Judith Allen


Judith Allen was an American film actress.

Early years

Allen was born Marie Elliott in New York City, and she grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts. She attended Leland Powers School in Boston and gained acting experience with a stock theater company.
Using the name Mari Colman, Allen worked as a commercial model in New York. That was where she was selected for a leading role in the film This Day and Age. The role led to her name change to Judith Allen. Robert S. Birchard wrote about the process in his book, Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, comparing it to "a comic sequence in David O. Selznick's 1937 production of A Star Is Born."
Birchard related: "Mari Colman was subjected to the same treatment as DeMille and Paramount tested long lists of potential screen names.... Somehow, the name ultimately bestowed upon her was Judith Allen."

Personal life

Allen married wrestler Gus Sonnenberg in 1931 in New York City. They were divorced September 23, 1933, in Reno, Nevada. She married actor/boxer/singer Jack Doyle April 28, 1935, in Agua Caliente, Mexico. She filed for annulment March 15, 1937, in Los Angeles, California.

Selected filmography