By TammyJo Eckhart
Photo by ABC/Todd Wawrychuk, taken on May 28, 2015, https://www.flickr.com/photos/disneyabc/18192324616
How many of us have been told we can’t succeed because of our weight, our height, our skin, our income, or any other superficial quality? Could such arbitrary criteria merely be a cover for the bias of the person who holds the reins of something we need? Those excuses for why you can’t get a scholarship, play a part, or qualify for a loan are usually based on their prejudice about who would succeed in a career. You probably know Debbie Allen from the movie and television series Fame, but her road to success required her, too, to jump over those roadblocks.
Allen’s initial exposure to the arts probably came through her mother, Vivian Ayers Allen, who was a Pulitzer Prize-nominated artist, poet, playwright, publisher, and scholar. Allen’s father, Andrew Arthur Allen, Sr., was an orthodontist in Houston, Texas. Allen became the third of four children in her parents’ family when she was born on January 16, 1950. Her older sister is actress Phylicia Rashad, her older brother is jazz musician Andrew Arthur Allen, Jr., and her younger brother is real estate banker Hugh Allen.
In many ways, Allen received an elite education as a child and young adult, but she had to fight for it. Allen was allowed to join the Houston Ballet in 1963, a year after her first audition was rejected due to blatant racism, because an instructor saw her dance elsewhere and believed in her talent. The Houston Ballet program is now the fourth largest professional ballet program in the USA. At the age of 16, Allen joined the North Carolina School of the Arts, but her time there was short because she “did not have a ballet body,” a statement of a Eurocentric bias that has been limiting access to ballet training for generations. Allen’s book Dancing in the Wings looks at the issue of ballet and body issues and is one of two children’s books Allen has published.
Turning from professional dance training, Allen went to Howard University in 1968 to work toward a degree in classical Greek literature, speech, and theater; this is a rare course of study for a black woman even in 2020, because the study of ancient Greek and Roman cultures is overwhelmingly populated by white men. In 1971, Allen earned her B.A. cum laude, but during her time at the university she met Mike Malone, a well-known choreographer and dancer who encouraged her to return to dance. Bolstered by Malone’s mentorship and her innate talent, Allen moved to New York City and took further classes at the HB Studio, a professional acting program, to supplement her dance training. She had previously been a replacement dancer in the show Purlie in 1970 while still in college.
Allen has been part of six other Broadway shows during her 30 years as a professional entertainer. In three of these she was cast as the original for a role – Raisin (1973), West Side Story (1980), and Sweet Charity (1986). She won the Drama Desk Award for her part in West Side Story and was nominated for that same award for Sweet Charity. Allen was also nominated for a Tony for both of those shows. She was also the choreographer for Carrie in 1988 and the director of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2008.
From theater, Allen moved into television and movie roles. Her first credited role, according to IMDB, was in a two-part episode of the popular and award-winning series Good Times in 1976. Perhaps her best-known role is as Lydia Grant in both the film (1980) and television series (1982-1987) Fame; her roles have run the gamut of characters from comedy to drama and protagonists to antagonists. Allen has been nominated over 30 times for various industry awards and has won a Golden Globe, three Primetime Emmys, and eight other awards, the most recent being an induction into the Lifetime Hall of Fame for the Online Film & Television Association in 2019.
But a closer look reveals that Allen has done far more than the on-camera roles many know her for. She is an award-winning director, producer, and choreographer for television, film, and stage. Her projects have not been limited to musicals but have also included historical dramas such as being a producer for Amistad (1997) and a director for several TV sitcoms and drama series like Everybody Hates Chris and How to Get Away with Murder.
She served on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities starting in 2001 and was a U.S. Cultural Ambassador of Dance for many years for the federal government. Allen has been an artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for over a decade, creating numerous shows with them. She has also been on the Board of Trustees of Howard University since 2014. For her decades of work in the arts and for her support for arts education, Allen has been granted two honorary doctoral degrees from Howard University and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
As she turns 70 today, Allen is not done yet. In her personal life, she is a mother of two and has been married to her second husband, Norman Nixon, since 1984. She recently became a grandmother in 2019.
In her professional life she continues to act, direct, produce, and choreograph. She has played recurring character Dr. Catherine Fox on Grey’s Anatomy since 2011 and has been cast in the upcoming musical Silent Rhythm. She is set to direct the USA Network movie musical Christmas on the Square later this year. Allen still teaches at her Debbie Allen Dance Academy, whose motto is “Dance to the Beat of One.” Allen established her non-profit program in 2001 in Los Angeles, California. The academy offers instruction to students four years old and above. The program focuses on classical ballet and modern dance but also offers classes on African, Dunham, flamenco, hip hop, jazz, and tap dance, along with a rotation of aerial, voice, and acting classes. The program is for the committed artist, because it requires a minimum of ten classes each week. Students are picked via auditions that are open only to children between the ages of four and eight.
Allen is an example of how talent and mentorship can overcome racism. Her life and her ongoing work can be an inspiration for all of who may feel like giving up when we are told we do not fit into a model others have in their minds.