Born on June 24th of 1950, Nancy was the daughter of a Sergeant from Yonkers, New York. At a young age she trained for a dancing career at the High School of Performing Arts, and then attended Jose Quintano's School for Young Professionals. In dozens of TV commercials from the age of 15, Nancy made her first film appearance in 1962, at the age of 12 in a movie named _Money In My Pocket (1962)_ . Later, she appeared in 1973 in the movie The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson. Three years later, she set the standard for all future "bitch-goddess teenagers" as Chris Hargensen in Stephen King´s Carrie, taken to the big screen by director Brian De Palma. Nancy Allen then married De Palma. She next appeared in Steven Spielberg's I Wanna Hold Your Hand; for the next few years, she appeared only in De Palma's films: _Home Movies (1979)_ , Dressed to Kill, and she starred with John Travolta in Blow Out.

After her divorce from De Palma in 1984, Nancy's film opportunities were supposedly narrowed, but then she surprised the whole world in 1987 when she performed as Officer Anne Lewis in the Sci-Fi cult film RoboCop, along with Peter Weller. Here she set another standard as a tough but at the same time feminine policewoman, whose sex wouldn't interfere with her actions. After the success of RoboCop, she performed as Patricia Gardner in the second sequel in the saga of Poltergeist. She came back in RoboCop2 1990 and in order to get more involved with the character Nancy Allen learned martial arts and police training for real. She returned again in RoboCop3 in 1993, though her co-star Peter Weller didn't this time. In 1993, Nancy Allen joined several other veteran stars in Acting on Impulse, Also, she married actor Craig Shoemaker, in the same year (he has a small role in that movie). A few years later she divorced Craig and some time after she married again. Lately she has appeared in some diverse films: Dusting Cliff 7 (1997) Secret of the Andes (1998), Circuit (2001), and she had a guest appearance in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight in 1998. Her last performance was for the TV show Law & Order Special Victims Unit, in the Episode "Escape" aired on December 2nd, 2003. Allen has recently appeared in several documentaries about her most famous films: Acting Carrie (2001) DVD BackStory: RoboCop(2001) TV Dressed to Kill (2000) DVD ET True Hollywood Stories: The Curse of Poltergeist (2002) TV.

Interested in projecting the image of a strong but at the same time feminine woman, she managed to get away from the victim roles she was always offered, she also was able to get away from the stereotype of the beautiful but dumb woman in most action films. She is an environmentalist that traded her Volvo car for an Hybrid car in order to set the example. She is also an activist against breast Cancer along with her friend actress Wendie Jo Sperber, who created the fundation WeSpark.

Her last appearance on TV was on the Inside E! story of her co-star John Travolta and the A&E Biography of Travolta - both appearances in 2004. Nowadays Nancy Allen lives a quiet life along with her family and friends somewhere in the USA.



Trained for a dancing career at the High School of Performing Arts Nancy and her RoboCop (1987) star Peter Weller were both born on June 24th, three years apart (Nancy was born in 1950, Weller was born in 1947). Said the hardest part of filming Dressed to Kill (1980) was wearing black lingerie, which she found very uncomfortable. Her then-husband Brian De Palma specifically wrote the role of the hooker in Dressed to Kill (1980) with her in mind. Originally auditioned for the role of Carrie in Carrie (1976), while Sissy Spacek read for the role of high school bitch Chris Hargensen, but director Brian De Palma decided to have them swap roles. Worked in four movies directed by her ex-husband Brian De Palma. Carrie (1976), Home Movies (1980), Dressed to Kill (1980), and Blow Out (1981).