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Photo of Nancy Allen

Nancy Allen

ActorBorn June 24, 1950 (75 years)
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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Blow Out
  • Dressed to Kill
  • The Philadelphia Experiment
  • The Commish
  • The Gladiator
  • Bound by Flesh
  • The Pass
  • Dusting Cliff 7

Known For

  • RoboCop
  • RoboCop 2
  • Carrie
  • Blow Out
  • RoboCop 3
  • Dressed to Kill
  • Poltergeist III
  • The Philadelphia Experiment
  • I Wanna Hold Your Hand
  • The Last Detail
  • 1941
  • Strange Invaders
  • Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
  • Home Movies
  • The Buddy System
  • The Gladiator
  • Against the Law
  • Sweet Revenge
  • The Patriots
  • Dusting Cliff 7
  • Not for Publication
  • Limit Up
  • Memories of Murder
  • The Man Who Wouldn't Die

Featured Videos

  • Robocop 2: Nancy Allen On Playing Officer Lewis
    Robocop 2: Nancy Allen On Playing Officer LewisRoboCop 2Behind the Scenes
  • Poltergeist 3: Nancy Allen On The Choreography Of The Film
    Poltergeist 3: Nancy Allen On The Choreography Of The FilmPoltergeist IIIBehind the Scenes
  • Nancy Allen And William Katt On High School
    Nancy Allen And William Katt On High SchoolCarrieBehind the Scenes

Nancy Allen Filmography

2012
Bound by Flesh · as Voiceover
2008
My Apocalypse · as Linda Savage
2001
Circuit · as Louise
2001
The Division (TV Series) · as Christine Ogden
1999
1999
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) · as Carin Healy
1998
Secret of the Andes · as Brenda Willings
1998
Out of Sight · as Midge
1998
The Pass · as Shirley Duprey
1997
Against the Law · as Maggie Hewitt
1997
Dusting Cliff 7 · as Anna Bishop
1996
The Making of '1941' · as Donna Stratton
1996
1995
Coldblooded · as Jillian Grey
1995
The Outer Limits (1995) (TV Series) · as Rachel Rose
1994
Touched by an Angel (TV Series) · as Megan
1994
The Patriots · as Catherine Pelman
1994
The Man Who Wouldn't Die · as Jessie Gallardo
1993
Acting on Impulse · as Cathy Thomas
1993
RoboCop 3 · as Anne Lewis
1991
1990
Memories of Murder · as Alice
1990
RoboCop 2 · as Officer Anne Lewis
1989
Limit Up · as Casey Falls
1988
Poltergeist III · as Patricia Wilson-Gardner
1987
RoboCop · as Officer Anne Lewis
1987
Sweet Revenge · as Jillian Grey
1986
The Gladiator · as Susan Neville
1984
1984
1984
The Buddy System · as Carrie
1983
Strange Invaders · as Betty Walker
1982
Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Series) · as Princess Elizabeth
1981
Blow Out · as Sally Badina
1981
Another Life 1981 (TV Series) · as Paula James (1983-84)
1980
Dressed to Kill · as Liz Blake
1979
Home Movies · as Kristina
1979
1941 · as Donna Stratton
1978
I Wanna Hold Your Hand · as Pam Mitchell
1976
Carrie · as Chris Hargenson
1976
The Last Victim · as Hitch Hiker
1973
The Last Detail · as Nancy

2023
RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop (TV Series) · as Self
2022
2022
In Search of Tomorrow · as Self - Interviewee
2020
2019
The Movies That Made Us (TV Series) · as Self - Actor, 'lewis'
2019
You Don't Nomi · as Self
2018
2016
2004
2002
The Colin Quinn Show (TV Series) · as Self - Guest
2001
Open Mic · as Self
2000
Backstory (2000) (TV Series) · as Self
1997
The Directors (TV Series) · as Self
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien (TV Series) · as Self
1988
American Experience (TV Series) · as Self
1987
1987
Biography (TV Series) · as Self
1984
Terror in the Aisles · as Self - Host
1962
The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series) · as Self
1952
Today (TV Series) · as Self

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