Debbie Allen
Sign in to saveAmerican actress, choreographer, television director, television producer, singer, and dancer (born 1950)
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1950-01-16
- Works
- 24
Top works
- Trusting in Love
- Classified Unrest
- Dare to Ride
- Keepsake Relationships
- Easy Steps to Starting Your Own Writing Business
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · Houston, Texas, USA
Debbie Allen is an American film and television actress and director.
Known for
- A Murder in Oakland: Beauty is Deadly — Detective Foster2025
- Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television — Self2025
- The Hidden Power of Purpose — Narrator (voice)2023
- Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising — Self2022
- The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder — Myrtle (voice)2022
- The Jennifer Hudson Show — Self2022
- JANET JACKSON. — Self2022
- The Jennifer Hudson Show — Self - Guest2022
- Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous — Betty Samson2021
- Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts — Self2021
via TMDB
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 314
- Total plays
- 3,492
Tags
rnbfunkpopfemale vocaldance-pop
Deborrah Kaye “Debbie” Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, singer, choreographer, television director, television producer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She is perhaps best known for her work on the 1982 musical-drama television series Fame, where she portrayed dance teacher Lydia Grant, and served as the series' principal choreographer. She is the younger sister of actress/director/singer Phylicia Rashād. <a href="https://www.l
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python
· 2020 · cited 34,522x
- UK Biobank: An Open Access Resource for Identifying the Causes of a Wide Range of Complex Diseases of Middle and Old Age
· 2015 · cited 11,886x
- Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
· 2016 · cited 11,419x
- Use of Ranks in One-Criterion Variance Analysis
· 1952 · cited 10,522x
- The Sequence of the Human Genome
· 2001 · cited 10,176x
via Crossref · CC0
Key facts
- Born
- Deborah Kaye Allen , ( 1950-01-16 ) January 16, 1950 (age 76) , Houston, Texas , U.S.
- Education
- Howard University ( BA )
- Occupations
- Actress dancer choreographer singer television director television producer
- Years active
- 1969–present
- Spouses
- Win Wilford ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1975 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1983 ) Norm Nixon ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1984 ) \n</span>Debbie Allen"}]]}'/>
- Children
- 3, including Vivian Nixon
- Relatives
- Phylicia Rashad (sister), Condola Rashad (niece)
- Website
- Debbie Allen Dance Academy , Debbie Allen Twitter
via Wikipedia infobox
Key dates
- Born
- 16 January 1950
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Deborah
- Family name
- Allen
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Houston
- Spouse
- Norm Nixon
- Child
- Vivian Nixon
- Occupation
- writer
Article
Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated for 22 Emmy Awards (winning six), and two Tony Awards. She has won a Golden Globe Award, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. In 2026, she received an Academy Honorary Award.
Allen is best known for her work in the musical-drama television series Fame (1982–1987), where she portrayed dance teacher Lydia Grant, and served as the series' principal choreographer. For this role in 1983, she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography and also received four nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Allen later began working as director and producer, most notably producing and directing 83 of 144 episodes of the NBC comedy series A Different World (1988–1993). She returned to acting, playing the leading role in the NBC sitcom In the House from 1995 to 1996, and in 2011, began playing Dr. Catherine Avery in the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy, also serving as an executive producer/director. She has directed more than 50 television and film productions.
Gallery (2)
Connections
Categories
1950 births20th-century African-American actresses20th-century African-American musicians20th-century American actresses21st-century African-American actresses21st-century African-American musicians21st-century American actressesAcademy Honorary Award recipientsActresses from HoustonAfrican-American choreographersAfrican-American dancers