Chet Allen



Allen in 1952

Born: May 6, 1939; Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.
Died: June 17, 1984 (aged 45); Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

Chet R. Allen (May 6, 1939 – June 17, 1984) was an American child actor of the 1950s known for his role as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera written for television, which he made with the NBC Opera Theatre.

Allen was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and later moved to Columbus, Ohio. At the time he was selected as Amahl, Allen was a soprano member of Columbus Boychoir, founded in Columbus, Ohio. The music boarding school relocated in 1950 to Princeton, New Jersey, and in 1980 was renamed the American Boychoir School. Allen also reprised his role as Amahl in theatre in April 1952 with the New York City Opera, conducted by young Thomas Schippers.

In 1953, Allen starred with Dan Dailey in the film Meet Me at the Fair in the role of 14-year-old Tad Bayliss. That same year, he played the young teenager Jerry Bonino in the short-lived NBC series Bonino, a mostly forgotten situation comedy starring Ezio Pinza as a recently widowed Italian-American opera singer, Babbo Bonino, undertaking the rearing of his eight children. Mary Wickes costarred as Martha the housekeeper.

One of Allen's young Bonino costars was Van Dyke Parks, a future composer and musician with whom he had roomed at Columbus Boyschoir.

Allen failed to make the transition into adult acting and was frequently admitted to psychiatric hospitals because of recurring depression. He procured his Social Security number in New Jersey, presumably when he joined the Columbus Boychoir.

Death

In 1984, at the age of forty-five, Allen died by suicide by taking five times the fatal dosage of an anti-depressant.

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CHET ALLEN tragic kid sings tearjerker when you walk through a storm "You'll Never Walk Alone"
482 views • Jul 23, 2020

spookylorre
30.1K subscribers

Here's a true tearjerker -- CHET ALLEN singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" to his apparently drunken and hopeless father. It was a dramatic moment on a 1952 episode of "All Star Revue."

Video: Chet Allen, boy soprano, Ave Maria, Schubert, 1953
479 views • Dec 18, 2018

BoySopranolover2
18.1K subscribers

An ancient Pathe recording. I have stripped out the audio, de-noised it in Acoustica Premium, amplified it and pasted it back in. Remarkable quality for the year - presumably an optical recording.

Amahl and the Night Visitors - "Don't cry mother dear" - Chet Allen
12,569 views • Feb 8, 2012

Rio1949
3.82K subscribers

Amahl and the Night Visitors
Gian Carlo Menotti
"Don't Cry Mother Dear"