 2020 Kennedy Center Honoree
- On September 19, 2021, Allen received the Television Academy’s 2021 Governors Award at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.