Corey Allen(1934-2010)
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Corey Allen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCLA in Theatre in
1954. While there, he received the department's Best Actor award and
starred in the UCLA film, "A Time Out of War", which won the Academy
Award & Cannes & Venice Film Festival for Best Short Film. Upon
graduation, he appeared in approximately twenty plays in the Los
Angeles area. Director Nicholas Ray spotted
Allen and subsequently chose him for the role of "Buzz" in
Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
This led to featured roles in another dozen films such as
Private Property (1960),
Party Girl (1958),
Darby's Rangers (1958) and
The Chapman Report (1962).
Allen also appeared in many leading television series including
Perry Mason (1957) and
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955).
Meanwhile, he created, directed for and co-produced the Freeway Circuit
Theatre which toured the Southwest for six seasons. Allen also directed
numerous Equity productions in Los Angeles theatres. This led to a
thirty year directorial career in television and film during which he
directed three movies including Avalanche; television movies including
the Emmy winning
The Ann Jillian Story (1988);
created a dozen pilots for television series including
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987),
Murder, She Wrote (1984),
Simon & Simon (1981),
Code Name: Foxfire (1985),
Stone (1979) and
Capitol (1982). He has earned two
Directors Guild nominations for Best Direction in a television series,
the Award for Cable Excellence for Best Direction of
The Paper Chase (1978) and
received an Emmy for Best Direction of a
Hill Street Blues (1981).
Throughout this career, Allen instructed acting, including three years
at the Actors Workshop, and for the last nine years, conducted cold
reading workshops at the Margie Haber
Studio. This year, Allen was presented with an honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters from Columbia College-Holllywood for his work in helping
to create their acting and directing curricula.
