Debbie Allen

With notable credits on stage as an actress and on TV as an actor, producer, director and choreographer, Debbie Allen has become one of the more diversified talents in TV. The career of this dynamic, award-winning singer-dancer has been an inspirational beacon to Black women in the entertainment industry. On Broadway, Allen was a fiery Anita in the 1980 revival of "West Side Story" and a high-kicking prostitute with a heart of gold in Bob Fosse's 1986 revival of "Sweet Charity". She began appearing regularly on TV in the mid-1970s in guest shots, summer replacement series, variety specials and TV-movies. Featured as hard-driving dance teacher Lydia Grant in the film "Fame" (1980), she reprised the greatly expanded role on the critically acclaimed TV series (NBC, 1982-83; first-run syndication, 1983-87) which she also choreographed.

Allen joined the already popular "Cosby Show" spin-off, "A Different World" (NBC, 1987-93), during its second season as producer and primary director. Under her guidance, the show found its focus, hit its stride and became a ratings powerhouse. Along with Cosby, Allen became one of contemporary TV's leading proponents of Black bourgeois values. She has numerous directing credits on such family-oriented sitcoms as "The Cosby Show", "Family Ties", and "The Sinbad Show". She also helmed the 1990 NBC pilot for the hit sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". Allen also proved adept as a director of hour long TV drama with two episodes of "Quantum Leap".

Allen may be most widely known to international audiences as the choreographer of the annual Academy Awards presentations since 1991. Though the sometimes unseemly and vulgar production numbers have received their share of critical brickbats, several linger in the memory for their sheer audacity.

Allen returned to the regular grind of a weekly sitcom as the co-star, opposite rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J, of "In the House" (NBC, 1995-96), a family sitcom about a once wealthy divorced mother who finds herself sharing a household with a former pro football player. Her feature acting credits include Milos Forman's "Ragtime" (1981), Richard Pryor's semi-autobiographical "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling" (1986) and the Disney family comedy "Blank Check" (1994).

Since the 80s, Allen has been more active behind the camera, helming the Disney musical comedy remake "Polly" (NBC, 1989) and its 1990 sequel "Polly Comin' Home!" (both of which featured her sister Phylicia Rashad) and the feature "Out of Sync" (1995). She also provided choreography for Billy Crystal's "Forget Paris" (1995). In 1997, Allen realized a long-held dream of producing the film "Amistad", directed by Steven Spielberg, which recounted the story of an 1839 revolt on a Spanish slave ship and court battle for the Africans freedom.

• Also Credited As:
  Deborrah Kaye Allen
• Born:
  Deborrah Kaye Allen on January 16, 1950 in Houston, Texas, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Choreographer, Director, Dancer, Producer, Singer

Family

• Brother: Andrew Arthur Allen Jr. Born in 1945
• Brother: Hugh Allen.
• Daughter: Vivian Nixon. Born in 1984; father, Norm Nixon; made her debut on Broadway as Kalimba in Hot Feet
• Father: Andrew Arthur Allen. Louisiana Creole; died in 1984
• Mother: Vivian Ayers. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize
• Sister: Phylicia Rashad. Played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show from 1984-1992; directed by her sister in an all-African American production of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2008
• Son: Norman Ellard Nixon. Born Aug. 26, 1987; father, Norm Nixon

Significant Others

• Husband: Winnfred Wilford. Married from 1975-1983

Education

• Howard University, Washington, DC, classical Greek literature, speech, theater, BA, 1971

Milestones

• 1972 First appeared on Broadway in Purlie
• 1972 Made her Off-Broadway debut in Ti-Jean and His Brothers
• 1976 Early TV guest spot, Good Times, (CBS) as Jimmy Walker s heroin-addicted girlfriend, Diana
• 1977 Appeared as a regular on 3 Girls 3, an NBC variety series
• 1979 Feature acting debut, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
• 1979 Made miniseries debut in Roots: The Next Generation (ABC)
• 1980 First introduced as Lydia Grant in the film, Fame
• 1980 Received critical attention for playing the role of Anita in the Broadway revival of West Side Story ; earned a Tony Award nomination
• 1981 First film in a leading role, Milos Forman s feature adaptation of Ragtime
• 1982 Played dance teacher Lydia Grant in the TV adaptation of Fame (NBC, 1982-1983; syndicated, 1983-1987); also choreographed the series
• 1983 Acted in the television movie, Women of San Quentin (NBC)
• 1985 Appeared in Richard Pryor s movie, Jo-Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling
• 1986 Played the title role in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity ; earned a Tony Award nomination
• 1988 Joined A Different World, (NBC) the popular spinoff from The Cosby Show during its second season as producer and primary director
• 1989 Directed and choreographed the NBC TV-movie, Polly, starring her sister Phylicia Rashad
• 1989 Produced, directed, choreographed and hosted The Debbie Allen Special on ABC; earned Emmy nominations for directing and choreography
• 1990 Helmed the successful pilot for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, (NBC) starring Will Smith
• 1990 Re-teamed with Phylicia Rashad to direct Polly: Coming Home (NBC)
• 1991 Choreographed the 63rd through the 67th Academy Award shows
• 1992 Produced and directed the CBS TV-movie, Stompin at the Savoy
• 1993 Directed the HBO special, Sinbad Live From the Paramount ; released on video, in an expanded form, as Afros & Bellbottoms
• 1995 Made feature directorial debut with Out Of Sync
• 1997 Produced the Steven Spielberg-directed epic, Amistead
• 1998 Directed the musical Brothers of the Knight at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
• 1999 Returned as choreographer for the 71st Academy Awards show
• 2001 Co-starred with sister Phylicia Rashad in the PBS production of The Old Settler ; also directed and co-produced
• 2002 Staged a production of Carmen Jones at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
• 2003 Directed episodes of All of Us (UPN, 2003-2006; The CW, 2006-2007); executive produced by Jada Pinkett and Will Smith
• 2003 Produced and co-hosted NBC s reality dance competition, Fame
• 2004 Helmed several episodes of Disney Channel s That s So Raven
• 2005 Directed episodes of the sitcom, Girlfriends (UPN, 2005-2006; The CW, 2006-2008)
• 2006 Directed the CW sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris ; created and executive produced by Chris Rock
• 2007 Was a frequent guest judge on the FOX reality dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance
• 2008 Directed the all-African-American Broadway production of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, co-starring sister Phylicia Rashad
• 2009 Played the school s principal in the feature remake of Fame