Karen Allen

Born in Carrollton, Illinois, Karen Allen graduated high school with no area of real interest, she studied design in New York, ran a boutique, wrote short stories, lived alone in Jamaica for five months and drove from Mexico to Peru with friends who were filming a documentary on South American Indians. Acting hadn't crossed her mind, until she saw a Jerzy Grotowski's theatre production and was transfixed by the art of acting. She enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Institute where she made several student films and directed and acted in several plays. In 1976, she made her first film appearance in the award-winning small film The Whidjitmaker, and then in 1978, she made her major film debut as Katy in National Lampoon's Animal House.