Francesca Allen, the forty-two-year-old writer and artist has had a career that has spanned parts of four decades. She has been nominated for four Academy Awards and has been awarded many honors including the prestigious Governor’s Award and the Presidential Medal of Arts and Design. Though it is her great writing and art that have garnered her the honors, it seems her nationality and age have stood the test of time as she has found new life and love in roles both domestic and international.
Ms. Allen’s rise to stardom can be traced to her early days as a student who lived, worked and studied in Italy when she was a struggling actress in various theater productions while attending the University of Genoa. It was here that she honed her skills as an artist in the theater through an apprenticeship with Luciano Lano. This experience would prove invaluable as Ms. Allen was able to learn from the most successful artists of their time including Giorgio Armani, Piero Di Gandini and Mario Plesac. These experiences would prepare her for a career in the modeling and art world, which began when she was cast as a chorus girl in La Perione in Ben Hur in 1963.
Francesca Allen has used the many elements of her personality to find and play various supporting characters throughout her career, whether it be as a loving wife and mother or as a hardened fighter in the theater and films. But it is her versatility that has endeared her to generations of viewers who enjoy her work both on the stage and screen. As she enters her final years at age seventy-one she is still recognized and revered as a beloved character in Italian and English literature alike. Her honors not only include the accolade of an Honorary Academy Award, but also an appointment with the Order of the Phoenix and an Honorary Academy Award as well. Her notable achievements and accomplishments make Francesca Allen a true Renaissance woman.