Valerie Allen was a talented actress and writer who appeared in several movies and TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s. She was also the ex-wife of actor Troy Donahue, whom she met on the set of Come Spy with Me (1967). She died of lung cancer on June 18, 2013, at the age of 77. Here is a brief overview of her life and career, as well as the details of her death.
Early Life and Career
Valerie Allen was born on February 10, 1936, in New York City, to theatrical parents. Her mother was Valerie Raemier, once known as Broadway’s highest salaried showgirl, and a veteran of the Ziegfeld Follies. Her father was Edgar Allen, a talent booker for such venues as The Palace. He was also the one who suggested to comedian Fred Allen that he should shorten his name from Fred Sullivan for better marquee appeal.
Valerie Allen attended Los Angeles City College before pursuing a career in show business. In 1955, she was discovered by a talent scout from Paramount while performing as a chorus girl in Las Vegas. However, she did not get a screen test until two years later. She made her film debut in The Joker Is Wild (1957), starring Frank Sinatra.
She went on to appear in several films, such as Bells Are Ringing (1960), The Ladies Man (1961), The Errand Boy (1961), and The Patsy (1964), all directed by Jerry Lewis. She also had roles in TV shows, such as Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Batman.
Marriage to Troy Donahue and Later Career
Valerie Allen met Troy Donahue, a popular teen idol and star of films like A Summer Place (1959) and Parrish (1961), during the filming of Come Spy with Me (1967), a spy comedy. They married on October 21, 1966, but their marriage was short-lived and turbulent. They divorced on November 16, 1968.
After her divorce, Valerie Allen did some theater work with her ex-husband, but her career never really took off. She did the pilot for a sitcom called Medicine Man, with Ernie Kovacs and Buster Keaton, but the show was canceled after Kovacs died in a car accident.
In 1968, she won $1.2 million after suing the NYPD for an incident that occurred in 2006, when she was allegedly assaulted by a police officer who claimed that she had pulled a gun on him.
She then switched to writing and became an executive at RCA. She wrote soap operas and other scripts for TV and film.
Death from Lung Cancer
Valerie Allen spent the last years of her life at the Motion Picture and Television Fund House in Woodland Hills, California, a retirement community for people in the entertainment industry. She died of lung cancer on June 18, 2013. She was survived by her son Vincent, whom she had with her second husband, an investment banker.
Valerie Allen was a versatile and talented performer who had a promising start in Hollywood but faced many challenges and setbacks in her personal and professional life. She died of lung cancer at the age of 77, leaving behind a legacy of films and TV shows that showcase her beauty and charm.
