Chad Allen (actor)

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Chad Allen

Born Chad Allen Lazzari
June 5, 1974 (1974-06-05) (age 34)
Cerritos, California, U.S.

Chad Allen (born Chad Allen Lazzari on June 5, 1974, in Cerritos, California, U.S.) 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. Chad got his big break after starring in a McDonald's commercial.

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. [1] The photos had been sold to the paper by Allen's then-boyfriend.[2] He has since become an activist for the LGBT community in addition to his continuing acting and producing career. Allen has been featured in The Advocate magazine multiple times and has appeared on its cover.

Allen portrayed lead character Donald Strachey, a gay private detective in a monogamous relationship, in the 2005 here! television movie Third Man Out and its 2006 sequel, Shock to the System. Both films are adaptations of novels by author Richard Stevenson. Allen noted that it was 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." [3]

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. [4]

On January 17, 2006, Allen appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to represent the gay viewpoint in a debate over same-sex marriage.[5]

Allen is appearing 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.

Allen has a twin sister named Charity.

Contents

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films

  • Not My Kid (1985) (TV) - Bobby
  • The Bad Seed (1985) (TV) - Mark Daigler
  • A Death in California (1985) (TV) - Glenn
  • Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986) (TV) (voice) - Charlie Brown
  • Help Wanted: Kids (1986) (TV) - Coop
  • TerrorVision (1986) - Sherman Putterman
  • Camp Cucamonga (1990) (TV) - Frankie Calloway
  • Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story (1991) (TV) - William Flynn
  • Praying Mantis (1993) (TV) - Bobby McAndrews
  • We Married Margo (2000) - Margo's Brother Oliver
  • What Matters Most (2001) - Lucas Warner
  • A Mother's Testimony (2001) (TV) - Kenny Carlson
  • Do You Wanna Know a Secret? (2001) - Brad Adams/Bradley Clayton
  • Sexy (2002) - Voice 1
  • Getting Out (2002) - Steve
  • Paris (2003) - Jason Bartok
  • Downtown: A Street Tale (2004) - Hunter
  • Third Man Out (2005) - Donald Strachey
  • End of the Spear (2005) - Nate Saint/Steve Saint
  • Shock to the System (2006) - Donald Strachey
  • The Pool 2 (2006) - Mark Casati
  • Save Me (2007) - Mark
  • Ice Blues (2008) - Donald Strachey

[edit] Television

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Chad Allen: His own story." The Advocate 9 October 2001.
  2. ^ Chawla, Sarika. "True Detective." IN Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  3. ^ "Chad's on the case." The Advocate. 30 August 2005.
  4. ^ "Chad Allen's not sorry." The Advocate. 14 March 2006.
  5. ^ "Debate Over Gay Marriage," Larry King Live transcript - CNN.com .January 17, 2006

[edit] See also

[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