# Elizabeth Allen

elizabeth allen (born Elizabeth Ellen Gillease, January 25, 1929 — September 19, 2006) was an American theatre, television and film actress and singer whose forty-year career lasted from the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s and included scores of TV episodes as well as six theatrical features, two of which (1963's Donovan's Reef, for which she received a 2nd 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), CPO 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?. == Early life == Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Allen began her career as a Ford Agency high-fashion model.