Known For
Acting
Born
Jun 24, 1950
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Credits
56 titles
Nancy Allen
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.
Known For
Filmography
RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop
Self
In Search of Tomorrow
Self - Interviewee
In Search of Darkness: Part II
Self
The Movies That Made Us
Self
Corporate Wars: The Making of 'RoboCop 2'
Self
More Acting 'Carrie'
Self
Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond
Self
Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on 'Blow Out'
herself
Bound by Flesh
Voiceover
My Apocalypse
Linda Savage
John Travolta: The Inside Story
Self
The Curse of Poltergeist
Circuit
Louise
The Making of 'Dressed to Kill'
Self
Acting 'Carrie'
Self
The Division
Christine Ogden
Slashing 'Dressed to Kill'
Self
Kiss Toledo Goodbye
Madge
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
Rachel Colby
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Carin Healy
Secret of the Andes
Brenda Willings
Out of Sight
Midge
The Pass
Shirley Duprey
Against the Law
Maggie Hewitt
Dusting Cliff 7
Anna Bishop
E! True Hollywood Story
Valerie 23
Rachel Rose
The Outer Limits
Rachel Rose
Touched by an Angel
Megan
The Patriots
Catherine Pelman
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
Jessie Gallardo
Acting on Impulse
Cathy Thomas
RoboCop 3
Anne Lewis
The Commish
Memories of Murder
Alice
RoboCop 2
Officer Anne Lewis
Limit Up
Casey Falls
Poltergeist III
Patricia Wilson-Gardner
RoboCop
Officer Anne Lewis
Sweet Revenge
Jillian Grey
The Gladiator
Susan Neville
Not for Publication
Lois
Terror in the Aisles
Self - Host
The Philadelphia Experiment
Allison Hayes
The Buddy System
Carrie
The Princess and the Pea
Princess Elizabeth
Strange Invaders
Betty Walker
Faerie Tale Theatre
Princess Elizabeth
Blow Out
Sally Badina
Dressed to Kill
Liz Blake