Debbie Allen

American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award (winning five), two Tony Awards, and has also won a Golden Globe Award and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. Allen is best known for her work in the musical-drama television series Fame (1982-1987), where she portrayed dance teacher Lydia Grant, and served as the series' principal choreographer.

Debbie Allen began dancing at age five. In 1964 she was the Houston Foundation for Ballet's first black dancer. Two years later she was devastated by racism at an audition for the North Carolina School of Arts when a judge told her that her body was not right for classical dancing. Regaining her confidence she graduated in drama and persisted through a number of bleak years until she made her Broadway debut in 1971.

Critical acclaim came in 1980 in the Broadway revival of West Side Story. A promising role in the film Fame was left mostly on the cutting-room floor but she was invited to choreograph and star in the TV series, which aired for six seasons from 7 January 1982. With enviable determination and a formidable work ethic, she dived into 16-hour working days to fulfill her dual role and was later acclaimed in both areas by her peers, winning two Emmys and a Golden Globe.

In May 1986 she returned to the stage in a successful revival of Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity. In 1989 Allen took over as producer-director of "A Different World," motivating the actors to begin early morning workouts before shooting began. Later Allen co-produced a project with Steven Spielberg that she had been pioneering for ten years, Amistad, released in December 1997.

Allen, brash, feisty and dynamic, has managed to escape being pigeonholed by the media: she has made a mark as an actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, author, producer and director.