News

Sian Barbara Allen, a Golden Globe-nominated TV actress who appeared in such hits as The Waltons and L.A. Law, died today at the age of 78 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The cause of death was Alzheimer’s Disease.

A prolific television performer of the ’70s and ’80s, Allen was born on July 12, 1946 in Reading, Penn. Raised by her mother and grandmother, upon graduating high school, she received a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse, which sparked her career. She studied with the highly regarded acting teacher Peggy Feury as part of the Journeyman program at the storied Mark Taper Forum.

Afterward, she was soon hired as one of the last contract players at Universal Studios, eventually booking roles on such series like Gunsmoke, Cagney & Lacey, The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-0, Columbo, The Rockford Files and others. She was also the first woman to pen a script for an episode of Baretta,...

Sian Barbara Allen, a onetime Universal contract player who appeared in the films You’ll Like My Mother and Billy Two Hats and played a love interest of Richard Thomas’ John-Boy on The Waltons, died Monday. She was 78.

Allen died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a battle with Alzheimer’s, her family announced. She often played characters with “great vulnerability and uncommon empathy,” they noted.

In telefilms, Allen starred with Bette Davis and Ted Bessell as the title character, a housekeeper in a mansion, in 1973’s Scream, Pretty Peggy at ABC; with Claude Akins, John Savage and Patricia Neal in the 1975 tearjerker Eric at NBC; and with Anthony Hopkins and Cliff DeYoung in 1976’s The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, also at NBC (she played the wife of the famed aviator).

Born on July 12, 1946, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Allen was raised by her mother, Ruth, and her grandmother, Etta.

After she graduated from Reading Senior High School,...

Sian Barbara Allen, the actor known for numerous television roles and her lead role in “Scream, Pretty Peggy” alongside Bette Davis, died Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Allen’s death was confirmed to Variety with the cause of death being Alzheimer’s disease.

In the ’70s and ’80s, Allen had numerous roles in popular TV shows, including “The Waltons,” “Columbo,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Gunsmoke,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Allen also wrote the “Just for Laughs” episode of “Baretta” in Season 4.

In her film work, she starred alongside numerous stars, including Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas in “You’ll Like My Mother” (1972), Bette Davis in “Scream Pretty Peggy” (1973) and Gregory Peck and Jack Warden in the Western “Billy Two Hats” (1974). She also played Anne Morrow alongside Anthony Hopkins in “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case” (1976). Allen earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising New Actress...

Sean Penn rarely grants interviews — he and the press haven’t always gotten along, to say the least — but last week, at his home in Malibu, the venerated actor and filmmaker sat down with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast for an in-depth conversation about his life, career and most recent project, Daddio, an indie, released last Friday, of which he is particularly proud.

Seated in a small, light-filled room that he recently re-designed himself, the walls of which are covered with photos of his late parents, his two children and himself alongside many of world figures he has encountered in his travels as an activist, Penn, sporting a shock of white hair, puffed on cigarettes, spoke softly and was far warmer than his reputation would suggest he’d be. At 63, thrice divorced and currently single, he seems to have found a measure of peace — at least when one...

Mulan and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Rosalind Chao chats about a few of her favorite movies with Josh & Joe.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mulan (2020)

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Mary Poppins (1964)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Gremlins (1984)

Explorers (1985)

Funny Girl (1968)

What’s Up Doc? (1972)

The Heartbreak Kid (1972)

The Graduate (1967)

Midnight Run (1988)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

The Lonely Guy (1984)

Waiting For Guffman (1996)

Best In Show (2000)

Hamilton (2020)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

Misery (1990)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

sex, lies and videotape (1989)

The Shining (1980)

Matewan (1987)

Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990)

Lost In Translation (2003)

Mean Streets (1973)

On The Rocks (2020)

Somewhere (2010)

Adaptation (2002)

Mandy (2018)

Possessor (2020)

Midsommar (2019)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Hereditary (2018)

The Lighthouse (2019)

Other Notable Items

The Scott Alexander podcast episodes

Tfh Guru Larry Karaszewski

Star Trek franchise

The It’s A Small World ride

Disneyland

University of the Arts

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine...

When one has the opportunity to listen to an actor with the amount of experience as Rosalind Chao has, one must seize it. From the legendary final episode of M.A.S.H to Black-ish, from The Joy Luck Club to Disney’s eagerly anticipated live action Mulan, Chao has seen it all! On this episode, the once “professional guest star” opens up about how she’s happier when working and happiest on a happy set. She talks about why it’s important to get to the fitting early in her process, adding years to her age to get her first job, learning from Peggy Feury, […]...

When one has the opportunity to listen to an actor with the amount of experience as Rosalind Chao has, one must seize it. From the legendary final episode of M.A.S.H to Black-ish, from The Joy Luck Club to Disney’s eagerly anticipated live action Mulan, Chao has seen it all! On this episode, the once “professional guest star” opens up about how she’s happier when working and happiest on a happy set. She talks about why it’s important to get to the fitting early in her process, adding years to her age to get her first job, learning from Peggy Feury, […]...

As noted above, the invite for Steve Balderson's latest feature, El Ganzo, swore that something special was going to occur between a gay man of color and a white female within its running time. Here was an intriguing come-on, one hard to cold-shoulder, so I didn't. Happily, the film is a well-acted, beautifully shot, two-hander about a couple of gentle souls, thrown together by fate, who wind up the better for the confrontation.

Susan Traylor plays Lizzy, an attractive American tourist in Mexico on her way to a hotel. After her cab gets into an accident midway to her destination, she abandons her nonplussed driver, grabs her shoulder bag, and starts walking in the midday heat, seemingly stunned. Maybe she's received a slight concussion or maybe . . .

Many sunstruck hours later, Lizzy arrives at the hotel and falls instantly asleep even before the manager who shows her to her room can leave.

Anybody who has taken an acting class has likely looked at the instructor and wondered, "What if the tables were turned? How would I be as the one devising the improvisations and coaching students through scenes?"Such thoughts get self-censored for various reasons. Even actors with extensive experience and knowledge sometimes feel unworthy to teach a class. Others may feel that if they were to pursue teaching, it would interfere with their performing career—perhaps even signaling defeat. After all, the maxim "Those who can't do, teach" has been repeated so many times that people tend to believe it. But teaching acting doesn't necessarily mean giving up on acting.Back Stage spoke with five actors who have incorporated teaching or coaching into their working lives. They shared how they came to be teachers, how they've grown in the classroom or studio, and how they balance the twin parts of their work.