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Winifred Allen

American actress (1896-1943)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Winifred Allen (June 26, 1896 , January 3, 1943) was an American silent film actress. She appeared in several films between 1915 and 1924. She was known later as Winifred Sperry Tenney.

01Early years

Allen was born in New Rochelle, New York, the daughter of Henry D'Arcy Kelly. Her mother was born in Ireland. She graduated from the public schools there and went on to study at the Art Students League of New York. The deaths of both parents prompted her to leave school and seek a career in films. Her sister May Allen was also an actress.

Poster for From Two to Six (1918)
Poster for From Two to Six (1918)

02Career

Allen acted with the Edison and Reliance studios, as well as with other film companies. She appeared in 11 films listed by the American Film Institute, all made between 1915 and 1924. "Winifred Allen did genuine and delightful work as the plucky little bride" of Jack Deveraux's character, according to a 1917 review of The Man Who Made Good. She played Jack Deveraux's wife again in American, That's All (1917). She and actress Ann Dvorak knitted warm items for American soldiers during the filming if The Man Hater (1917).

03Publications

  • "To the Studio by Aerial-Taxi" (March 1918)

04Personal life

In 1918 Allen married aviation pioneer Lawrence Sperry, and Flying magazine reported that they were "the first couple to take an aerial honeymoon" after they flew from Amityville to Governors Island. They had two children, also named Lawrence and Winifred. Sperry died in an airplane crash in 1923. She married Vernon E. Tenney in 1929. The Tenneys divorced in 1935, and he died at sea in 1937. She lived in Hawaii with her children in the 1930s. She died in 1943, in New York, at the age of 46.

05Selected filmography

Watch videos about Winifred AllenExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Winifred Allen, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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