Deborah Kaye Allen was born on January 16, 1950, in Houston, Texas, United States.
Debbie Allen was nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award, winning five of them and receiving two Tony Awards and a Golden Globe Award. She is an actress, dancer, singer-songwriter, and director.
Famous Debbie Allen Quotes
(These famous Debbie Allen quotes could be the perfect start for your day, check it out.)
Debbie Allen became a household name in 1980 after playing Anita in a Broadway version of 'West Side Story'. She is a Tony Award nominee for her performance, and she received the praise she needed to be cast as a dance instructor in the film 'Fame' (1980).
"I'm always moving forward."
"I think a good director casts a film so that the actors bring a lot to the table."
"Time management is a big part of the director's job."
"A director just pushes them a little this way or that way."
"There are some scenes that work beautifully in a moving, sweeping master, which is how I like to work."
"The radio for these women is like television is for us today, which is really like looking at the radio."
"I design my shots. I work the rehearsal as the camera and say this is where I want to be... I want this look."
"In scoring, we have a lot that was not evident in the shooting. The radio is on all the time."
"I got my dailies every day, although I couldn't always look at them because I was usually preparing for the next day's shoot both as an actress and as the director."
"It's kind of dangerous to cut in the camera, but that's the only way I know how to direct."
"It goes back to a style of moviemaking I remember seeing as a child, in movies like 'The Man With The Golden Arm,' which I think was shot all on a sound stage."
Debbie Allen Quotes About Life
Debbie Allen was a television director in the '00s and '10s, directing 'Girlfriends', 'How to Get Away with Murder', and 'Jane the Virgin' in addition to 44 episodes of 'All of Us'. She assumed the character of Dr. Catherine Fox on the ABC medical program 'Grey's Anatomy' in 2011.
She started acting as an executive producer in the 12th season. She was the director of Dolly Parton's musical 'Christmas on the Square' for Netflix in 2020. She was also a one-time member of the president's Arts and Humanities Committee.
"But out of limitations comes creativity."
"Fame is fleeting, honey. Fame is fleeting and it changes."
"As one who loves literature, art, music and history, I've been deeply rooted in the Harlem Renaissance for many years."
"If you just change one person's life, you feel like you've done something. But if you can change a whole lot of them and get them looking at themselves differently, it's amazing."
Fascinating Debbie Allen Quotes
In Los Angeles, California, Allen established the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in 2001. Regardless of socioeconomic circumstances, the charity school provides a thorough dance program to children from the age of four to age 18.
"The first thing that goes into shooting a scene is understanding what's on the page."
"But it was not possible to do this movie, in this matter of time, without a solid rehearsal period."
"I've had a lot of experience auditioning people, and I can do it rather quickly even though sometimes I let them linger and give them time, but I kind of know after I see them do a couple of steps. I know."
"As far as pacing the shoot is concerned, I know when I've got it. I don't think there's any reason to take ten takes unless you need them."
"You have to examine a scene on the page first. Then you get into the basics of acting: Who are you? Who are you talking to? How do you feel about that person?"
"Failure: Is it a limitation? Bad timing? It's a lot of things. It's something you can't be afraid of, because you'll stop growing. The next step beyond failure could be your biggest success in life."
"In places in the world where we don't speak the same language, or even understand that we pray to the same God, we dance to the same beat, that is the ONE."
"Be true. Be beautiful. Be free. In the midst of segregation and racism, Mamma raised us to be independent and free. We saw ourselves as citizens of the world, not of a block."
Interesting Debbie Allen Quotes
The Hollywood Reporter comments that when Debbie Allen took over as producer after the first season, the show 'A Different World' transformed from a dull spin-off to a cheerful and socially responsible situation comedy. She also directed a few episodes frequently. In total, she oversaw 83 episodes.
"It's rare to find parts where you see two women who relate to each other in that very natural way, with a lot of humor and pathos at the same time."
"Michael Ralph brilliantly plays the street prophet, a West Indian who foreshadows the Harlem riot."
"That's the only way I can control my movie. If you shoot everything, then everything is liable to end up in the movie. If you have a vision, you don't have to cover every scene."
"I've had a lot of experience auditioning people, and I can do it rather quickly even though sometimes I let them linger and give them time, but I kind of know after I see them do a couple of steps. I know."
"The production team's first meeting took place at my house. I had ideas and a color scheme in mind, how I wanted the movie to look, because that has to be a real collaboration."
"I didn't need the insurance. I do it again if my DP tells me it didn't look good in the camera or if the actors didn't hit their marks. But if everything was working why do it again?"
"The riot isn't seen in the movie, but it is alluded to. He has this one speech that gives a great sense of texture and paints a picture of what was happening in Harlem then."
"The clothes back in those days were made so much better than clothes are today. They actually took time to make clothes to fit a woman's body. Today they make clothes that fit sizes, so it stretches to fit this and that."
"I use something that is a real staple in the directing world. It's called a dance floor. You lay it down so that it's so smooth you can roll around, and you can put furniture on top of it. It's seamless and you don't see it."
"I'm driven by passion. I mean, I am tired right now. I work to a point of abandon. I am fueled by my understanding of the need for self-expression that exists for young people."
"There was a time when fame meant that you are either someone who is really gifted in your field or you were making an impact or you were famous because you were a really horrible person, you know? But now, you can become famous by eating a frog. It's just not the same thing."
