Years active 1950–present | Name Chet Allen | |
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Born August 17, 1928 ( 1928-08-17 ) Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S. Died April 19, 2011(2011-04-19) (aged 82) Occupation Actor, art director, production designer | ||
Chet Allen (August 17, 1928 – April 19, 2011) was an American actor.
Life and career
Allen was born in Chickasha, the seat of Grady County, Oklahoma on August 17, 1928.
Allen was known for his supporting role as the 31-year-old "Slats" in the 1959-1960 NBC adventure/drama television series The Troubleshooters with costars Keenan Wynn (1916–1986) and Bob Mathias (1930–2006). The half-hour, black-and-white program was about unusual events, usually of a rescue nature, regarding an international construction company. Forrest Compton and the stunt actor Carey Loftin (1914–1997) also appeared in the 26-week series. The series is also notable for being directed by a young Robert Altman, whom Allen was close friends with and once related to by marriage.
He was an art director for the films The Delinquents (1957), The Magic Bond (1956), and Honeymoon for Harriet (1950). In 1964, Allen, at thirty-six, made his last acting appearance as a hoodlum in the film, Robin and the Seven Hoods. In 1987, he was production designer for the USA network film, P.K. and the Kid, starring Molly Ringwald in the role of P.K. Bayette. The picture was filmed around Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
After transitioning from the film industry to construction in the early 1960s, Allen became a sought-after designer and builder of swimming pools in the Los Angeles area. A father of six, Allen died at the age of 82 on April 19, 2011 of lung cancer at his home in Topanga, California.