Debbie Allen

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Debbie Allen (2012)

Deborrah Kaye "Debbie" Allen (born January 16, 1950 in Houston , Texas ) is an American actress , director , dancer , choreographer , producer and singer . She became known through the television series Fame - The Road to Fame , in which she played the dance teacher Lydia Grant .

Life

Debbie Allen (1983)

Debbie Allen was born in Houston, the youngest daughter of Andrew Arthur Allen Sr. and Vivian Ayers. Her siblings are the American actress Phylicia Rashad and the jazz composer Tex Allen (Andrew Arthur Allen Jr, born 1945). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in classical Greek literature and drama from Howard University .

After graduating, Debbie Allen appeared in various musicals on Broadway . She sang in the choir of the musical Purlie , played the role of Beneatha Younger in Raisin and the role of Anita in the 1980 revival of West Side Story . In 1986 she starred in the musical Sweet Charity .

Debbie Allen played dance teacher Lydia Grant in the 1980 movie Fame and the television series of the same name . In the television series, she was involved in the design of the dance numbers as the lead choreographer . In the remake of the film Fame , she played director Angela Simms .

As a singer, she released the two solo albums Sweet Charity (1986) and Special Look (1989). In 2001 she opened the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles . Young people between the ages of fourteen and eighteen can learn different dance styles there. Debbie Allen directed the 2008 Broadway production, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which her sister Phylicia Rashad also starred.

Debbie Allen received honorary degrees from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and her former college, Howard University . Her first marriage was from 1975 to 1983 with Winfred Wilford. She has been married to former NBA basketball player Norm Nixon since 1984 . Her daughter Vivian Nichole Nixon is a Broadway dancer and her son Norman Ellard Nixon Jr. is a basketball player.

In 2017 she was accepted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , which awards the Oscars every year.

Prizes and awards

Filmography (selection)

actress

As a director

As a producer

Discography

Albums

  • 1986: Sweet Charity
  • 1989: Special Look

Web links

Commons : Debbie Allen  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b entry at filmreference.com
  2. ↑ Class of 2017. oscars.org; accessed on June 30, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Debbie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Allen, Deborrah Kaye
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress, director, dancer, choreographer and television producer
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas, United States