Jonelle Allen

Jonelle Ann Allen (born July 8, 1948[3][4][1][2] or July 8, 1950) (sources differ) is an American actress, singer, and dancer from Harlem, New York, United States. Beginning her career in the late 1960s, Allen has co-starred in films, Broadway productions, and television.[5] 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.

Jonelle Allen
Born
Jonelle Ann Allen

(1948-07-08) July 8, 1948[1][2]
or (1950-07-08) July 8, 1950
(sources differ)
New York City[3]
EducationProfessional Children's School
Occupation
  • Actress
  • singer
  • dancer
Years active1967–present
Home townHarlem, New York, U.S.[4]
Spouse(s)
Raymond Sanders
​
(
m. 1969; div. 1971)

John Sharpe
​
(
m. 1978; div. 1992)

Richard Grimmon
​
(
m. 1998; div. 2001)

Biography

Early life, education and career

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.[4] She 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.[6][7] As a child, she also made regular appearances on a local children's television series, The Merry Mailman, hosted by Ray Heatherton.[6][7]

Career

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[7], 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.[7] Despite her success, it proved to be her last Broadway appearance to date.

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.

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,[8][7] 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.[7] 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.

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.

Personal

Allen has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Raymond Sanders from 1969 until 1971. She later married John Sharpe on December 19, 1978, divorcing in 1992. Her third marriage was to Richard Grimmon from January 9, 1998 until 2001.[2][9]

Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1970Cotton Comes to HarlemSecretary
1970The Cross and the SwitchbladeBishop Deb
1972Come Back, Charleston BlueCarol
1974Wide World MysteryEvaEpisode: 'Legacy of Blood'
1974Police WomanLaurette Blake/MaxinePlayed Laurette in the 1974 episode 'The End Game' & played Maxine in the 1975 episode 'Above & Beyond'
1975Cage Without a KeyTommy
1975Foster and LaurieJacqueline Foster
1975Barney MillerOfficer TurnerEpisode: 'Hot Dogs'
1975Police StoryMary Sue/Merrily GoodwinPlayed Mary Sue in the episode 'The Execution' & played Merrily in the episode 'The Company Man'
1976The American Woman: Portraits of CourageRosa Parks
1976The River NigerAnn Vanderguild
1976Joe ForresterEpisode: 'The Boy Next Door'
1978What's Happening!!Love-is-LifeEpisode: 'Rerun Sees the Light"
1978The Love BoatAndrea MartinEpisode: 'Gopher the Rebel/Cabin Fever/Pacific Princess Overture'
1978All in the FamilyMarabelEpisode: 'Archie's Other Wife'
1979The White ShadowShelleyEpisode: 'Airball'
1979VampireBrandy
1980Brave New WorldFanny Crowne
1980Palmerstown, U.S.A.Bessie FreemanAppeared in 11 episodes, 1980–1981
1982VictimsMaydene Jariott
1982Trapper John, M.D.Episode: 'Medicine Man'
1983Cagney & LaceyElizabeth Carter/Claudia PetriePlayed Elizabeth in the 1983 episode 'Open & Shut Case' & played Claudia in the 1984 episode 'A Killer's Dozen'
1984Hill Street BluesLinda TalbotEpisode: 'The Count of Monty Tasco'
1984The Hotel New HampshireSabrina
1985Berrenger'sStacey Russell
1985The Midnight HourLucinda Cavender
1986The Penalty PhaseSusan Jansen
1987The HitchhikerSunnyEpisode: 'Made for Each Other'
1987WerewolfEpisode: 'Big Daddy'
1989GenerationsDoreen Jackson
1992The Royal FamilyNina MartinEpisode: 'The Big Stink'. Episode was never aired.
1992Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop DriveMadeline Garrick
1993Dr. Quinn, Medicine WomanGraceAppeared in 106 episodes, 1993–1998
1997The Eddie FilesEddie's Music TeacherEpisode: 'Patterns: The Big Concert'
1998Next TimeEvelyn
1999Blues for RedDora
1999Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The MovieGrace
1999Twice in a LifetimeDr. Grace Grant-Heistings, M.D./Nurse Daisy BradfordEpisode: 'Healing Touch'
2000ERDebbie MarlinEpisodes: 'Foreign Affairs' & 'Rescue Me'
2001FlossinViola
2002Strong MedicineConnieEpisode: 'Stages'
2003Mr. BarringtonMother Anne
2005As Seen on TVShauna
2007GirlfriendsEleanorEpisode: 'Operation Does She Yield'
2008FloatMadge
2014"The Divorce"Thelma
2016American Crime StoryMom Darden
gollark: ++tel status
gollark: Test apiocity.
gollark: Okay, hold on.
gollark: If the internet scares you, I *can* disconnect this call.
gollark: See, this contains only [REDACTED] people, *but* the apiotelephone is bridged to Heavserver which is then bridged to two other servers.

References
  1. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, Volume 2005
  2. NNDB Jonelle Allen
  3. Who Sang what on Broadway, 1866–1996: The singers (A-K)
  4. Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television By Bob McCann
  5. The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals By Dan Dietz
  6. Lewis, Dan (May 24, 1980). "Broadway debut: Helen Hayes advises Jonelle Allen". Blytheville Courier News. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  7. McLellan, Dennis (November 15, 1997). "Grace Under Fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  8. Jet, July 28, 1997
  9. Los Angeles Times – Grace Under Fire – November 15, 1997
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.