Everything about Ronald Allen totally explained
Ronald Allen (
December 16,
1930 – (some sources say
1934) in
Reading, Berkshire —
June 18,
1991) was an established
English character actor.
He studied at
Leighton Park School in Reading and trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, worked in repertory theatre, had a season at the
Old Vic, London and made several films as well as achieving fame as a
soap opera star.
After roles in the BBC soaps
United! and
Compact during the 1960s came his most famous role, in the long-running
Crossroads. Allen played David Hunter, who, together with
Meg Mortimer, Tish Hope and Bernard Booth, was a shareholder of the Crossroads Motel. He appeared in the series from 1969 to 1985. He also twice appeared as a lead actor in the
science fiction programme
Doctor Who, in the stories
The Dominators and
The Ambassadors of Death.
Ronald Allen also made a number of guest appearances in
The Comic Strip Presents. In the first episode,
Five Go Mad in Dorset, which spoofed
Enid Blyton's
The Famous Five stories, he makes a surprise appearance as Uncle Quentin; deliberately sending up his staid image, he most memorably told
The Famous Five, "Your Aunt Fanny is an unrelenting nymphomaniac – and I'm a screaming homosexual." (The show's
TV Times entry had listed him as "Surprise Guest"). Allen reprised the role in the
sequel Five Go Mad on Mescalin, and also appeared in
South Atlantic Raiders Part 2,
The Strike and
Oxford, in addition to the feature film
The Supergrass. There was much comic mileage to gained from Allen sending up his ultra conservative image. In a 1987 interview, he said that he was approached by a very intimidating-looking punk. He shook his hand and said "I thought you were really cool in
The Supergrass." Then, as he was about to walk away, he turned back and said, almost apologetically, "I loved you in
Crossroads too!"
Other roles included television's
The Adventures of Robin Hood,
Danger Man,
Bergerac and
The Avengers.
Ronald Allen lived for many years with the actor Brian Hankins who also appeared in
Crossroads. He was also very close friends with his co-star and on-screen wife,
Sue Lloyd. When the British media started to intrude into their private lives, they made it known they were a couple. After Allen was told that his cancer was terminal, they married. He died three months later, aged 56.
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