In Memoriam

Priscilla Allen
1938 - 2008

Priscilla Allen passed away this weekend of lymphoma, a cancer diagnosed more than 10 years ago. She died at home, surrounded by family and beloved animals.

Though perhaps best remembered as the exploding head in the movie Total Recall by those who did not know her well, the mother of three and Grande Dame of the San Diego Theatre will be sorely missed by those who did.

Priscilla Allen moved to San Diego from Buffalo, New York, at the age of two when her father took employment at CONVAIR to help with the war effort. Her mother, the entertainment chair for various clubs, was the catalyst which motivated the class clown of La Jolla High to act in the school's variety shows, along with "more motivated" classmates like Raquel Welsh.

Though like Welsh, Allen could have pursued a career in Hollywood (she had landed work on the series Happy Days) she decided that her family came first and opted instead for secure employment in an environment more conducive to raising her three daughters; a decision she never regretted.

When Allen's husband Dennis, a San Diego policeman, was killed on duty in 1977, Allen secured a teaching credential to support her young family. For many years afterward, she taught Theatre Arts and Public Speaking in city schools -- San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, Point Loma High School, and Mesa College.

Allen also worked to support the local acting community. She went to the very first meeting of the San Diego Alliance Co-Op, which would later become the Actors Alliance, with the idea to have an organization which would empower the actor and help him to find work. Concerned for the viability of San Diego theatre as companies continued to lose venues and artists, Allen believed the AASD was "one of the best things going" to nurture local actors.

Some of Priscilla's fondest memories were with Starlight Theatre, where her entire family has performed. In her 20s, Allen would don extensive makeup and an elaborate costume to appear in the Shakespearean Festival's pre-show as Queen Elizabeth, appearing side-saddle on a horse to announce the evening's production.

Allen tried to do something new, to challenge herself, every day; she believed "commitment" was the most important word in an actor's vocabulary; and her incredible "sense of the possibilities" always kept her from being limited by her size or age. She was never type-cast, boxed-in, or labeled; she was free to work the gamut from the gut-wrenching to the gut-busting.

An advocate for animal welfare and an avid antiques admirer (if not collector), Priscilla Allen will be missed.


Source: Theatrical bios and, in particular, a 2006 interview with C.Q.Kish.

* Corrections to cause and location of death were made August 25. Thanks to Jennifer, Hillary Allen, and Meredith Christiansen who added that Priscilla's "San Diego acting and teaching career was artistically fulfilling beyond any commercial success."

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