Karen Allen is a film and stage actress, best known for her role in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. In her childhood, she was always ‘the new girl in school’, because her father’s job forced the family to move to different cities. Allen discovered acting in her 20s when she was working in Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts. She saw a Jerzy Grotowski theater show and decided to enroll in at the Actors Studio in New York. During this period, Allen performed in various student films and even directed several plays.
Allen made her debut into Hollywood with the role of ‘Katy’ in the movie ‘National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)’. The movie was a super hit and she became a Hollywood starlet. She rose to fame with the blockbuster movie ‘Raiders of the Ark’ in 1981, in which she portrayed the role of Marion Ravenwood. Her performance caught the attention of several renowned directors and she also won a Saturn Award for Best Actress. She was voted one of the most beautiful women in the world in 1983. In 2008, Allen reprised the role of Marion Ravenwood for the sequel ‘ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. She also performed in may TV shows and stage productions and after the success of ‘Raiders of lost Ark’, Allen focused on smaller and more personal subjects.
Persona life
Allen married actor Kale Browne in 1980, and they had one child, Nicholas. The couple divorced after eight years of marriage. Following the birth of her son, Allen accepted smaller roles in TV and films to concentrate on raising her son.
Karen Allen now
Allen moved to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where she ran a yoga studio for a while. She developed an affinity for knitting and started her own textile company, ‘Karen Allen Fiber Arts’. Allen also worked as a teacher and she also writes plays, screenplays, and poetry.
Here below are some stunning photos of young Karen Allen from her early career.