She’s been in a number of Oscar nominated films from the beginning of her career to the end, yet Nancy Allen is a Golden Globe nominee herself with a ton of horror and science fiction credits to her resume. She was born in June of 1950 in New York, New York. As with many actresses, she got her start in the entertainment industry working in commercials. After appearing in dozens of them, she finally branched out into studio acting with a supporting role in the 3x Oscar nominee The Last Detail (1973). Two years later she would have her first role in a horror film, a cameo in horror-thriller Forced Entry.
The following year she appeared in another horror film, which was also a 2x Oscar nominee, Stephen King’s Carrie. Allen played the role of Chris Hargensen, one of the Carrie’s tormenters who pelted her with feminine productions in the shower room and eventually was the culprit who covers her in pigs blood. After filming a spot in the 3x Oscar nominee 1941 in 1979, she returned to a series of Brian De Palma films in the early 80s including mystery-thrillers Dressed to Kill (1980) and Blow Out (1981) with John Travolta.
She returned to horror in 1983 when she played the lead character in Strange Invaders, which she followed up with another role in scifi’s The Philadelphia Experiment (1984). During this span she also played Paula James on one season of “Another Life.” Not too long after this television run, she earned the lead role of Officer Anne Lewis in the 2x Oscar nominee RoboCop (1987). She would return for the following sequels RoboCop 2 (1990) and RoboCop 3 (1993). In between her recurring role in this franchise, she also played Patricia Gardner, Carol Anne’s aunt, in Poltergeist III.
For the next two years she stuck with television jobs, appearing in episodes of “Touched by an Angel,” “The Outer Limits” and “The Commish.” She finished off the decade with her last big role in horror-thriller The Pass (1998) with William Forsythe and much smaller roles in 2x Oscar nominee Out of Sight (1998) and horror’s Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999).
So, where is Nancy Allen now?
She continued to act into the 2000s decade with guest spots on television shows including “Judging Amy,” “The Division” and “Law & Order: SVU.” However, her last on screen role was the lead in an independent scifi-comedy titled My Apocalypse in 2008.
Instead she enjoys a quiet life as an environmentalist and breast cancer activist. Nancy even founded a breast cancer awareness charity called WeSpark with fellow actress Wendie Jo Sperber (Back to the Future III, “Private Benjamin”).
