Alta Allen

Allen was born as Alta Crowin^[1] in Oakland, California in 1904 to a Scottish mother, Jessie (née Robertson), and W. J. Crowin, who hailed from the West Coast. She made her first professional performance at an Oakland theater in a production of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Allen's role in this production was as Beth March. She was ten years old at the time.^{[citation needed]}

Allen was "one of the most popular of Oakland's younger social set."^[2]

Allen's early professional experience included acting in stock theater in Oakland and directing and performing in the Fairmont's Rainbow Lane revue.^[2]

In 1920, William Fox, the founder of the Fox Film Corporation, observed Allen as she performed the leading role^[3] at a musical revue within the Fairmont Hotel.^[4] Subsequently, she signed a contract with his studios, although she would only perform one role in any silent film released by Fox Film: the 1921 comedy Skirts.^[4] She would subsequently sign a contract with Universal Studios,^[5] and later appeared in several films released by this corporation, including The Marriage Chance (1922),^[6] and A Self-Made Failure (1924). Her final credited screen appearance occurred in 1926, as Thora Barton in the cast of The Set-Up.^{[citation needed]}

On November 25, 1920, Allen married actor, screenwriter, and director Hampton Del Ruth^[1] (the couple later divorced).^[7] She died of natural causes at her Boonsboro home on June 24, 1998, the age of 93.^{[citation needed]}