Sian Barbara Allen, an actor nominated for the Golden Globe who appeared in dozens of television series, including “The Waltons” from the 1970s to the 90s and was also known for his work in the 1972 film “You Like My Mother”, has died.
Allen died on Monday in Chapel Hill, NC, of Alzheimer's disease, his family announced in an online obituary. The loved ones of the actor said that Allen was better known for portraying characters that “showed great vulnerability and empathy, which earned him a legion of fans worldwide.” She was 78 years old.
Throughout his career, Allen obtained dozens of credits ranging from the successful “columbo” series, “Kojack” and “Hawaii Five-O” to the films “Billy Two Hats” and “You Like My Mother”. Allen also appeared on several television films, including “Scream, Pretty Peggy” and “The Lindbergh Secking Case”, especially sharing the screen with Bette Davis and Anthony Hopkins, among others.
Allen was born in Reading, Penn., On July 12, 1946, and was raised by his mother and grandmother. Before his debut on the screen in “O'Hara, Treasury of the United States” in 1971, he accepted a scholarship for Pasadena Playhouse. He studied with Peggy Feury through the Journeyman program at the Mark Taper forum, according to his obituary.
The first two years of Allen's television career were defined by minor series in series, including the Westerns “Gunsoke” and “Bonanza” and television movies “The Scarecrow” and “The Family Rico”. In 1972, he tried his hand in the film, portraying a young woman with mental disabilities in “You Like My Mother” against Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas.
For Allen, “you will like my mother” it was more than another credit in his credit. The film earned a new nomination for the star of the year in the Golden Globes of 1973 (Diana Ross won the prize for her leading role in “Lady Sings The Blues”) and marked the beginning of his association with Thomas. They had a brief romance before Allen married (and then divorced) Peter Gelblum in 1979.
After his time in “You will like my mother,” Allen and Thomas met in 1972 for the CBS drama “The Waltons.” Allen briefly portrayed Jenny Pendleton, the love interest of John-Boy Walton de Thomas. Throughout the 70s, Allen had a constant flow of minor roles in shows, including “Marcus Welby, MD”, “Ironside”, “Baretta” and “The Incredible Hulk”.
The race on Allen's screen began to decrease in the 80s and his final action credit was in 1990 for a single episode of “Law the Law”, according to IMDB. Allen, who also enjoyed a theatrical career, retired from The Public Eye in 1990 and focused on local policy, including support for the workers' labor movement of César Chávez workers.
Allen received the key to the city of his hometown and was also a poet, music enthusiast and lover of “macarrones with cheese, root beer floats and bacon cheese burgers (without lettuce or tomato),” said his family. Her ex -husband, Peter, her daughter, Emily (to whom the name of her “Our Town” Emily Webb), the Hannah Davie and Meg Pokrass sisters, nephew Miles Bond, several cousins and grandson Arlo Fonseca, survive.
