Chad Allen (born June 5, 1974) is an American

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how ...

and retired actor. Beginning his career at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT) community and the issues that affect their l ...

honoree. He was a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama ''

Our House Our House may refer to: Film and television * ''Our House'' (2003 film) or ''Duplex'', an American film by Danny DeVito * ''Our House'' (2006 film), a television movie starring Doris Roberts * ''Our House'' (2018 film), an American-Canadian-Ge ...

'' and as Zach Nichols on the NBC sitcom '' My Two Dads'' before transitioning to an adult career as Matthew Cooper on the CBS western drama '' Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman''. He announced his retirement from acting in April 2015.

Early life

Allen was born Chad Allen Lazzari on June 5, 1974, in Cerritos, California, and grew up in Artesia. He has a twin sister named Charity and a brother named Steve Lazzari who works for

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

. Allen is of predominantly Italian origin, with a "dose" of German origin. He was raised in a "strict"

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

household and regards himself as being a "deeply spiritual person" because of his upbringing. Allen attended

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Catholic, all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and conducted by the San Francisco Province of the Salesians of St. John Bosco. St. John Bosco High School is named ...

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 79,190, up f ...

Career

Allen guest-starred on several

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

series, including an early episode of '' Airwolf'' for which he was nominated as "Best Young Actor: Guest in a Series" at the 6th Youth in Film Awards and ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...

'', in which he played

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

child Tommy Westphall (1983–88). The series final episode, " The Last One", ends with the indication that all of its storylines occurred in Tommy's imagination. In 1983, he appeared on '' Cutter to Houston'', playing "a kid who got hurt and had to be given mouth-to-mouth and carried to the waiting chopper by Dr. Hal Wexler ( Alec Baldwin)". "I thought it was the greatest job I had ever gotten," he later stated. Allen's first regular role was as David Witherspoon on ''

'' (1986–88). In 1989–90, he had a recurring role as Zach in '' My Two Dads''. Allen's next contract role was Matthew Cooper in '' Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' alongside Jane Seymour (1993–98). During the final season of his run on ''St. Elsewhere'', Allen was teamed with his sister Charity Allen on an episode of NBC's Saturday morning children's game show '' I'm Telling!''. Starting with '' Third Man Out'' (2005), Allen stars as Donald Strachey, a gay private detective in a monogamous relationship, in a series of television movies for the here! network based on novels by Richard Stevenson. The

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...

, '' Shock to the System'' (2006), was followed by ''

On the Other Hand, Death ''On the Other Hand, Death'' is a 2008 gay-themed mystery film. It is the third film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. The film was screened at several LGBT film festivals, including the New Y ...

'' (2008) and ''

Ice Blues ''Ice Blues'' is a 2008 gay-themed mystery television film starring Chad Allen and Sebastian Spence, and directed by Emmy-nominated Canadian-born director Ron Oliver. featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. It is the third adaptation of a ...

'' (2008). Allen noted that Strachey is the first gay character he had ever played outside of theater and that, though his career is "different" since coming out, he finds it "more interesting and fun for me than it has ever been." When Allen was cast as real-life

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Nate Saint Nathanael Saint (30 August 19238 January 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca. Early li ...

in the

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typ ...

End of the Spear ''End of the Spear'' is a 2005 American biographical adventure drama film directed by Jim Hanon, written by Bill Ewing, Bart Gavigan and Hanon, and stars Louie Leonardo and Chad Allen. The film recounts the story of Operation Auca, in which fiv ...

'' (2006) some conservative Christians lashed out at producers for casting an openly gay man in the role. In 2007, Allen starred in the film ''

Save Me Save Me may refer to: Film and television * ''Save Me'', a 1994 film starring Lysette Anthony * ''Sauve-moi'' (''Save Me''), a 2000 French film directed by Christian Vincent * ''Save Me'' (film), a 2007 American film directed by Robert Cary * ' ...

''. Developed and produced by Allen, the film was directed by Robert Cary and written by

Robert Desiderio Robert Desiderio (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor best known for his roles on television. Life and career Desiderio was born in The Bronx, the son of Mary (née Demattia) and Anthony J. Desiderio. He and actress Judith Light marrie ...

. ''Save Me'', a film exploring the

ex-gay The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relat ...

movement, premiered at the 2007

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and was later picked up for distribution by independent studio

Fine Line Features Fine Line Features (often spelled as FineLine Features) was the specialty films division of New Line Cinema. From 1991 to 2005, under founder and president Ira Deutchman, Fine Line acquired, distributed and marketed films of a more " indie" flav ...

. From June through August 2008, Allen appeared with

Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She is best remembered for her role as Rh ...

in ''Looped'', a play based on the life of

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...

, at the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

in Pasadena, California. Starting on September 23, 2008, Allen portrayed the love interest of Dr. Kyle Julian for five episodes of the

SOAPnet serial '' General Hospital: Night Shift'', a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of the

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows. Histor ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' General Hospital''. In April 2015, Allen confirmed in a YouTube video that he had quit his acting career to become a clinical psychologist.

Personal life

In 1996, at age 21, Allen was

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

when the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid and ...

'' The Globe'' published photos of him kissing another man in a hot tub at a party. The photos were sold by someone who claimed to be a friend of the couple. Allen has since become an activist for the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and soci ...

in addition to his continuing acting and producing career. On January 17, 2006, Allen appeared on CNN's ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

'' with

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

mayor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fro ...

to represent his viewpoint in a debate over

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Allen thanked Newsom for his attempts to legalize same-sex marriage in the city. Allen has been featured in '' The Advocate'' magazine multiple times and has appeared on three of its covers. In November 2006, ''

The Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

'' wrote in passing that Allen's partner, Jeremy Glazer, was also in the film ''Save Me''. In a September 2008 interview with Out.com, Allen stated that he was currently in a three-year relationship and had been

sober In cryptography, SOBER is a family of stream ciphers initially designed by Greg Rose of QUALCOMM Australia starting in 1997. The name is a contrived acronym for ''S''eventeen ''O''ctet ''B''yte ''E''nabled ''R''egister. Initially the cipher was ...

for eight years. In October 2008, AfterElton.com stated his boyfriend to be Glazer. In May 2009, Allen was the recipient of a

: the Davidson/Valentini Award. In his acceptance speech he said he had met Glazer, his partner, exactly four years earlier. They broke up in 2015. Allen graduated from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in June 2015 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Psychology. He graduated from the

Psy.D. The Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D. or D.Psych.) is a professional doctoral degree intended to prepare graduates for careers that apply scientific knowledge of psychology and deliver empirically based service to individuals, groups and organizatio ...

Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, New England in 2020.

Filmography

References

External links