Billie Allen aka Billie Allen-Henderson or Wilhelmina A. Henderson
Actor and Director
New York, New York USA
Where do you look for inspiration?
To myself and the many things that the universe sends me.
Favorite Book:
The Warmth of Many Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Favorite Movie:
I don’t really go to the movies. Maybe movies will be in my future.
Favorite Line:
“I would like to lie and say I love Raymond. But I do not. He is a poet and is Jewish. He is very interested in Negroes.” Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy.
Pop Culture Guilty Pleasure:
My MacBook Air – love It!
Cocktail:
No alcohol.
What play/production changed your life?
Funnyhouse. Had me looking at life through a whole a new prism. The language, the particular kaleidoscope. Because I’ve encountered so many people tipped in the direction of Sara, toward self-loathing.
Is there anything you still dream of doing?
Oh yes. Big time. Can’t wait.
I feel most like myself when I……hear good music. Classical jazz, classical music. Bruckner, Mahler.
What is your best escape?
Sleep.
What’s the one thing nobody knows about you?
(Well, three people actually know this; my cleaning woman, my niece and me): For the past 20 years or so I always have 36 pairs of underwear – white cotton knit from Marks and Spencer (London); my niece Candace, who lives in London, is my procurer. This is my security blanket. I feel perfectly calm and secure about anything I might encounter.
Billie Allen: Born January 13, 1925, in Richmond, Virginia, I always knew I would be involved in theatre. I began as a classically trained dancer. First Broadway show: On the Town. As an actor, Mamba’s Daughters with Ethel Waters was my first play. More Broadway, including A Raisin in the Sun. A natural progression — I became a director.
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