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Jonelle Allen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonelle Allen
Jonelle R. Allen in 2016
Born (1944-07-18) July 18, 1944 (age 80)[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationProfessional Children's School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • dancer
Years active1967–present
Spouses
John Sharpe
​
​
(m. 1978; div. 1992)​
Richard Grimmon
​
​
(m. 1998; div. 2001)​
Leigh Eaton
​
​
(m. 2003; died 2020)​

Jonelle R. Allen (born July 18, 1944) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s, Allen has co-starred in films, Broadway productions, and television.[2] In 1972, Allen was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona.[1] She appeared in films such as Come Back Charleston Blue (1972) and The River Niger (1976) and was a regular cast member in television series Generations (1989–1991) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–1998).

Early life and education

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Born in New York City, Allen was raised in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. The only child of Marion, a postal worker, and Robert Allen, a NYC transit worker, Allen began performing at the age of four, and attended the Professional Children's School.[3] As a child, she made regular appearances on a local children's television series, The Merry Mailman, hosted by Ray Heatherton.[4][5]

Career

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Allen made her Broadway debut at the age of six in The Wisteria Trees, Joshua Logan's Americanized adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, starring Helen Hayes.[4][5] Allen returned to Broadway in a revival of Finian's Rainbow. She was in the cast of the original off-Broadway 1968 production of Hair at Joseph Papp's Public Theater,[5] and also appeared in George M! before receiving critical acclaim and a Tony Award nomination for Two Gentlemen of Verona, which earned her New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk, Theatre World, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance.[5] Despite her success, it proved to be her last Broadway appearance to date.[citation needed]

Allen's film credits include Cotton Comes to Harlem, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The River Niger, for which she won an NAACP Image Award. Other television appearances include Match Game, Barney Miller, The Love Boat, All in the Family, Trapper John, M.D., Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey, ER, and Girlfriends. Allen portrayed a lesbian prison inmate in the 1975 television movie Cage Without a Key, which starred Susan Dey.[6]

Her most notable roles are Grace, the entrepreneurial café owner in the Old West, that she played for seven years on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,[7][5] as well as the flamboyant and outspoken Doreen Jackson on the NBC soap opera Generations, and Lucinda Cavender, the vampire witch in the horror comedy film The Midnight Hour. Before Generations, she played ambitious salesgirl-turned-boutique-manager Stacey Russell on the short-lived prime-time soap Berrenger's.[5] Allen appeared as legendary Harlem jazz queen Florence Mills in Harlem Renaissance at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

More recently, Allen has headed the New Works/Staged Reading Projects at Saddleback College, and is writing and directing new shows which Allen calls "plays with music", which have been presented at Saddleback, notably an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and The Journey, both with composer David Jayden Anthony.[citation needed]

In 2017, Allen appeared in the film The Divorce, released on Amazon, and starred in Hello, Dolly at Saddlebacks CLO. The same year, she starred in Donald B. Welch's Secret Garden, and worked on an updated version of her Florence Mills one-woman show, written with collaborators Stevi Meredith and David Jayden Anthony.[citation needed]

In 2020, Allen appeared as Felicia Richardson in the serial drama Forever and a Day. Originally starting as a recurring character, by season three Allen became a main character in the audio drama.

Personal

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Allen has been married three times. She was married to John Sharpe on December 19, 1978, divorcing in 1992. Then she was married to Richard Grimmon from January 9, 1998 until 2001.[8] Most recently she was married to Leigh Eaton from 2003 until his death in 2020.

Filmography

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Year Film Role Notes
1970 Cotton Comes to Harlem Secretary
1970 The Cross and the Switchblade Bishop Deb
1972 Come Back, Charleston Blue Carol
1974 Wide World Mystery Eva Episode: 'Legacy of Blood'
1974 Police Woman Laurette Blake/Maxine Played Laurette in the 1974 episode 'The End Game' & played Maxine in the 1975 episode 'Above & Beyond'
1975 Cage Without a Key Tommy
1975 Foster and Laurie Jacqueline Foster
1975 Barney Miller Officer Turner Episode: 'Hot Dogs'
1975 Police Story Mary Sue/Merrily Goodwin Played Mary Sue in the episode 'The Execution' & played Merrily in the episode 'The Company Man'
1976 The American Woman: Portraits of Courage Rosa Parks
1976 The River Niger Ann Vanderguild
1976 Joe Forrester Episode: 'The Boy Next Door'
1978 What's Happening!! Love-is-Life Episode: 'Rerun Sees the Light"
1978 The Love Boat Andrea Martin Episode: 'Gopher the Rebel/Cabin Fever/Pacific Princess Overture'
1978 All in the Family Marabel Episode: 'Archie's Other Wife'
1979 The White Shadow Shelley Episode: 'Airball'
1979 Vampire Brandy
1980 Brave New World Fanny Crowne
1980 Palmerstown, U.S.A. Bessie Freeman Appeared in 11 episodes, 1980–1981
1982 Victims Maydene Jariott
1982 Trapper John, M.D. Episode: 'Medicine Man'
1983 Cagney & Lacey Elizabeth Carter/Claudia Petrie Played Elizabeth in the 1983 episode 'Open & Shut Case' & played Claudia in the 1984 episode 'A Killer's Dozen'
1984 Hill Street Blues Linda Talbot Episode: 'The Count of Monty Tasco'
1984 The Hotel New Hampshire Sabrina
1985 Berrenger's Stacey Russell
1985 The Midnight Hour Lucinda Cavender
1986 The Penalty Phase Susan Jansen
1987 The Hitchhiker Sunny Episode: 'Made for Each Other'
1987 Werewolf Episode: 'Big Daddy'
1989 Generations Doreen Jackson
1992 The Royal Family Nina Martin Episode: 'The Big Stink'. Episode was never aired.
1992 Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive Madeline Garrick
1993 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Grace Appeared in 106 episodes, 1993–1998
1997 The Eddie Files Eddie's Music Teacher Episode: 'Patterns: The Big Concert'
1998 Next Time Evelyn
1999 Blues for Red Dora
1999 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie Grace
1999 Twice in a Lifetime Dr. Grace Grant-Heistings, M.D./Nurse Daisy Bradford Episode: 'Healing Touch'
2000 ER Debbie Marlin Episodes: 'Foreign Affairs' & 'Rescue Me'
2001 Flossin Viola
2002 Strong Medicine Connie Episode: 'Stages'
2003 Mr. Barrington Mother Anne
2005 As Seen on TV Shauna
2007 Girlfriends Eleanor Episode: 'Operation Does She Yield'
2008 Float Madge
2016 American Crime Story Mom Darden 2 Episodes
2017 Shameless Helen Cardinal Episode: 'Where's My Meth?'
2018 Boomers Yvette Episode: 'The Gig'
2021 9-1-1 Ellen Saxton Episode: 'Parenthood'
2022 Bust Down Dolores Episode: 'Won't He Do It'

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jonelle Allen – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  2. ^ Dietz, Dan (September 3, 2015). The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5166-3 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ McCann, Bob (December 21, 2009). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5804-2 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Dan (May 24, 1980). "Broadway debut: Helen Hayes advises Jonelle Allen". Blytheville Courier News. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f McLellan, Dennis (November 15, 1997). "Grace Under Fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "Cage Without a Key | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  7. ^ "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. July 28, 1997 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ McLELLAN, DENNIS (November 15, 1997). "Grace Under Fire". Los Angeles Times.
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