Jonelle R. Allen (born July 18, 1944) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s, Allen has co-starred in films, Broadway productions, and television. In 1972, Allen was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the musical '' Two Gentlemen of Verona''. She appeared in films such as '' Come Back Charleston Blue'' (1972) and '' The River Niger'' (1976) and was a regular cast member in television series '' Generations'' (1989–1991) and '' Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' (1993–1998).

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Allen was raised in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. The only child of Marion, a postal worker, and Robert Allen, a NYC transit worker, Allen began performing at the age of four, and attended the

Professional Children's School The Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college-preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades four through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an ac ...

. As a child, she made regular appearances on a local children's television series, '' The Merry Mailman'', hosted by Ray Heatherton.

Career

Allen made her Broadway debut at the age of six in ''The Wisteria Trees'',

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing ...

's Americanized adaptation of ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

'', starring

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

. Allen returned to Broadway in a revival of '' Finian's Rainbow''. She was in the cast of the original

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

1968 production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' at

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp is a pioneering figure in American theater, known for creating Shakespeare in the Park, which aimed to make classi ...

's Public Theater, and also appeared in ''

George M! ''George M!'' is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Franci ...

'' before receiving critical acclaim and a

nomination for '' Two Gentlemen of Verona'', which earned her New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk,

Theatre World ''Theatre World'' is an annual United States, American theatre pictorial and statistical print publication. It includes Broadway theatre, Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre, nation ...

, and

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town news ...

s for her performance. Despite her success, it proved to be her last Broadway appearance to date. Allen's film credits include ''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploita ...

'', ''

The Hotel New Hampshire ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' is a 1981 coming of age novel by American-Canadian writer John Irving, his fifth published novel. Plot This novel is the story of the Berrys, a quirky New Hampshire family composed of a married couple, Win and Mar ...

'', and '' The River Niger'', for which she won an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

. Other television appearances include ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

'', ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village (Lower Manhattan). The series was broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Janu ...

'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'', ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'', '' Trapper John, M.D.'', '' Hill Street Blues'', ''

Cagney and Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...

'', '' ER'', and '' Girlfriends''. Allen portrayed a lesbian prison inmate in the 1975 television movie '' Cage Without a Key'', which starred Susan Dey. Her most notable roles are Grace, the entrepreneurial café owner in the Old West, that she played for seven years on '' Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'', as well as the flamboyant and outspoken Doreen Jackson on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

soap opera '' Generations'', and Lucinda Cavender, the vampire witch in the horror comedy film ''The Midnight Hour''. Before ''Generations'', she played ambitious salesgirl-turned-boutique-manager Stacey Russell on the short-lived prime-time soap '' Berrenger's''. Allen appeared as legendary Harlem jazz queen Florence Mills in ''Harlem Renaissance'' at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. More recently, Allen has headed the New Works/Staged Reading Projects at Saddleback College, and is writing and directing new shows which Allen calls "plays with music", which have been presented at Saddleback, notably an adaptation of Charles Dickens' ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' and ''The Journey'', both with composer David Jayden Anthony. In 2017, Allen appeared in the film ''The Divorce,'' released on Amazon, and starred in '' Hello, Dolly!'' at Saddlebacks CLO. The same year, she starred in Donald B. Welch's ''Secret Garden'' and worked on an updated version of her Florence Mills one-woman show, written with collaborators Stevi Meredith and David Jayden Anthony. In 2020, Allen appeared as Felicia Richardson in the serial drama '' Forever and a Day''. Originally starting as a recurring character, by season three Allen became a main character in the audio drama.

Personal

Allen has been married three times. She was married to John Sharpe on December 19, 1978, divorcing in 1992. Then she was married to Richard Grimmon from January 9, 1998 until 2001. Most recently she was married to Leigh Eaton from 2003 until his death in 2020.

Filmography

References

External links

Fan Site
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Facebook page (official)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jonelle American soap opera actresses 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers African-American female dancers African-American dancers Actresses from Manhattan People from Harlem Living people American female dancers African-American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses Dancers from New York City 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 1944 births