Name
Billie Allen
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1925-01-13
Deathday
2015-12-29 (90 years old)
Place of Birth
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Biography
Wilhelmina Louise Allen (January 13, 1925 – December 29, 2015) was an American actress, theater director, dancer and entertainer. Allen was one of the first black actors and performers to appear on television and stage in the United States, at a time when those venues were largely closed to African Americans. During the 1950s, Allen became one of the first black entertainers to have a recurring role on network television when she was cast as a WAC on staff on the CBS army base comedy The Phil Silvers Show, from 1955 to 1959. She was one of the first African Americans to appear on television commercials in the U.S. She was also one of the earliest African-American actors on daytime soap operas as she appeared in the mid-1950s as the character Ada Chandler on the popular daytime soap opera The Edge of Night. Allen was also known for her work on Broadway and off-Broadway.
Known For
7.272
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observ...
6.2
Black Like Me is the true account of journalist and author John Griffin's experiences when...
6.182
Sara, a cold college professor, and her husband, an ecstatic painter, spend a summer away ...
- 1987 Eddie Murphy Raw as Eddie's Aunt
- 1982 Losing Ground as Mother
- 1996 The Prosecutors as Evelyn
- 1979 Winter Kills as Receptionist
- 1964 Black Like Me as Vertell
- 1949 Souls of Sin as Etta Mason
- 1978 The Wiz as Aunt Em's Party
- 1990 Law & Order ( 1 episode ) as Judge West
