Tony winner Rae Allen peacefully passed away April 6. She was 95. The news was confirmed by Allen's manager, Kyle Fritz.
Born July 23, 1926, Ms. Allen trained at the HB Studio and American Academy of the Drama Arts before making her Broadway debut in Frank Loesser and George Abbott's Where's Charley?. Ms. Allen became a favorite of Mr. Abbott, appearing in his original productions of Call Me Madam and The Pajama Game before he cast her as nosy reporter Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees. For her efforts, Ms. Allen received her first Tony nomination, and she reprised the role in the 1958 film.
Ms. Allen was again Tony nominated for the play Traveler Without Luggage in 1967, following her work as the standby, and eventual replacement Nancy in the original Broadway production of Oliver!. Ms. Allen won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the role of Fleur Stein in And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little, a dark comedy exploring the relationship between three sisters following the death of their mother.
By the early 1970s, Ms. Allen transitioned from the stage to the screen, appearing in The Untouchables, Car 54, Where Are You?, The Patty Duke Show, and All In The Family, where she played Edith Bunker's cousin Amelia. In the 1990s, Ms. Allen primarily played overworked maternal characters, including Mrs. Sokol on Seinfeld and Aunt Quintina Blundetto on The Sopranos.
On screen, Ms. Allen appeared in Reign Over Me, Stargate, A League of Their Own and Where’s Poppa?.
Ms. Allen is survived by her nieces Laura and Betty Cosgrove and her adopted family friends April Webster and Lisa Ann Gold.
