Debbie Allen

Info

Role

Director | Writer | Actress

Date of birth

01/16/1950

Place of birth

Houston, Texas, USA

Awards

1 win & 6 nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards

4 nominations

Golden Globes, USA
Golden Globes, USA

1 win & 2 nominations

Debbie Allen

Biography

Deborah Kaye Allen was born in Houston, Texas, to African-American parents, Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Debbie, her older brother, Andrew (called Tex), and her older sister, actress Phylicia Rashad, lived in Mexico to escape US racism. Their mother decided to live there to give the Allen children a brief experience of not having to endure the chronic racism and segregation that was typical of Texas during the 1950s. Debbie and Phylicia are fluent in Spanish. Debbie graduated from Jack Yates Senior High School in Houston, TX in 1967. She graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1971 with a BFA in Classical Greek Literature, Speech, and Theater from Howard University. She used her experiences from attending Historically Black College Howard to inform her production and direction of the TV show A Different World (1987). Although her parents divorced, Debbie remained extremely close to her father until his death. With Phylicia she has production company "D.A.D." which stood for "Doctor Allen's Daughters". Her Pulitzer-nominated poet mother Vivian is, the artistic and free spirit that has influenced and encouraged the remarkable creativity that so marks Allen as a performer.

Known For

Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy

7.8
7.8
Amistad

Amistad

7.7
7.7
Fame

Fame

7.1
7.1
Fame

Fame

6.6
6.6

Filmography

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Movies

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Fame

Fame

6.6
6.6
Acting
Role: Lydia
Blank Check

Blank Check

6.5
6.5
Acting
Role: Yvonne
Fame

Fame

5.0
5.0
Acting
Role: Ms. Angela Simms
Next Day Air

Next Day Air

5.7
5.7
Acting
Role: Ms. Jackson
Ragtime

Ragtime

7.2
7.2
Acting
Role: Sarah
Directing
Acting
Role: Michelle
Acting
Role: Ola
Acting
Role: Debbie Allen
Acting
Role: Self
Acting
Role: Self
All About You

All About You

6.4
6.4
Acting
Role: Ruth
The Painting

The Painting

5.8
5.8
Acting
Role: Bertha Lee Gilmore
Out-of-Sync

Out-of-Sync

4.7
4.7
Acting / Directing
Role: Manicurist
Acting
Role: Rhonda Dillins
Acting
Role: Librarian
Acting
Role: Self
The Compass

The Compass

5.9
5.9
Acting
Role: Self
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Series

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Shows

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