Allen was born in Nyasaland, where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during the Second World War where he remained to finish his education at McGill University in Montreal. He gained experience as a local radio broadcaster and appeared on television in plays and documentaries, before returning to Britain. Returning to the UK in 1953, Allen made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. He subsequently appeared in character roles in many films, including Captain Clegg, The Wild Geese, The Sea Wolves, Puppet on a Chain, and Who Dares Wins. He was also the lead actor in the Associated Rediffusion adventure series Crane and in the BBC-1 series Brett. Allen played Moriarty's deputy Colonel Sebastian Moran in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. He made regular appearances in ITC television series during the 1960s and early 1970s, including The Baron, The Champions, Gideon's Way and UFO, although he never had an ongoing role in any of these series. He made one episode of The Saint alongside Roger Moore in "The Man Who Could Not Die" broadcast July 1965 in the UK. Allen also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in a number of stage roles, along with many BBC productions. In 1967 he and his wife Sarah Lawson appeared together playing a married couple in the science fiction filmNight of the Big Heat. He and Lawson also played husband and wife in the BBC radio series Stand By For West based on the John Creasey novels about Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Roger West. Allen's distinctive, authoritative voice was familiar across the United Kingdom, even amongst those who did not recognise him as an actor. He dubbed Leon Greene, who played Rex, in the 1968 Hammer film The Devil Rides Out. He narrated the British Government's Protect and Survive series of public information films in the 1970s; some of his lines in that production were re-recorded and sampled into the single "Two Tribes" by the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He was also the voiceover artist for Vic and Bob's comedy series Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and Shooting Stars, and appeared in and voiced numerous commercials for house builder Barratt Homes and car manufacturers Ford and British Leyland among many others. His voice-over work led him to start up his own business, running a very successful recording studio for voice-over work. He also narrated the first series of Blackadder, and appeared in the last episode 'The Black Seal' as Edmund's nemesis, Phillip of Burgundy – known to his enemies as 'The Hawk'. He provided the narration for the 1989 children's series TUGS. Allen remained uncredited for his work, which was revealed in an interview with the show's producer Robert D. Cardona. In 2005, he became the voice of the British television channelE4, providing voiceovers for many of its idents and promotions. Some of the slogans are rather irreverent. These include:
In 2005, he did an altered re-recording of the Two Tribes version of the Protect and Survive narration for German cover bandWelcome to the Pleasuredome, which is featured in their live performances. Also, not long before his death, he narrated parody versions of these films for Kerrang! TV. He was also the voice of the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on XFM, the late show on 103.2 Power FM, Hirsty's Daily Dose on Galaxy Yorkshire and briefly Virgin Radio.
Personal life
Allen married actress Sarah Lawson in 1960, together the couple had two sons, Stephen and Stuart.
