Rae Julia Theresa Abruzzo (July 3, 1926 – April 6, 2022), professionally known as Rae Allen, was an American actress of stage, film and television. Her career spanned some seventy years and eight decades.[1][2]
Allen started her career in theatre in 1941 in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan and made her debut on Broadway in 1948, moving to television and film roles in 1958, making her screen debut in Damn Yankees. She appeared in numerous guest roles in TV shows, but she was best known of recurring parts in sitcom All in the Family (1972-1973) and in The Sopranos. Her film roles included A League of Their Own (1992) and Stargate.[1]
Early life
Allen was born as Rae Julia Theresa Abruzzo in Brooklyn, New York City on July 3, 1926,[3] to Julia (née Riccio), a seamstress and hairdresser and Joseph Abruzzo, an opera singer and chauffeur, whose brothers acted in vaudeville.[4]
Allen died in her sleep on April 6, 2022, at the age of 95 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills, California. She is survived by her four nieces: Nadine (McCann), Laura, Deborah, and Betty Cosgrove. [4][2]
Theatre
Allen was nominated for the Tony Award three times: for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Damn Yankees in 1956, and for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Traveller Without Luggage in 1965 and And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little in 1971, winning for the latter. In 1958, she recreated her role as the nosy reporter Gloria in Damn Yankees in the film adaptation, in both of which she introduced the song "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo."[2]
