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Keith Allen
Allen in 2012
Born	Keith Howell Charles Allen (1953-09-02)2 September 1953 (age 72) Gorseinon, West Glamorgan, Wales
Occupations	Actor comedian musician author broadcaster
Years active	1979–present
Spouses	Alison Owen ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1989)​ Nira Park ​ ​ (m. 1997, divorced)​
Partner	Tamzin Malleson
Children	6, includingLily,Alfie andTeddie
Relatives	Kevin Allen (brother)

Keith Howell Charles Allen (born 2 September 1953) is a Welsh actor, pantomime star, comedian, musician and television presenter. He is the father of singerLily Allen and actorAlfie Allen, and brother of actor/directorKevin Allen.

Keith Howell Charles Allen was born on 2 September 1953^[1] inGorseinon, Wales.^[2][a] His father was Edward Charles Owen, aRoyal Navypetty officersubmariner,^[4] and his mother a Welsh waitress.^[2] His younger brother is actorKevin Allen.^[4] He spent his early years nearSwansea and inMalta, and most of his childhood inGosport,Hampshire, while his father served inPortsmouth^[5] or away at sea. Although he spent much of his life in England, he regards himself as Welsh despite taking part in various songs for the England football team.^[2][6]

At the age of 11, when his father was posted toSingapore, he was sent to boarding school^[7] atSir Anthony Browns Brentwood,^[1] apublic school inEssex.^[7] He was expelled from the school at the age of 13 after meddling with organ pipes, causing trouble at morning assembly. This led to a period inborstal^[2] before attendingBrune Park Community School in Gosport.^[1] He has said that he went to acomprehensive school in Swansea (where he was in 1966), a public school, a borstal, and a detention centre, all within five years. He earned sixO-levels, leading to entry to theWelsh College of Music and Drama. Parking in the principal's carpark and an ensuing row led to his expulsion from the college.^[2]

Allen has acted in both films and television, presented television programmes, and has also appeared in pantomimes.^[8][9]

After having several jobs during the 1970s, including a job as astagehand from which he was sacked after joiningMax Bygraves' chorus line on stage naked, Allen worked as a stand-up comedian and vocalist, opening for punk bands such asThe Clash.^[10]

Allen appeared in a number of films in the seriesThe Comic Strip Presents... onChannel 4 in the 1980s after becoming one of the breakthrough acts of theComedy Store in 1979. Notable episodes featuring Allen includeThe Bullshitters (a parody ofThe Professionals), andThe Yob (a parody ofThe Fly), which he also co-wrote. Allen appeared alongside fellow Comic Strip alumni as Pestilence inThe Young Ones episode "Interesting". Allen has performed both straight and comedy acting. In 1985 The Comic Strip hit the big screen withThe Supergrass starring Allen,Adrian Edmondson, Peter Richardson,Jennifer Saunders andRobbie Coltrane, directed by Comic Strip actor Peter Richardson.

In 1986, he appeared inComrades, a film about theTolpuddle Martyrs.

During the brief period ofBritish Satellite Broadcasting as an alternative satellite broadcaster toSky, he had a regular comedy show of his ownI Love Keith Allen on theGalaxy channel, a mix of stand-up and sketches. He appeared in the finalCarry On filmCarry On Columbus (1992) playing Pepi The Poisoner.

After a cameo appearance in theblack comedyTwin Town, directed by his brother Kevin, Allen was cast in a main role as a Downing Street press secretary in Mick Jackson’s the Channel 4 adaptation ofA Very British Coup. He played the lodger who dies at the beginning of Danny Boyle's thrillerShallow Grave (1994). In the same year, he played Jonas Chuzzlewit in aBBC adaptation of Dickens'Martin Chuzzlewit. He was used again by Boyle to play a drug dealer inTrainspotting (1996). Danny Boyle has said that Allen's character fromTrainspotting is the same one that moves into the shared flat inShallow Grave – he wears the same clothes. He also appeared disguised as a fictional hip-hop star "Keithski" to presentTop of the Pops on 2 March 1995.^[11]

In 2000, Allen appeared in twoHarold Pinter plays at theAlmeida Theatre, playing Lambert inCelebration and Mr Sands inThe Room. These were performed again at TheLincoln Center Festival in July 2001.^[12]

In 2001, he played the character of "problem-solver" Jim Napeworth in an episode ofMurder in Mind, and in 2004 cameoed inBlack Books as poker-player Dave 'Mouse Ears' Smith. In 2002 he played theLondon Records executive Roger Ames in24 Hour Party People, a film aboutFactory Records and theManchester music scene. Allen cameoed in the Channel 4 sitcomSpaced in a short homage to theStanley Kubrick film,The Shining. He appeared as the villain in the sequel to 2004'sAgent Cody Banks,Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, oppositeFrankie Muniz. He appeared in the hospital drama,Bodies, as Mr Tony Whitman, a sarcastic but somehow likeable consultantobstetrician with an enormous ego. In 2005 he appeared in theEndemol-producedBBC Two television programmeArt School alongsideUlrika Jonsson,John Humphrys, andClarissa Dickson Wright where he discovered a passion for painting. From 2006 to 2009, Allen appeared in the BBC'sRobin Hood drama series, as theSheriff of Nottingham.

Allen has also starred in pantomimes, such as an adaptation ofRobert Louis Stevenson'sTreasure Island in 2008, written byKen Ludwig and directed bySean Holmes; he took the role of a grittyLong John Silver in theTheatre Royal Haymarket.^[13][14]

In September 2011, he appeared in the BBC six-part drama seriesThe Body Farm as DI Hale. 2012 (2013 in the UK) saw the release of theSara Sugarman comedy filmVinyl in which Keith played an ageing rock star who finds himself back in the public eye after his band member fools the music industry into giving them a record deal. In 2013, he played Darren the farmer in episode 1.5 of the comedy drama seriesGreat Night Out.

In April 2013, Allen starred in a revival ofRichard Bean's black comedySmack Family Robinson at The Rose Theatre,Kingston upon Thames.

In January 2021, Allen played serial killer and rapist John Cooper in the ITV 3-part drama,The Pembrokeshire Murders. In 2023, Allen appeared as Dai Williams in the BBC crime dramaSteeltown Murders.^[15][16]

Allen presented the TV showWhatever You Want in 1982, during the early days ofChannel Four and has presented television documentaries forVictor Lewis-Smith'sAssociated-Rediffusion Television Productions:Little Lady Fauntleroy (2004), which saw Allen interviewLauren Harries and her family,^[17]You're Fayed (2005) and onMichael Carroll – King of Chavs (2006). In 2007 his documentaryTourette De France appeared onChannel 4, in which he travelled with a group of Scottish people withTourette syndrome, includingJohn Davidson, on anAEC Routemaster bus from London to the Parisian hospital where this condition was described byGeorges Gilles de la Tourette in 1884.^[18] He also presented the British erotic direct-to-video seriesRed Tape.

Keith Allen Will Burn in Hell appeared on Channel 4 in June 2007, and showed Allen profiling the controversialWestboro Baptist Church, led byFred Phelps, and speaking to members of the church and Phelps's family.^[19]

Allen presented theManchester Passion, a contemporary retelling of the last few hours in the life of Jesus onGood Friday, 14 April 2006.^[20]

Keith Meets Keith, screened on 14 September 2009 on Channel 4, in which Allen tracked down TV chefKeith Floyd. The show contained what turned out to be Floyd's final interview for television, as he died of a heart attack on the evening the documentary was screened.^[21]

Allen's documentary film about thedeath of Diana, Princess of Wales,Unlawful Killing was intended for release in 2011.Mohamed Al-Fayed, the film's only financial backer, contributed the film's £2.5 million budget.^[22][23] Allen argued inThe Guardian that it detailed a "provable conspiracy after the crash".^[24] It accusesQueen Elizabeth andPrincess Margaret of being "gangsters in tiaras" andPrince Philip of being a "psychopath".^[22][23] Allen said he refused to make 87 cuts asked for by lawyers to enable the film to be shown in Britain.^[22] His film was permanently shelved in 2012 after it became known it could not be screened in the United States as it was impossible to insure it against potential litigation.^[25]

Allen was a member of London punk band the Atoms in the 1970s,^[26] and laterFat Les, a band which also featured artistDamien Hirst andBlur bassistAlex James.

In 1980 he starred as the Devil in a short movie calledMeteor Madness which featured London psychobilly bandThe Meteors. The film played in cinemas as the opening to theTwo-Tone filmDance Craze which was released in February 1981. That was the only timeMeteor Madness was shown, and it has never been released on video or DVD.

He was also closely associated with the bandNew Order, directing the video for their 1993 song "Ruined in a Day", which depicts Allen and the band members immersed in a bizarre game of charades with a group ofBuddhist monks. He co-wrote their only UK number one single, "World in Motion", and occasionally performed with them live, including their headline show at theReading Festival in 1998. He also appeared in the band's DVDNew Order Story, where he played host to a fictionalNew Order game show.

Allen appeared as the businessman in the music video toBlur's 1995 hit "Country House".

He has been involved in several other football-related records, including "England's Irie" byBlack Grape and wrote the lyrics for "Vindaloo" byFat Les. He also contributed the song "On Me Head, Son" to the filmMike Bassett: England Manager, credited on the soundtrack album to Sporting Les.

As a guest onTop Gear on 9 December 2007, Allen said that claims he had eight children were not true, and that he actually has six children by four women. His children include pop singerLily Allen and actorAlfie Allen with his first wifeAlison Owen. He married his second wife,Nira Park, in 1997. After his divorce from Park, Allen became the partner of actressTamzin Malleson (who starred alongside him inBodies), and the couple had a daughter,Teddie Allen, in 2006.^[27][28] They live inStroud,Gloucestershire.^[29][30] In 2017, Allen and Malleson opened a diner in Stroud, built with the diner set ofKingsman: The Golden Circle, which Allen recovered after shooting the film.^[31]

In the mid-1980s, Allen served a 21-day jail sentence inPentonville Prison after being found guilty of criminal damage at the Zanzibar club inCovent Garden.^[32][33]

Although a staunchsocialist, whose political philosophy was influenced by theWorkers' Revolutionary Party, Allen has expressed grudging admiration forConservative Party politiciansDavid Cameron andWilliam Hague.^[34][35]

Allen has on his shoulder a tattoo of Rinka the dog, owned byNorman Scott, which was shot dead during theJeremy Thorpe scandal. He has explained that: "I had the tattoo placed on my arm lest I forget, so I have a history of having suspicions about the establishment and the government and court cases".^[36]

He is a supporter ofFulham Football Club.^[37]

• Allen, Keith (June 2007).Grow Up.Ebury Press.ISBN 978-0-09-191070-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKeith Allen (actor).

• Keith Allen atIMDb
• Guardian Unlimited profile

• 1953 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Welsh male actors
• 21st-century Welsh male actors
• Welsh film directors
• Welsh male comedians
• Welsh male film actors
• British male film actors
• Welsh male musicians
• Welsh male singer-songwriters
• Welsh male television actors
• British male television actors
• Welsh socialists
• Welsh television presenters
• Male actors from Swansea
• People educated at Brentwood School, Essex
• Actors from Llanelli
• Actors from Stroud
• Male actors from Gloucestershire
• 20th-century squatters
• Welsh people of English descent
• Actors from Gosport
• Male actors from Hampshire
• Comedians from Hampshire
• Comedians from Swansea
• Comedians from Gloucestershire
• Allen family (show business)
• Male actors from Carmarthenshire

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