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IMDbPro

Debbie Allen(I)

  • Producer
  • Actress
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0005650
Debbie Allen
Cardi B trying New things.
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Cardi Tries (2020– )
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99+ Photos
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.
BornJanuary 16, 1950
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJanuary 16, 1950
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0005650
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 6 Primetime Emmys

Photos129

Debbie Allen in Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2020)
Debbie Allen, Jalyn Flowers, and Destiny Wimpye in Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2020)
Debbie Allen, Ellen Foley, and Mimi Kennedy
Debbie Allen, Ellen Foley, and Mimi Kennedy
Debbie Allen and James Pickens Jr. in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen, Raven-Symoné, Issac Ryan Brown, Navia Ziraili Robinson, and Jason Maybaum in Raven's Home (2017)
Debbie Allen and James Pickens Jr. in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen and James Pickens Jr. in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Debbie Allen in Grey's Anatomy (2005)

Known for

Debbie Allen in Fame (1982)
Fame
7.0
TV Series
  • Producer
Amistad (1997)
Amistad
7.3
  • Producer
  • 1997
James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Grey's Anatomy
7.6
TV Series
  • Producer
Fame (1980)
Fame
6.6
  • Lydia
  • 1980

Credits

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IMDbPro

Producer

  • Untitled Fame Drama
    • In Development
  • James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
    Grey's Anatomy
  • Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2020)
    Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
  • Dolly Parton, Treat Williams, Christine Baranski, Jenifer Lewis, Matthew Johnson, Mary Lane Haskell, Josh Segarra, Jeanine Mason, and Selah Kimbro Jones in Christmas on the Square (2020)
    Christmas on the Square
  • Debbie Allen, John Carluccio, Mercedes Ellington, Maurice Hines, Mel Johnson Jr., Chita Rivera, Tracy E. Hopkins, Charles Randolph-Wright, and Zachary Hines in Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back (2019)
    Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
  • Grey's Anatomy: Post-Op (2017)
    Grey's Anatomy: Post-Op
  • A Star for Rose (2013)
    A Star for Rose
  • My Parents, My Sister & Me
  • Alex in Wonderland: Rehearsing Wonderland
  • Alex in Wonderland: Interview with Debbie Allen
  • Fame
  • Cool Women
  • The Painting (2001)
    The Painting
  • PBS Hollywood Presents
  • Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad in The Old Settler (2001)
    The Old Settler
  • Martin Luther King Special One Day

Actress

  • Silent Rhythm
    • Pre-production
  • James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
    Grey's Anatomy
  • The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022)
    The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
    • (voice)
  • Shemar Moore in S.W.A.T. (2017)
    S.W.A.T.
  • Grace and Frankie (2015)
    Grace and Frankie
  • Raven-Symoné, Anneliese van der Pol, Issac Ryan Brown, Navia Ziraili Robinson, Jason Maybaum, and Sky Katz in Raven's Home (2017)
    Raven's Home
  • Sophia Ali, Jeanine Mason, Jake Borelli, Rushi Kota, and Alex Blue Davis in Grey's Anatomy: The Webisodes (2009)
    Grey's Anatomy: The Webisodes
  • Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin (2014)
    Jane the Virgin
  • A Star for Rose (2013)
    A Star for Rose
  • Nadine Ellis, Erica Hubbard, RonReaco Lee, Joyful Drake, and Bert Belasco in Let's Stay Together (2011)
    Let's Stay Together
  • Milk & Honey (2011)
    Milk & Honey
  • Grace
  • Fake It Til You Make It
  • Fame (2009)
    Fame
  • Next Day Air (2009)
    Next Day Air
  • Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, Tequan Richmond, Tyler James Williams, and Imani Hakim in Everybody Hates Chris (2005)
    Everybody Hates Chris

Director

  • James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
    Grey's Anatomy
  • Tami Roman, Briyana Guadalupe, J. Bernard Calloway, Patricia Williams, Brittany Inge, Theodore Barnes, and Vince Swann in The Ms. Pat Show (2021)
    The Ms. Pat Show
  • Samuel L. Jackson in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022)
    The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
  • Dolly Parton, Treat Williams, Christine Baranski, Jenifer Lewis, Matthew Johnson, Mary Lane Haskell, Josh Segarra, Jeanine Mason, and Selah Kimbro Jones in Christmas on the Square (2020)
    Christmas on the Square
  • Step Up: High Water (2018)
    Step Up: High Water
  • Insecure (2016)
    Insecure
  • Tichina Arnold, RonReaco Lee, Erica Ash, Jessie T. Usher, and Teyonah Parris in Survivor's Remorse (2014)
    Survivor's Remorse
  • Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin (2014)
    Jane the Virgin
  • Kerry Washington in Scandal (2012)
    Scandal
  • Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson in Empire (2015)
    Empire
  • Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder (2014)
    How to Get Away with Murder
    • (directed by)
  • Julia Ormond, Mädchen Amick, Rachel Boston, and Jenna Dewan in Witches of East End (2013)
    Witches of East End
  • Nadine Ellis, Erica Hubbard, RonReaco Lee, Joyful Drake, and Bert Belasco in Let's Stay Together (2011)
    Let's Stay Together
  • Kim Delaney, Catherine Bell, Wendy Davis, Brigid Brannagh, and Sally Pressman in Army Wives (2007)
    Army Wives
  • Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Client List (2011)
    The Client List
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Star Siblings: Famous Brothers and Sisters

Star Siblings: Famous Brothers and Sisters

Take a look at some of our favorite celebrity siblings, including Toby Sebastian and Florence Pugh, and Bill and Alexander Skarsgård.
See the gallery
[object Object]
Photos

Videos20

Fame: "Hold Your Dream"
Clip 0:47
Fame: "Hold Your Dream"
Fame: "Graduation Drums"
Clip 0:45
Fame: "Graduation Drums"
Fame: "Get on the Floor"
Clip 0:57
Fame: "Get on the Floor"
Fame: "Black & Gold"
Clip 0:53
Fame: "Black & Gold"
Fame: "Halloween Dance"
Clip 0:43
Fame: "Halloween Dance"
Fame: "Out Here on My Own"
Clip 0:56
Fame: "Out Here on My Own"
Fame: "Caf Jam"
Clip 0:48
Fame: "Caf Jam"
Fame: "If You Want Fame"
Clip 1:12
Fame: "If You Want Fame"
Fame
Interview 0:45
Fame
Trailer
Trailer 1:01
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:01
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:30
Official Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Cameo
    • Facebook
    • January 16, 1950
    • Houston, Texas, USA
    • Norman NixonApril 27, 1984 - present (2 children)
    • Vivian Nixon
    • Phylicia Rashad(Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV infomercial: COPA Hair Relaxer.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 3 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the same institution that denied her admittance to its dance department when she was sixteen years old; she was told then that she had the wrong type of body for dance.
  • Quotes
    [on working with rapper Malicious Jynx (2005)] There is just something about him, he is so talented and so gifted, so flamboyant and so charismatic. He doesn't deserve the harsh criticism he receives. Anyone who listens to his albums with their hearts and their ears will see his love, and his warmth. He is such a lovely young man and I love him for that. He gets negative publicity but people need to know the real person that's inside of him.
    • A Different World
      (1987)
      $1,000,000

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