Allen was born in Manchester on 7 February 1907 to John and Margaret Allen. After her education in France and Germany,[4] she trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where her 1926 graduation performance caught the attention of Basil Dean, who cast her as Nina Vansittart in the Noël Coward play Easy Virtue, when it arrived to London from Broadway.[5][6]
In 1929, she married Raymond Massey, after he had cast her for a part in Noël Coward's play The Rat Trap.[5] Her first West End appearance followed in July 1930, where she played the role of Sibyl in Noël Coward's Private Lives.[4] She had two children with Raymond Massey, Daniel and Anna, who later became actors. The marriage ended in divorce in 1939.[4] Shortly after her divorce she married William Dwight Whitney, the lawyer who had handled the divorce.
She starred in more films, and appeared on British television, before returning to Broadway in 1957, where she starred alongside her daughter in The Reluctant Debutante.[5] Her acting career ended in 1958.[2]
Death
Allen died from cancer on 14 September 1993 in Montreux, Switzerland.[8] Both of her children died of cancer, as well.
