# Elizabeth Allen (actress)
**Elizabeth Allen** (born Elizabeth Ellen Gillease; January 25, 1929 – September 19, 2006) was an American actress of film, television, and Broadway, best known for playing Amelia Dedham opposite [John Wayne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-wayne) in [John Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-ford)'s *Donovan's Reef* (1963) and for two Tony Award-nominated performances in Broadway musicals.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | January 25, 1929, Jersey City, New Jersey, as Elizabeth Ellen Gillease[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/) |
| Died | September 19, 2006, Fishkill, New York, of kidney failure[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/) |
| Signature film role | Amelia Dedham in John Ford's *Donovan's Reef* (1963), opposite John Wayne[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) |
| Early TV fame | The "away we go" girl on *The Jackie Gleason Show* in the early 1950s, introducing Gleason's skits[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) |
| Broadway | *Romanoff and Juliet* (1957), *The Gay Life* (1961), *Do I Hear a Waltz?*, *Sherry!* (1967)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) |
| Tony nominations | Featured Actress in a Musical for *The Gay Life* (1962 ceremony); Leading Actress in a Musical for *Do I Hear a Waltz?* (1965 ceremony)[3](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Elizabeth-Allen/) |
| Other screen credits | *From the Terrace* (1960), *Cheyenne Autumn* (1964), *The Carey Treatment* (1972), three episodes of *The Fugitive*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/) |
| Final work | Retired in 1983 after roles in the daytime serials *Another World*, *Texas*, and *The Guiding Light*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) |
## Early career and television
Allen began her career as a fashion model with the Ford Modeling Agency and spent several years as a member of the Helen Hayes Repertory Company.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/) Her first steady television work came in the early 1950s on *The Jackie Gleason Show*, where viewers knew her as the "away we go" girl because of the phrase she used to introduce the comedian's skits.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) Decades later she appeared on celebrity game shows including *Tattletales*, where she and [Charles Nelson Reilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-nelson-reilly) appeared as a couple despite neither being married to the other.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/)
## Broadway
Her breakthrough came in late 1957, when [Peter Ustinov](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-ustinov) cast her as the female juvenile lead in his Cold War satire *Romanoff and Juliet*, which ran a year on Broadway; [Sandra Dee](https://www.edgepedia.org/sandra-dee) played the part in the 1961 film version.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) She returned to Broadway as Magda in *The Gay Life* (1961), an Arthur Schwartz–Howard Dietz musical based on Schnitzler's *Anatol*, and, despite singing only one number, received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [3](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Elizabeth-Allen/)
In 1965 she was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for *Do I Hear a Waltz?*, the only collaboration between composer [Richard Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-rodgers) and lyricist [Stephen Sondheim](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-sondheim), based on Arthur Laurents' *The Time of the Cuckoo*. She sang eight numbers in the show, including the title song, and can be heard on the original cast album.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) In 1967 she took the leading role of Maggie Cutler in *Sherry!*, a musical version of *The Man Who Came to Dinner*, which ran about two months but later gained cult status.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [3](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Elizabeth-Allen/)
## Films
Allen made only a handful of feature films. [Donovan's Reef](https://www.edgepedia.org/donovans-reef) (1963) was the only one that gave her a real leading showcase: as Amelia Dedham, the refined daughter of a roughneck doctor, she matched John Wayne's barroom brawler "Guns" Donovan in John Ford's comedy. A *New York Times* review praised Ford for drawing out "the ability of Elizabeth Allen, a darkling beauty," and a BFI obituary of [Barbara Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbara-harris-actress) later cited Allen's boardroom entrance in the film, seated with hands clasped and hat slouched, as a model of a screen star's first appearance.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/barbara-harris-obituary-special-screen-presence)
Before that film she had appeared in *From the Terrace* (1960) as a hedonistic society girl; afterward came a sexy supporting part with [James Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-stewart) in the Dodge City sequence of Ford's last Western, *Cheyenne Autumn* (1964), and *The Carey Treatment* (1972).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/)
## Television work
Television occupied most of her time through the 1960s and 1970s. She is particularly remembered for playing a mysterious saleswoman in a 1960 *Twilight Zone* episode in which store mannequins come alive, and she guest-starred in series including *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (as a seductive enemy agent), *Dr. Kildare*, *Kojak*, *Mannix*, *[Cannon](https://www.edgepedia.org/cannon-tv-series)*, *Barnaby Jones*, and *Buck Rogers in the 25th Century*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-allen/credits/3000126463/) In the early 1980s she played the title character's wife on the sitcom *The Paul Lynde Show* and Victoria Bellman in the soap spinoff *Texas*.[7](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/elizabeth-allen/umc.cpc.20vkun4fxhxwta486mg7mm8u7)
She ended her career in 1983 after starring in three daytime serials: as an upper-crust hostess in *Another World* and its spinoff *Texas*, and as a selfless doctor in *The Guiding Light*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries)
## Personal life and distinction from other actresses
Allen married Baron Karl von Vietinghoff-Scheel on October 23, 1953; the marriage ended in divorce in 1955, and she had no children.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) She was a philanthropist who supported animal rights and environmental causes, with donations recorded to [Greenpeace](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenpeace) and [Save the Children](https://www.edgepedia.org/save-the-children).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/)
She should not be confused with two contemporaries of similar name. The British stage and film actress **Elizabeth Allan** (1910–1990), of Skegness, Lincolnshire, starred in the 1935 Dickens adaptations *David Copperfield* and *A Tale of Two Cities* for MGM.[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0019922/bio/) Separately, **Elizabeth Allen** (1904–1992), born Elizabeth Daniel Allen in [Louisville, Kentucky](https://www.edgepedia.org/louisville-kentucky), was a Broadway actress who married the film star Robert Montgomery and was the mother of actress [Elizabeth Montgomery](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-montgomery).[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020493/bio/)
## References
1. [Elizabeth Allen, obituary by Ronald Bergan, The Guardian, 20 November 2006](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.obituaries)
2. [Elizabeth Allen, Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/bio/)
3. [Elizabeth Allen, Broadway credits and Tony nominations, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Elizabeth-Allen/)
4. [Elizabeth Allen, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020490/)
5. [Barbara Harris obituary: a special screen presence, Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/barbara-harris-obituary-special-screen-presence)
6. [Elizabeth Allen, List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-allen/credits/3000126463/)
7. [Elizabeth Allen, Movies and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/elizabeth-allen/umc.cpc.20vkun4fxhxwta486mg7mm8u7)
8. [Elizabeth Allan, Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0019922/bio/)
9. [Elizabeth Allen (1904–1992), Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020493/bio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames A to Bo*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license