Allen was a 12-year-old soprano with the Columbus Boychoir when Gian Carlo Menotti chose him to sing the title role in the opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" broadcast by NBC-TV in December 1951. On the strength of that performance, Allen was signed by Universal-International to co-star with Dan Dailey in the 1952 Douglas Sirk-directed musical Meet Me at the Fair. Unfortunately for Allen, when his voice changed to a baritone immediately after the film, it dealt a duel death blow to his singing and motion picture career. Depressed, the former child star returned to Columbus, Ohio, and held a variety of jobs including a decade long stint as a stock boy at a Lazarus department store. Through his own treatment for depression, Allen became involved with volunteer work at Town House, a "drop-in" center operated by a local community health center. On June 7, 1984, Allen took five times the lethal dose of an anti-depressant medication he had been secretly hoarding. The 44 year old died ten days later in Riverside Hospital. A family member summed up Allen' life, "He had a better singing voice than most of the people you see on television, but he wouldn't sing.... He couldn't reconcile himself to the use of his talent."Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Chet R. Allen -- Meet Me at the Morgue
Allen was a 12-year-old soprano with the Columbus Boychoir when Gian Carlo Menotti chose him to sing the title role in the opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" broadcast by NBC-TV in December 1951. On the strength of that performance, Allen was signed by Universal-International to co-star with Dan Dailey in the 1952 Douglas Sirk-directed musical Meet Me at the Fair. Unfortunately for Allen, when his voice changed to a baritone immediately after the film, it dealt a duel death blow to his singing and motion picture career. Depressed, the former child star returned to Columbus, Ohio, and held a variety of jobs including a decade long stint as a stock boy at a Lazarus department store. Through his own treatment for depression, Allen became involved with volunteer work at Town House, a "drop-in" center operated by a local community health center. On June 7, 1984, Allen took five times the lethal dose of an anti-depressant medication he had been secretly hoarding. The 44 year old died ten days later in Riverside Hospital. A family member summed up Allen' life, "He had a better singing voice than most of the people you see on television, but he wouldn't sing.... He couldn't reconcile himself to the use of his talent."
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This blog is abhorrent. There is neither the understanding nor the respect for those who are discussed here. You should be utterly ashamed, but I seriously doubt you have any clue what I'm talking about. Chet Allen was a kind and gentle soul, someone with eminent talent, and you want to "sum up" his life. How sad for you.
ReplyDeleteYou must not think a tribute like this is worthy of even mentioning. But I have to agree with you there. There's no easy way of saying what a great man Chet Allen was. Here you have this kid who had this wonderful singing voice and all of a sudden it's silenced forever by a drug overdose. Now about what I said earlier:I don't wish to offend you or anybody else on this forum. I wouldn't wanna get banned for something that I thought was the right to do. But if I did, I'm sorry. While your opinion is valued greatly along with mine, I don't think it matters to others that you and I are on the same page. But there are some that will disagree and say that we have no right to judge what we cannot comprehend. But I say comprehension be damned. it's the thought that counts. Now you say the blog is abhorrent. That's only true half the time. But for your sake, I will agree. Even if I DO feel torn about it. Glad we could talk.
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