Nancy Allen
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 24, 1950 (age 76)
- Place of birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Credits
- 56
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.
Known for
Filmography
RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop
2023TV
Self
In Search of Tomorrow
2022Movie
Self - Interviewee
In Search of Darkness: Part II
2020Movie
Self
The Movies That Made Us
2019TV
Self
Corporate Wars: The Making of 'RoboCop 2'
2017Movie
Self
More Acting 'Carrie'
2016Movie
Self
Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond
2016Movie
Self
Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on 'Blow Out'
2012Movie
herself
Bound by Flesh
2012Movie
Voiceover
My Apocalypse
2008Movie
Linda Savage
John Travolta: The Inside Story
2004Movie
Self
The Curse of Poltergeist
2002Movie
Circuit
2001Movie
Louise
Acting 'Carrie'
2001Movie
Self
The Making of 'Dressed to Kill'
2001Movie
Self
The Division
2001TV
Christine Ogden
Slashing 'Dressed to Kill'
2001Movie
Self
Kiss Toledo Goodbye
1999Movie
Madge
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
1999Movie
Rachel Colby
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999TV
Carin Healy
Secret of the Andes
1999Movie
Brenda Willings
Out of Sight
1998Movie
Midge
The Pass
1998Movie
Shirley Duprey
Against the Law
1997Movie
Maggie Hewitt
Dusting Cliff 7
1997Movie
Anna Bishop
E! True Hollywood Story
1996TV
Valerie 23
1995Movie
Rachel Rose
The Outer Limits
1995TV
Rachel Rose
Touched by an Angel
1994TV
Megan
The Patriots
1994Movie
Catherine Pelman
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
1994Movie
Jessie Gallardo
Acting on Impulse
1993Movie
Cathy Thomas
RoboCop 3
1993Movie
Anne Lewis
The Commish
1991TV
Memories of Murder
1990Movie
Alice
RoboCop 2
1990Movie
Officer Anne Lewis
Limit Up
1989Movie
Casey Falls
Poltergeist III
1988Movie
Patricia Wilson-Gardner
RoboCop
1987Movie
Officer Anne Lewis
Sweet Revenge
1987Movie
Jillian Grey
The Gladiator
1986Movie
Susan Neville
Not for Publication
1984Movie
Lois
Terror in the Aisles
1984Movie
Self - Host
The Philadelphia Experiment
1984Movie
Allison Hayes
The Buddy System
1984Movie
Carrie
The Princess and the Pea
1984Movie
Princess Elizabeth
Strange Invaders
1983Movie
Betty Walker
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982TV
Princess Elizabeth
Blow Out
1981Movie
Sally Badina
Dressed to Kill
1980Movie
Liz Blake
Home Movies
1980Movie
Kristina
1941
1979Movie
Donna Stratton
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
1978Movie
Pam Mitchell
Carrie
1976Movie
Chris Hargenson
Forced Entry
1975Movie
Hitch Hiker
The Last Detail
1973Movie
Nancy