| Chad Allen |
 |
| Born | Chad Allen Lazzari June 5, 1974 (1974-06-05) (age 35) Cerritos, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Chad Allen (born June 5, 1974) is an American actor. Performing since he was a child, Allen is perhaps best known for appearing on the television series Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman from 1993 to 1998.[1]
[edit] Early career
A young Allen guest-starred on several prime time series including St. Elsewhere, in which he played autistic child Tommy Westphall[2] from 1983 to 1988. Notably, the series' final episode "The Last One" ends with the indication that all of its storylines occurred within Westphall's imagination.[3] In 1983, he appeared in the show Cutter to Houston, playing "a kid who got hurt and had to be given mouth-to-mouth and carried to the waiting chopper by Dr. Hal Wexler," who was played by Alec Baldwin. "I thought it was the greatest job I had ever gotten," Chad reminisced years later. [4] Allen's first regular role was as David Witherspoon on the 1986 series Our House, which co-starred a pre-Beverly Hills, 90210 Shannen Doherty, Wilford Brimley and Days of our Lives' Emmy-nominated Deidre Hall. That series ended in 1988, and Allen's next contract role was Matthew Cooper in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman alongside Jane Seymour in 1993. Dr. Quinn ended in 1998, and Allen did not return for its two sequel television movies, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie (1999) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within (2000).
[edit] Outing and activism
In 1996, at age 21, Allen was outed as gay when the US tabloid The Globe published photos of him kissing another man in a hot tub at a party.[5][6] The photos had been sold to the paper by Allen's then-boyfriend.[7] Allen has since become an activist for the LGBT community in addition to his continuing acting and producing career.[1] On January 17, 2006, Allen appeared on CNN's Larry King Live with San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to represent the gay viewpoint in a debate over same-sex marriage. Allen thanked Newsom for his attempts to legalize same-sex marriage in the city.[8] Allen has been featured in The Advocate magazine multiple times[1][5][9][10] and has appeared on three of its covers.[11][12][13]
[edit] Further career
Starting with 2005's Third Man Out, Allen portrays lead character Donald Strachey, a gay private detective in a monogamous relationship, in a series of television movies for the here! network based on novels by Richard Stevenson. Third Man Out's 2006 sequel Shock to the System was followed by both On the Other Hand, Death and Ice Blues in 2008. Allen noted that Strachey is the first gay character he had ever played outside of theater, and that though his career was "different" since coming out, he finds it "more interesting and fun for me than it has ever been."[9]
Controversy surrounded Allen's casting as real-life Christian missionary Nate Saint in the 2006 docudrama film End of the Spear, as some conservative Christians lashed out at producers for putting an openly gay man in the role.[10][14]
In 2007 Allen starred in the film Save Me opposite Daytime Emmy-winner Judith Light and Robert Gant.[15] Developed and produced by Allen himself, the film was directed by Robert Clary and written by Light's husband Robert Desiderio, based on a screenplay by Craig Chester.[1] Save Me, a film exploring the ex-gay movement, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was later picked up for distribution by independent studio Fine Line Features.
Allen appeared alongside Valerie Harper from June through August 2008 in Looped, a stage play based on the life of Tallulah Bankhead, at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California.
Starting September 23, 2008, Allen portrayed the love interest of Dr. Kyle Julian for four episodes of the prime time SOAPnet serial General Hospital: Night Shift, a spin-off of the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital.[6][16][17]
[edit] Personal life
Allen was born Chad Allen Lazzari in Cerritos, California. He has a twin sister named Charity.
In a September 2008 interview with Out.com, Allen noted that he was currently in a three-year relationship and had been sober for eight years.[6] In October 2008, AfterElton.com noted his boyfriend to be actor Jeremy Glazer.[18]
Allen attended St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | Simon & Simon | Boy | Episode: 'A Recipe for Disaster' |
| 1983 | St. Elsewhere | Tommy Westphall | Appeared in 11 episodes, 1983-1988 |
| 1984 | Airwolf | Ho Minh Truong | Episode: 'Daddy's Gone a Hunt'n' |
| Still the Beaver | Doug Williams | Episodes: 'Dear Pen Pal II' & 'Girl Talk' |
| 1985 | Matt Houston | Patrick | Episode: 'The Nightmare Man' |
| Not My Kid | Bobby | |
| Bad Seed (1985 film) | Mark Daigler | |
| Hotel | Bobby Cowley | TV Series; Episode: 'Sleeping Dogs' |
| A Death in California | Glenn | |
| Code of Vengeance | A.J. Flowers | Episode: 'Code of Vengeance' |
| Webster | Rob Whitaker | TV Series; Appeared in 4 episodes, 1985-1986 |
| Punky Brewster | Conrad/Brian | Played Conrad in the 1985 episode 'My Aged Valentine & played Brian in the 1988 episode 'The Dilemma' |
| 1986 | Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! | Charlie Brown | Voice |
| Help Wanted: Kids | Coop | |
| TerrorVision | Sherman Putterman | |
| Our House | David Witherspoon | TV Series; Appeared in 46 episodes, 1986-1988 |
| 1987 | Tales from the Darkside | Sandy | Episode: 'The Milkman Cometh' |
| 1988 | Straight Up | Ben | TV Series |
| Highway to Heaven | Ricky Diller | Episode: 'The Whole Nine Yards' |
| Hunter | Danny Sanderson | TV Series; Episode: 'Heir of Neglect' |
| 1989 | My Two Dads | Zach Nichols | Appeared in 21 episodes, 1989-1990 |
| 1990 | Camp Cucamonga | Frankie Calloway | |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | Jono | Episode: 'Suddenly Human' |
| 1991 | The Wonder Years | Brad Patterson | Episode: 'The Yearbook' |
| Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story | William Flynn | |
| 1992 | ABC Weekend Special | Sean | Episode: 'Choose Your Own Adventure: The Case of the Silk King' |
| 1993 | Praying Mantis (film) | Bobby McAndrews | |
| In the Heat of the Night | Matt Skinner | TV Series; Episode: 'Every Man's Family' |
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Matthew Cooper | Appeared in 147 episodes, 1993-1998 |
| 1998 | The Love Boat: The Next Wave | Pete Dougherty | Episode: 'How Long Has This Been Going On?' |
| 1999 | Total Recall 2070 | Eddie Miller | Episode: 'First Wave' |
| NYPD Blue | Tommy Ibarra/Kyle Tanner | Played Tommy in the 1999 episode 'Show & Tell' & played Kyle in the 2004 episode 'Bale Out' |
| 2000 | We Married Margo | Margo's Brother Oliver | |
| 2001 | What Matters Most | Lucas Warner | |
| A Mother's Testimony | Kenny Carlson | |
| Do You Wanna Know a Secret? | Brad Adams/Bradley Clayton | |
| 2002 | Sexy (film) | Voice 1 | |
| Getting Out (film) | Steve | |
| 2003 | Paris (2003 film) | Jason Bartok | |
| 2004 | Downtown: A Street Tale | Hunter | |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Monty Fineman 1985 | Episode: 'Kensington' |
| Third Man Out | Donald Strachey | |
| Charmed | Emrick | Episode: 'Hulkus Pocus' |
| End of the Spear | Nate Saint/Steve Saint | |
| 2006 | The Pool 2 | Mark Casati | |
| Criminal Minds | Jackson Cally | Episode: 'The Tribe' |
| Shock to the System | Donald Strachey | |
| 2007 | Save Me | Mark | |
| Terra | Terrian Scientist | Voice |
| 2008 | On the Other Hand, Death | Donald Strachey | |
| Ice Blues | Donald Strachey | |
| CSI: Miami | Barry/Stan Carlyle | Episode: 'Bombshell' |
| General Hospital: Night Shift | Eric Whitlow | Appeared in 5 episodes, 2008 |
| 2009 | Hollywood, je t'aime | Ross | |
| Fright Flick | Brock | |
| The Cleansing (film) | Cade | In Production |
| 2010 | For Better or for Worse (2010 film) | | Post-Production |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Vary, Adam B."His grown-up Christmas list." The Advocate Issue 903. November 25, 2003.
- ^ Stacy, Tom (October 25, 2008). "Pride and Prejudice". Soap Opera Digest (Vol. 33, No. 44): pages 50-52.
- ^ "Classic Series Finales: St. Elsewhere". TVAcres.com. http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ When I Knew ((2005), ISBN 0060571462 - page 112
- ^ a b Vilanch, Bruce. "Chad Allen: His own story." The Advocate Issue 848, October 9, 2001.
- ^ a b c Branco, Nelson. "Allen's Anatomy." Out.com Retrieved September 29, 2008.
- ^ Chawla, Sarika. "True Detective." IN Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved April 20, 2008.
- ^ "Debate Over Gay Marriage," Larry King Live transcript. CNN.com January 17, 2006
- ^ a b Vary, Adam B. "Chad's on the case." The Advocate. Issue 945, August 30, 2005.
- ^ a b Schwartzapfel, Beth. "Chad Allen's not sorry." The Advocate. Issue 958, March 14, 2006.
- ^ The Advocate Issue 848 cover October 9, 2001.
- ^ The Advocate Issue 945 cover August 30, 2005
- ^ The Advocate Issue 903 cover November 25, 2003.
- ^ Moring, Mark. "Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor." ChristianToday.com January 26, 2006.
- ^ Save Me (2007) official site Retrieved September 30, 2008.
- ^ Coleridge, Daniel R. "Night Shift: Meet Kyle's New BF!" SOAPnet.com August 20, 2008.
- '^ Mitovich, Matt (August 20, 2008). "Romance Prescribed for GH: Night Shifts Gay Kyle". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/soaps/Romance-Prescribed-GH-10081.aspx. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Hartinger, Brent (October 19, 2008). "Gay Celebrity Boyfriends!". AfterElton.com. http://www.afterelton.com/people/2008/10/gaycelebrityboyfriends?page=0%2C2. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| NAME | Allen, Chad |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lazzari, Chad Allen |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1974-6-5 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cerritos, California, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |