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Ronnie “Fast Eddie” Allen
Ronnie “Fast Eddie” Allen (1938 - 2013)
Born in Danville, Illinois, Ronnie Allen was there only a week, when his family had to move. His father was part-owner of a carnival, and the entire family, who worked at the carnival, moved every week to a new town. When Ronnie was 11 years old, his father was killed in a motor vehicle accident, […]
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Annisteen Allen
Annisteen Allen (1920 - 1992)
Annisteen Allen (born Ernestine Letitia Allen) (November 11, 1920, Champaign, Illinois – August 10, 1992, Harlem, New York City) was an American blues singer. Allen’s first recordings were made in 1945, and included “Miss Annie’s Blues” and “Love for Sale”. She sang with Big John Greer, Wynonie Harris, and Lucky Millinder, and in 1951, Federal […]
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Chesney Allen
Chesney Allen (1893 - 1982)
He was born William Ernest Chesney Allen in Battersea, London, England, married Aleta Cosette Turner in Leeds in 1926 and died in Midhurst, Sussex, England. He began his career in straight acting, making his debut in stock at the Wimbledon Theatre, London, in 1912. As music hall comedians, they would often feature a mixture of […]
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Irving Allen
Irving Allen (1905 - 1987)
Irving Allen (November 24, 1905 – December 17, 1987) was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn. In the early 1950s he formed Warwick Films with partner Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and relocated to England to leverage film making against a […]
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Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen (1916 - 1991)
Allen was born in New York City. His film credits include the 3-D film Dangerous Mission (1954), The Animal World (1956), The Story of Mankind (1957), The Big Circus (1959), The Lost World (1960), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) (later the basis of his TV series of the same name), and Five […]
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Rex Elvie Allen
Rex Elvie Allen (1920 - 1999)
Allen was born to Horace E. Allen and Luella Faye Clark on a ranch in Mud Springs Canyon, 40 miles from Willcox, Arizona. As a boy he played guitar and sang at local functions with his fiddle-playing father until high school graduation when he toured the Southwest as a rodeo rider. He got his start […]
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James Allen
James Allen (1864 - 1912)
Born in Leicester, England, into a working-class family, Allen was the elder of two brothers. His mother could neither read nor write while his father, William, was a factory knitter. In 1879 following a downturn in the textile trade of central England, Allen’s father travelled alone to America to find work and establish a new […]
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Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen (1902 - 1964)
Comedienne, Actress. The wife of George Burns, for more than 30 years she appeared on radio, television, and film, playing a single scatterbrained character, with her husband playing opposite as the straight man. She was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen in San Francisco to George and Margaret Allen joining a family consisting of three […]
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Barbara Jo Allen
Barbara Jo Allen (1906 - 1974)
Actress. She is best remembered as ‘Vera Vague’ the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. As ‘Vera Vague’, she popularized the catch phrase “You dear boy!” Born in New York City, New York, her acting skills first appeared in school plays. She traveled to Paris, […]
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Marit Allen
Marit Allen (1941 - 2007)
Marit Allen was born in Cheshire, England on 17 September 1941 to a Norwegian mother and an English father. She was a pupil at Adcote School, an independent girls’ boarding school in Shropshire from 1951 and 1959. She then graduated from the University of Grenoble, in France. Allen’s career in fashion began in 1961 when […]
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Wanda Jean Allen
Wanda Jean Allen (1959 - 2001)
Wanda Jean Allen was born in 1959, the second of eight children. Her mother was an alcoholic; her father left home after Wanda’s last sibling was born and the family lived in public housing and scraped by on public assistance. At the age of 12, Allen was hit by a truck and knocked unconscious, and […]
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Edward Alleyn
Edward Alleyn (1566 - 1626)
He was born in Bishopsgate, London, a younger son of Edward Alleyn, an innkeeper and porter to the queen, and Margaret Townley. His mother’s link to the Lancashire Townley family is somewhat of a mystery. Alleyn himself stated she was the daughter of John Townley of Townley, however this does not easily fit with the […]
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Sara Allgood
Sara Allgood (1879 - 1950)
Allgood was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her sister was actress Maire O’Neill. Allgood began her acting career at the Abbey Theatre and was in the opening of the Irish National Theatre Society, appearing in many of their plays all over Britain. She was frequently featured in early Hitchcock films, such as Blackmail (1929), Juno and […]
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May Allison
May Allison (1890 - 1989)
Allison was born in Rising Fawn, Georgia, the youngest of five children born to Dr. John Simon (Sam) Allison and Nannie Virginia (Wise) Allison. Violet eyed, Allison made her Broadway stage debut in the 1914 production of Apartment 12-K before settling in Hollywood, California in the early days of motion pictures. Allison’s screen debut was […]
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Fran Allison
Fran Allison (1907 - 1989)
Frances Helen was born to Jesse Louis (1871-1941) and Anna M “Nan” (née Halpin 1876-1957) Allison in La Porte City, Iowa. She was a 1927 graduate of Coe College, where she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. She was a teacher before beginning her broadcasting career at WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She moved […]
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Davey Allison
Davey Allison (1961 - 1993)
Davey Allison Though 1992 had been a heartbreaking year for Davey Allison and the Robert Yates Racing team in more ways than one, they had to be encouraged by their run for the championship. But 1993 opened on a sour note with Allison finishing 28th at Daytona. That finish was followed by a 16th at […]
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Clifford Allison
Clifford Allison (1964 - 1992)
Clifford Allison Was an American stock car racing driver. Son of NASCAR champion Bobby Allison, he was a member of the “Alabama Gang“. He was killed in a crash during practice for a NASCAR Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway in 1992. Son of the legendary Bobby Allison, nephew of Donnie and brother to […]
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Claud Allister
Claud Allister (1888 - 1970)
He was born William Claud Michael Palmer, in London, England. After receiving his education at Felsted School in Essex, he began his career as a stockbroker’s clerk in the City of London, but gave up a life in the Square Mile on deciding that he preferred the stage, upon which he made his debut in […]
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Elvia Allman
Elvia Allman (1904 - 1992)
Elvia Allman (September 19, 1904 – March 6, 1992) was a character actress and voice over performer in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and for being the voice of Walt Disney’s Clarabelle Cow. Her mark in […]
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Robert Allman
Robert Allman (1927 - 2013)
Robert Allman was born in Melbourne in 1927. He studied in Paris and sang at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden for three seasons from 1955. He then moved to Germany, where he sang in over a dozen opera houses. He also sang in opera houses including Zurich, New Orleans, Singapore and Vienna. In 1965, he […]
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Sheldon Allman
Sheldon Allman (1924 - 2002)
Sheldon Allman (June 8, 1924 – January 22, 2002) was a Jewish American-born Canadian raised actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his singing career with the Royal National Guard during his World War II service with the RCAF. Relocating to Los Angeles, he appeared in twelve movies, including such notable films as Nevada Smith, The […]
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Duane Allman
Duane Allman (1946 - 1971)
Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American guitarist, session musician, co-founder and leader of the The Allman Brothers Band until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the age of 24. The Allman Brothers Band was formed in 1969 and based in the Southeastern United […]
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Christopher Allport
Christopher Allport (1947 - 2008)
Allport was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His acting life began at the age of nine in New Canaan, Connecticut at the Children’s Theatre. While at Northwestern University, he worked with Paul Sills and Story Theatre. He performed in New York with the Public Theater at Lincoln Center, and with Ensemble Studio Theatre; and in Los […]
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Wayne Allwine
Wayne Allwine (1947 - 2009)
Allwine was born in Glendale, California on February 7, 1947. In 1966, Allwine started work in the mailing room at the Disney studios, before working in the sound effects department under Jimmy MacDonald. After auditioning for the role, Allwine became the voice of Mickey Mouse from 1977 until his death in 2009. He succeeded MacDonald, […]
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Edward Allworth
Edward Allworth (1895 - 1966)
Allworth was born in Battle Ground, Washington, Allworth graduated from Oregon Agricultural College in 1916. He enlisted at Corvallis, Oregon in 1917 and joined the 60th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division. On November 5, 1918, mere days from the armistice, Allworth and his company crossed the Meuse River via a canal bridge near the […]
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Astrid Allwyn
Astrid Allwyn (1905 - 1978)
Astrid Allwyn (November 27, 1905 – March 31, 1978) was an American stage and film actress. She studied dancing and dramatics in New York and later joined a stock company. Allwyn made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Elmer Rice’s Street Scene. On the strength of her performance in Once in a Lifetime, she was […]
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June Allyson
June Allyson (1917 - 2006)
June Allyson Allyson was born Eleanor Geisman, nicknamed “Ella,” in the Bronx, New York City. She was the daughter of Clara (née Provost) and Robert Geisman. She had a brother, Henry, who was two years older. She said she had been raised as a Roman Catholic, but there is discrepancy relating to her early life, […]
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Italia Almirante
Italia Almirante (1890 - 1941)
Actress. Considered one of the great divas of the Italian silent cinema, she was born into a family of actors. Beginning her career at a young age she started performing with various theatrical companies. She made her film debut starring in the film “Maria di Magdala” (1910) directed by Mario Caserini, which was followed by […]
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Paul Almond
Paul Almond (1931 - 2015)
Paul Almond attended Bishop’s College School, McGill University and Balliol College, Oxford University, where he read Philosophy, Politics, Economics, edited the University magazine Isis played for the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club and was president of the university Poetry Society. At the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he worked primarily as a director and producer, and also wrote […]
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Rafael Alonso
Rafael Alonso (1920 - 1998)
Spanish actor best known for his films “Cómicos”, “El Baile,” and “El Abuelo,” his last film.