Nancy Allen
Born: 1950-06-24 in New York City, New York, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
Nancy Anne Allen (born June 24, 1950) is an American actress. She came to prominence for her performances in several films directed by Brian De Palma in the 1970s and early 1980s. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award nomination and three Saturn Award nominations. The daughter of a New York City police lieutenant, Allen was raised in the Bronx, and attended the High School of Performing Arts, aspiring to have a career as a dancer. In her early twenties, she shifted her focus to acting and relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career there. Her first major role was as Chris Hargensen in Brian De Palma's film adaptation of Carrie (1976). Allen was subsequently cast as the lead in the Robert Zemeckis-directed comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), followed by a supporting part in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979). Allen married De Palma in 1979, and her subsequent portrayal of a prostitute who witnesses a murder in his feature Dressed to Kill (1980) earned her a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year. She then appeared in De Palma's neo-noir film Blow Out (1981), playing a woman implicated in an assassination. Allen and DePalma divorced in 1984. She appeared in the science fiction films Strange Invaders (1983) and The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), and Abel Ferrara's television film The Gladiator (1986). Allen garnered mainstream fame playing Anne Lewis in Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop (1987), a role she reprised for the two sequels that followed. Other credits include Poltergeist III (1988), Limit Up (1990), and Les patriotes (1994). Allen stepped back from acting in 2008, and became involved in cancer support after her friend, Wendie Jo Sperber, died of breast cancer. In 2010, she was named executive director of the weSPARK Cancer Support Center in Los Angeles, which was founded by Sperber.
Filmography
2023
- RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop as Self
2022
- In Search of Tomorrow as Self - Interviewee
2020
- In Search of Darkness: Part II as Self
2019
- The Movies That Made Us as Self
2017
2016
2012
- Bound by Flesh as Voiceover
- Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on 'Blow Out' as herself
2008
- My Apocalypse as Linda Savage
2004
- John Travolta: The Inside Story as Self
2001
- The Division as Christine Ogden
- Acting 'Carrie' as Self
- The Making of 'Dressed to Kill' as Self
- Slashing 'Dressed to Kill' as Self
- Circuit as Louise
1999
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Carin Healy
- Kiss Toledo Goodbye as Madge
- Secret of the Andes as Brenda Willings
- Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return as Rachel Colby
1998
- Out of Sight as Midge
- The Pass as Shirley Duprey
1997
- Against the Law as Maggie Hewitt
- Dusting Cliff 7 as Anna Bishop
1995
- The Outer Limits as Rachel Rose
- Valerie 23 as Rachel Rose
1994
- Touched by an Angel as Megan
- The Patriots as Catherine Pelman
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die as Jessie Gallardo
1993
- RoboCop 3 as Anne Lewis
- Acting on Impulse as Cathy Thomas
1991
1990
- RoboCop 2 as Officer Anne Lewis
- Memories of Murder as Alice
1989
- Limit Up as Casey Falls
1988
- Poltergeist III as Patricia Wilson-Gardner
1987
- RoboCop as Officer Anne Lewis
- Sweet Revenge as Jillian Grey
1986
- The Gladiator as Susan Neville
1984
- Terror in the Aisles as Self - Host
- The Princess and the Pea as Princess Elizabeth
- The Buddy System as Carrie
- The Philadelphia Experiment as Allison Hayes
- Not for Publication as Lois
1983
- Strange Invaders as Betty Walker
1982
- Faerie Tale Theatre as Princess Elizabeth
1981
- Blow Out as Sally Badina
1980
- Dressed to Kill as Liz Blake
- Home Movies as Kristina
1979
- 1941 as Donna Stratton
1978
- I Wanna Hold Your Hand as Pam Mitchell
1976
- Carrie as Chris Hargenson
1975
- Forced Entry as Hitch Hiker
1973
- The Last Detail as Nancy