Elizabeth Allen (actress)

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Not to be confused with the British actress Elizabeth Allan

Elizabeth Allen (born Elizabeth Ellen Gillease) (January 25, 1929 – September 19, 2006) was an American actress.

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, she got her start as the “Away we go!” girl on The Jackie Gleason Show in the 1950s. The darkly, coolly attractive actress is perhaps best known on TV for her role as the creepy saleslady in the episode of The Twilight Zone where actress Anne Francis (playing 'Miss Marsha White') finally realizes that she is a mannequin and that her month of freedom and living amongst the humans is over. Allen's saleslady (seen by no one but Marsha) character is the mannequin whose turn is up next and has already been delayed by one full day, explaining her slightly peeved attitude.

She was married once, to Baron Karl von Vietinghoff-Scheel, but the marriage ended in divorce and she never remarried. She was twice nominated for Tony Awards from her performances on Broadway.

Allen quietly retired from show business in 1982, after appearing in the TV series Texas for two seasons, probably from her recollections of dealing with Paul Lynde's meltdown behind the scenes on The Paul Lynde Show, in which she unfortunately found herself cast from 1972-1973.

She died from kidney disease, aged 77, in Fishkill, New York; she was survived only by a sister-in-law, Marion Gillease.