Keith Allen (actor)

Keith Howell Charles Allen (born 2 September 1953) is a Welsh actor, pantomime star, magician, comedian, musician and television presenter. He is the father of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Allen, and brother of actor/director Kevin Allen.

Keith Howell Charles Allen was born on 2 September 1953 in Gorseinon, Wales. His father was Edward Charles Owen, a Royal Navy petty officer submariner, and his mother a Welsh waitress. His younger brother is actor Kevin Allen. He spent his early years near Swansea and in Malta, and most of his childhood in Gosport, Hampshire, while his father served in Portsmouth 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.

At the age of 11, when his father was posted to Singapore, he was sent to boarding school at Sir Anthony Browns Brentwood, a public school in Essex. 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 in borstal before attending Brune Park Community School in Gosport. He has said that he went to a comprehensive school in Swansea (where he was in 1966), a public school, a borstal, and a detention centre, all within five years. He earned six O-levels, leading to entry to the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Parking in the principal's carpark and an ensuing row led to his expulsion from the college.

Allen has acted in both films and television, presented television programmes, and has also appeared in pantomimes.

After having several jobs during the 1970s, including a job as a stagehand from which he was sacked after joining Max Bygraves' chorus line on stage naked, Allen worked as a stand-up comedian and vocalist, opening for punk bands such as The Clash.

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

In 1986, he appeared in Comrades, a film about the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

During the brief period of British Satellite Broadcasting as an alternative satellite broadcaster to Sky, he had a regular comedy show of his own I Love Keith Allen on the Galaxy channel, a mix of stand-up and sketches. He appeared in the final Carry On film Carry On Columbus (1992) playing Pepi The Poisoner.