Bob Allen

After graduating from the N. Y. Military Academy, he entered Dartmouth University as a special student. He completed his education by attending Columbia University and the University of Virginia. For a short time, he labored as a truck driver and then became a clerk for the National City Bank of New York. Unhappy with his working in a bank, he decided to try his hand at being a professional artist. Instead, he became a pilot for the Curtis Flying Service.

Recalling his old school days at Dartmouth back in 1926, Bob remembered how he the film company hired him as an extra in a Richard Dix movie called The Quarterback, filmed on the college campus. In 1931, he went to Hollywood and Warner Brothers signed for a few drawing-room dramas. After completing those, he made some minor appearances on the Los Angeles stage, finally drawing attention in “A Few Wild Oats” and “The Greeks Had a Word for It.” Soon thereafter Bob was called to New York, where he starred in several Broadway shows-“Society Girl,” “There’!s Always Juliet,” “The Church Mouse” and “Holiday.” Continuing with his career on the stage, he was hailed for his performances in “Criminal at Large,” “The Late Christopher Bean “The Second Mrs. Tanguerav” and “Mona Vana.”

While in New York, Harry Cohn, President of Columbia Pictures, met Bob and offered him a contract to return to Hollywood in 1934. Ever since his days at Warner’s, his name had been changed to Robert Allen, and it was under that name that he went back to movies. At Columbia, however, he was given slightly better roles and kept more active by appearing in several mystery dramas. In a short time, he found himself back where be had started, as a leading man in drawing-room dramas. Nevertheless, he did manage to win the box-office Blue Ribbon Award in 1935 for his role opposite Grace Moore in Love Me Forever. That same year, Bob had been an interested spectator on the sets where cowboy star Tim McCoy was busy making Columbia Westerns. He managed to talk the director into letting him make a few features with McCoy and surprised the studio heads with his excellent horsemanship. In 1936, he started a series of his own for Columbia and emerged as a popular new cowboy hero. With a true talent for dramatics and the ability to handle action, Bob’s good looks completed the blend that was necessary for a successful Western star.

Even though his career as a cowboy hero lasted only a short time, Allen’s “Texas Ranger” series for Columbia allowed him to make an impression in the field of horse-operas. He left all that behind when he accepted an offer to join 20^th Century Fox Studios in the latter part of 1937, being featured in a group of melodramas. Completing his activities in motion pictures in 1939 with Republic and producer Walter Wanger, while on loan-out from Fox, he then returned to the Broadway stage.

His first appearance back in the legitimate theatre was with Rozalind Russell in “Auntie Mame,” a play that became a huge success. That was followed by parts in “Kiss Them for Me,” “I Killed the Count,” “Janie,” “Junior Miss,” and a revival of “Showboat.” These were only a few of the stage hits that kept Bob active in later years. Also, he had been busy with television, appearing in shows such as “Naked City,” “Kraft Theatre,” “Armstrong Theatre,” “The Web,” “The Philco Show” and “Suspense.” His work has also led him into making pictures produced on the East Coast, which do not interfere with his stage roles.