Elizabeth Allen (actress)

Elizabeth Allen
Allen and Paul Lynde in publicity photo for The Paul Lynde Show (1972)
Born
Elizabeth Ellen Gillease

(1929-01-25)January 25, 1929
DiedSeptember 19, 2006(2006-09-19) (aged 77)
OccupationActress
Years active1955–1996
Known forDonovan's Reef
Cheyenne Autumn
Texas
Spouse
Baron Karl von Vietinghoff-Scheel
(m. 1952; div. 1955)

Elizabeth Allen (born Elizabeth Ellen Gillease, January 25, 1929 — September 19, 2006) was an American theatre, television, and film actress and singer whose 40-year career lasted from the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s, and included scores of TV episodes and six theatrical features, two of which (1963's Donovan's Reef, for which she received a second-place Golden Laurel Award as Top New Female Personality, and 1964's Cheyenne Autumn) were directed by John Ford.

She was a cast member in five TV series: The Jackie Gleason Show (1956–1957), Bracken's World (1969–1970), The Paul Lynde Show (1972–1973), C.P.O. Sharkey (1976–1977), and the daytime drama Texas (1980–1981), while also maintaining a thriving theatrical career as a musical comedy star and receiving two Tony nominations, in 1962 for The Gay Life and in 1965 for Do I Hear a Waltz?.