Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Peter Richard Woolnough

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 4

TV Involvements: 2


Most Famous Work

Biography

Peter Allen (born Peter Richard Woolnough; 10 February 1944 – 18 June 1992) was an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and entertainer, known for his flamboyant stage persona, boundless energy, and lavish costumes. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, including Newton-John's first chart topping hit "I Honestly Love You", and the chart topping and Academy Award winning "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross. In addition to recording many albums, he enjoyed a cabaret and concert career, including appearances at the Radio City Music Hall riding a camel. His patriotic song "I Still Call Australia Home", has been used extensively in advertising campaigns, and was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013. Allen was the first husband of Liza Minnelli. They married on 3 March 1967, separated on 9 April 1970, and were divorced on 24 July 1974. He had a long-term partner, model Gregory Connell (1949–1984). They were together from 1974 until Connell's death in 1984. Allen and Connell died from AIDS-related illnesses eight years apart, with Allen becoming one of the first well-known Australians to die from AIDS. Allen remained ambiguous about his sexuality in that he did not pretend to be straight after divorcing Minnelli, but never publicly came out as gay either. He explained, "I was as out as a not-out celebrity could be then." Despite Allen's outgoing persona, he was an intensely private man who shared little about his personal life even with those close to him. Few people knew he had HIV/AIDS, partly in fear of alienating his conservative, heterosexual fans and thinking audiences would not want to see a performer they knew was sick. Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Allen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Famous Work

Kraft Music Hall
Average
4

Kraft Music Hall

(1958) Self
Miami Vice
Average
7

Miami Vice

(1984) Man in Gallery
Return of the Jedi
Average
8

Return of the Jedi

(1983) Geezum - Member of Jabba's Gang (uncredited)
Peter Allen: The Boy From Oz
Average
0

Peter Allen: The Boy From Oz

(1995) Self (archive footage)

Acting

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1995 Writer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Sound

Year Role Movie/Tv
1994 Original Music Composer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Join the discussion

Please Log in to comment