Debbie Allen

After her trip with her family from Mexico, both Debbie Allen and her family decided to return to their permanent home in Texas. When she returned to her home in Texas, Debbie Allen auditioned at the Houston Ballet Academy at the age of twelve. Even though her audition performance exceeded beyond the qualifications of admission, Debbie Allen was denied admission to the school due to systemic racism that had corrupted the process. A year after hearing this devastating news, Allen was given another chance and was admitted by a Russian instructor who accidentally saw Debbie Allen perform in a show. Once admission recruiters from the Houston Ballet Academy became aware of the situation, they allowed Allen to stay in the institution because they were pleased with the talent she had showcased. While at the academy, she trained under Suzelle Poole.

Allen in 1983

Her experience at the Houston Ballet Academy is not the only time Allen had experienced racism. When she was sixteen, she had a successful audition for the North Carolina School of the Arts, and was given an opportunity to demonstrate dance techniques to other prospective students applying to the institution. Unfortunately, Allen was rejected acceptance due to her body not being suited for ballet.[11][12] In many cases, African American dancers were often discouraged from dance because they were told their body structure did not fit the preferred stereotype ballet dancer's body. This prejudice effectively barred many talented and skilled dancers from ballet.[13][14] After receiving numerous rejections, Allen decided to mainly focus on her academics and, from then on, was well on her way to the start of her career.[15]

Allen began her career appearing on Broadway theatre. Allen had her Broadway debut in the chorus of Purlie in 1970.[4] She later created the role of Beneatha in the Tony Award-winning musical Raisin (1973), and appeared in Truckload, and Ain't Misbehavin'. In 1980, she received critical attention for her performance as Anita in the Broadway revival of West Side Story which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and won her a Drama Desk Award.[4]

In 1976, Allen made her television debut appearing in the CBS sitcom Good Times in a memorable 2-part episode titled "J.J.'s Fiancée" as J.J.'s drug-addicted fiancée, Diana. The following year, she went to star in the NBC variety show 3 Girls 3.[16] Allen later was selected to appear in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations by Alex Haley where she plays the wife of Haley. Also that year, she made her big screen debut appearing in a supporting role in the comedy film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. In 1981, she had the important role of Sarah, the lover of Coalhouse Walker (Howard E. Rollins) who is killed while trying to defend him in the movie version of the best-selling novel Ragtime. The same role earned a Tony Award for Audra McDonald, for her performance in the Broadway musical.

With The Kids from "Fame" (1983). Debbie Allen is center, with sunglasses on top of her head.

Allen was first introduced as Lydia Grant in the film Fame (1980). Although her role in the film was relatively small, Lydia became a central figure in the television adaptation, which ran from 1982 to 1987. During the opening montage of each episode, Grant told her students: "You've got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying ... in sweat." Allen was nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Actress four times during the show's run.[3] She is the only actress to have appeared in all three screen incarnations of Fame, playing Lydia Grant in both the 1980 film and 1982 television series and playing the school principal in the 2009 remake. Allen was also lead choreographer for the film and television series, winning two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography and one Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy.[5] She became the first Black woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy.[17]

In 1986, Allen received a second Tony Award nomination, at that time for Best Actress in a Musical, for her performance in the title role of Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity.[4] Also that year, she had supporting role in the comedy-drama film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling directed, produced by and starring Richard Pryor.

After Fame, Allen began focus on working off-cameras. In an article from the Museum of Broadcast Communications, The Hollywood Reporter commented on Allen's impact as the producer-director of the television series, A Different World. The show dealt with the life of students at the fictional historically black college, Hillman, and ran for six seasons on NBC.[18] The Hollywood Reporter is quoted as stating that when Debbie Allen became the producer (and usually director) of A Different World after the first season, she transformed it "from a bland Cosby spin-off into a lively, socially responsible, ensemble situation comedy."[19] She directed total 83 episodes.

Allen at the Kennedy Center in 1998

Allen has released two solo albums, Sweet Charity (1986) and Special Look (1989) which also produced several singles.[20] Also that year, she directed musical film Polly. She later directed crime drama film Out-of-Sync (1995) and well as number of television films. She was choreographer of The Academy Awards Show for ten years, six of which were consecutive. In 1995, Allen lent her voice (as well directing the voice cast) to the children's animated series C Bear and Jamal for Film Roman and Fox Kids. Also that year, she went to star in the NBC sitcom In the House that ran two seasons. She produced alongside Steven Spielberg the 1997 historical drama film Amistad receiving a Producers Guild of America Award.[21]

In 2001, Allen founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, a 501(c)3 non profit organization.[8] Since 2007, Allen was participated as a judge and mentor for the U.S. version of So You Think You Can Dance. She had to step aside at the end of Vegas week in Season 4 to avoid perception of bias, as one of her former dancers, Will, made it to the top 20.

In 2008, Allen directed the all-African-American Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring stage veterans James Earl Jones (Big Daddy), her sister Phylicia Rashad (Big Mama) and Anika Noni Rose (Maggie the Cat), as well as film actor Terrence Howard, who made his Broadway debut as Brick. The production, with some roles recast, had a limited run (2009 – April 2010) in London.[22] She also directed and starred in the 2001 play and its television adaptation The Old Settler.

In 2000s and 2010s, Allen directed television shows, including 44 episodes of All of Us, as well as Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris, How to Get Away with Murder, Empire, Scandal and Jane the Virgin. In 2011, she joined the cast of ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy playing the role of Dr. Catherine Fox. As of 12th season, she served as an executive producer.[6] In 2020, she directed the musical film Christmas on the Square starring Dolly Parton for Netflix.[23][24]

• Movement magazine, regular columnist since 2006
• Dancing in the Wings paperback, by Debbie Allen (Author), Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

• Special Look (1989)