RIP Sian Barbara Allen

 

Sian Barbara Allen, Actor in ‘Scream, Pretty Peggy’ and ‘You’ll Like My Mother,’ Dies at 78 

Variety

By Matt Minton

March 31, 2025

 

Sian Barbara Allen, the actor known for numerous television roles and her lead role in “Scream, Pretty Peggy” alongside Bette Davis, died Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Allen’s death was confirmed to Variety with the cause of death being Alzheimer’s disease.

In the ’70s and ’80s, Allen had numerous roles in popular TV shows, including “The Waltons,” “Columbo,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Gunsmoke,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Allen also wrote the “Just for Laughs” episode of “Baretta” in Season 4.

In her film work, she starred alongside numerous stars, including Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas in “You’ll Like My Mother” (1972), Bette Davis in “Scream Pretty Peggy” (1973) and Gregory Peck and Jack Warden in the Western “Billy Two Hats” (1974). She also played Anne Morrow alongside Anthony Hopkins in “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case” (1976). Allen earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising New Actress in 1973 for “You’ll Like My Mother.”

After her last on-screen credit in “L.A. Law” Season 4 (1990), Allen left public life behind and focused on politics, family and creative writing.

Allen is survived by her daughter, Emily Fonseca, her two sisters, Hannah Davie and Meg Pokrass, her nephew, Miles Bond, cousins Marcy, Mike and Mark Reuben and grandson Arlo Fonseca.

ALLEN, Sian Barbara (Barbara Susan Pokrass)

Born: 7/12/1946, Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Died: 3/31/2025, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A.

 

Sian Barbara Allen’s western – actress:

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971 (Sister Grace)

Gunsmoke (TV) - 1971 (Allie Dawson)

Bonanza (TV) – 1972 (Teresa Burnside)

Billy Two Hats – 1973 (Esther Spencer)