Debbie Allen

Acting

Debbie Allen

Born 1950-01-16 · Houston, Texas, USA

Debbie Allen is an American film and television actress and director.

Acting credits

Blank Check poster
6.0

Bullied by his siblings and nagged by his parents, 11-year-old Preston Waters is fed up with his family — especially their frugality. But he gets his chance to teach them a lesson when a money-laundering criminal nearly bulldozes Preston with his car and compensates the boy with a blank check. Preston makes the check out for $1 million and goes on a spending spree he'll never forget.

Blank Check

1994

Fame poster
6.4

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

Fame

1980

Fame poster
5.7

At New York's High School of Performing Arts, students from all walks of life get the chance to hone their skills as singers, actors, dancers, and more. Over four years, these young men and women will see if they truly have the dedication and talent to achieve success, while still juggling regular schoolwork, feelings of self-doubt, and budding romances.

Fame

2009

Women of San Quentin poster
5.0

A young female prison guard finds out that her first assignment is to San Quentin, one of the toughest prisons in the country.

Women of San Quentin

1983

Night of 100 Stars II poster
6.8

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Night of 100 Stars II

1985

Next Day Air poster
5.1

Two inept criminals are mistakenly delivered a package of cocaine and think they've hit the jackpot, triggering a series of events that changes ten people's lives forever.

Next Day Air

2009

It's Black Entertainment poster
8.7

A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.

It's Black Entertainment

2002

Ships of Slaves: The Middle Passage poster
NR

"Explores the 400-year era of the transatlantic slave trade, when millions of Africans were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas. Features interviews with scholars, oral histories and a dramatic recreation of the Middle Passage" (The History Channel).

Ships of Slaves: The Middle Passage

1997

Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising poster
6.0

Exploring how Black actresses, a historically overlooked and under-valued group in Hollywood, have in recent years begun to ascend to the top echelons of entertainment and American culture. The special examines how Black actresses of Hollywood have become power brokers and the iconic moments and roles have paved the way for them today.

Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising

2022

Confessions of an Action Star poster
4.3

A 'mockumentary' on the rise and fall of Chip and Dales dancer turned martial arts action star, Francis Allen Sledgewick, AKA Frank Sledge. When fame and fortune caused Frank to lose his sense of what's truly important, he realized he'd have to get in touch with his roots, if there's ever going to be a comeback.

Confessions of an Action Star

2005

Ragtime poster
7.0

A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.

Ragtime

1981

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood poster
6.0

A TV special on the 100th anniversary of the birth of film.

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood

1987

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling poster
6.5

Although Jo Jo Dancer has achieved success as a stand-up comedian, he hasn't found happiness. After receiving severe burns in a narcotics-related incident, Jo Jo remains in a coma, and, while in this state, he looks back on his life. Drifting off into memories of his troubled childhood, Jo Jo revisits his youth, recalling his eventual rise to fame and the decadence that followed. As he considers his existence, he must decide if he wants to go on living or not.

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling

1986

Broadway: The Next Generation poster
NR

A look at the past, present and future of the Great White Way.

Broadway: The Next Generation

Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards poster
7.2

Broadway royalty and Tony-winners Tommy Tune, Carol Channing, Robert Goulet, and Harvey Fierstein are your hosts for this third compilation of great musical performances from the archives of the Tony Award® broadcasts. Legendary stars from legendary shows strut their stuff in 23 performances that have become part of Broadway history.

Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards

2005

Dancing in the Wings poster
7.5

A showcase of a dance troupe preparing for an international tour with performances spanning ballet, jazz, and modern dance.

Dancing in the Wings

1985

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh poster
5.6

The Pittsburgh basketball team is hopeless. Maybe with the aid of an astrologer, and some new astrologically compatible players, they can become winners.

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

1979

The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo poster
10.0

Cartoon Network holds an awards show awarding cartoon excellence.

The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo

2002

No artwork available
4.0

Disillusioned, Eddie is a long-suffering husband who finds passion and happiness with his neighbor, Rachel, a struggling estate agent. Only one thing stands in their way - Mona, Eddie's tyrannical wife who helped Eddie when he was still a recent immigrant, then trapped him in a loveless marriage. As the relationship deepens, the two lovers devise a plan where Rachel is brought into the house as Mona's live-in attendant for Mona must die.

Mona Must Die

1994

No artwork available
NR

Stevie Wonder hosts a two-hour special with celebrity guests gathered to salute Martin Luther King Jr. on the first national holiday honoring the late civil rights leader. Participants include Elizabeth Taylor, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, Cyndi Lauper, Gregory Hines, Yoko Ono, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Patti LaBelle, Cicely Tyson, the Pointer Sisters, Andre Crouch, the Alvin Ailey Dancers, Quincy Jones, Dick Gregory, Joan Baez, Richard Dreyfuss, Peter, Paul and Mary, Amy Grant and Debbie Allen.

An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

1986

Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Celebration poster
7.5

Broadcast on NBC February 18, 1985, the Disneyland 30th Anniversary Celebration was hosted by John Forsythe and Drew Barrymore. The special is a look back into the first thirty years of Disneyland's history. Featuring footage from opening day in 1955, including the famous Walt Disney opening day speech.

Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Celebration

1985

No artwork available
NR

A primetime TV concert special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Theater with Motown legends.

Motown Returns to the Apollo

1985

Everything's Jake poster
7.0

A homeless man takes a newly homeless man under his wing and teaches him how to survive on the streets.

Everything's Jake

2000

Out-of-Sync poster
4.5

A DJ and ex-con is forced to work with the police in an undercover drug sting targeting his boss.

Out-of-Sync

1995

Behind the camera

Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square poster
5.8

A rich and nasty woman returns to her hometown to evict everyone but discovers the true meaning of Christmas thanks to the local townsfolk – and an actual angel. Features 14 original songs with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton!

Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square

2020

Polly poster
8.2

An musical adaptation of the book "Pollyanna" set in the 1950's in which an orphan tries to use gladness to unite the people in a small southern town.

Polly

1989

Dancing in the Wings poster
7.5

A showcase of a dance troupe preparing for an international tour with performances spanning ballet, jazz, and modern dance.

Dancing in the Wings

1985

Dancing in the Wings poster
7.5

A showcase of a dance troupe preparing for an international tour with performances spanning ballet, jazz, and modern dance.

Dancing in the Wings

1985

Amistad poster
7.0

In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

Amistad

1997

Out-of-Sync poster
4.5

A DJ and ex-con is forced to work with the police in an undercover drug sting targeting his boss.

Out-of-Sync

1995

Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story poster
6.2

A single mother’s American Idol audition helps her rise above a history of poverty, sexual abuse, and illiteracy to achieve national prominence.

Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story

2006

Polly: Comin' Home! poster
8.5

Broadway style songs are used to tell this interesting story of an ingenious orphan who gets involved in matchmaking and striving for inter-racial understanding in 1956 Alabama.

Polly: Comin' Home!

1990

Stompin' at the Savoy poster
NR

As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline, Esther and Alice struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming of stardom, riches and happiness. By night, they dance their troubles away at the famous Savoy Ballroom. But when World War II appears on the horizon, the girls find their fortunes unfolding too unevenly to reconcile, and they inevitably begin to drift apart.

Stompin' at the Savoy

1992

The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker poster
NR

After receiving the gift of a magical Nutcracker filled with hot chocolate, Kara drifts off to a happy sleep and begins her fantastic journey when the Nutcracker comes alive. Places Kara and the Nutcracker explore include a hip hop Candy Cane Lane, mystical Egypt, exotic Bollywood, a dazzling Jazzland and a new South Pole surprise.

The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

2014

The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker poster
NR

After receiving the gift of a magical Nutcracker filled with hot chocolate, Kara drifts off to a happy sleep and begins her fantastic journey when the Nutcracker comes alive. Places Kara and the Nutcracker explore include a hip hop Candy Cane Lane, mystical Egypt, exotic Bollywood, a dazzling Jazzland and a new South Pole surprise.

The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

2014

No artwork available
NR

Debbie Allen stars in her own primetime variety special.

The Debbie Allen Special

1989

No artwork available
NR

Debbie Allen stars in her own primetime variety special.

The Debbie Allen Special

1989

Mariah Carey: Butterfly World Tour - Live at Tokyo Dome poster
8.1

The Butterfly World Tour is the third concert tour by Mariah Carey, visited Asia, Australia and the United States. The four dates at Japan's largest stadium, Tokyo Dome, sold out in under one hour, breaking the previous record she held at the stadium.

Mariah Carey: Butterfly World Tour - Live at Tokyo Dome

1998

A Star for Rose poster
NR

Small town girl Marcy comes to LA with stars in her eyes, thinking she can make it big on Search for a Star. Instead, with little money and no friends, she finds herself sleeping in her car. Things dramatically change when she meets Rose, living in a cardboard box, and Mort, a wheelchair-bound Gulf War veteran. After first fighting over territory, these three lost souls bond in friendship, protecting and supporting each other in a story that is at once profoundly funny, heart-warming and poignant.

A Star for Rose

2013

Sinbad: Afros and Bellbottoms poster
5.3

Sinbad brings the '70s back with a nostalgic stand-up special dedicated to the films, fashion and other flashbacks from that era.

Sinbad: Afros and Bellbottoms

1993

No artwork available
3.8

The Old Settler is the story of two middle-aged sisters, Elizabeth and Quilly, who share an apartment in Harlem in 1943. The sisters quarrel amiably, but they share a wounded history that becomes revealed as the tale unfolds. An earnest but unworldly young man named Husband travels up from the South to board with the sisters while he searches for his beloved Lou Bessie, who left their small town a few years back to find a new life. Husband would like to bring Lou Bessie back home, but she's enamored with the excitement of the city, and her plans are more complicated. In time, Elizabeth and Husband begin a courtship that may or may not overcome their considerable age difference, while Quilly reacts disapprovingly.

The Old Settler

2001