Tag: roles

The Life of Chad Allen

People will remember the name ‘Chad Allen’ from the 1980’s and the 1990’s especially, but his is not a name that rolls off the tongue from any time period exactly. He is a lesser known and moderately famous actor who has had a fruitful career without managing to become too much of a household name. The fans of the popular 1990’s series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman will remember Chad Allen, and people who were teenagers or twenty-somethings in the 1980’s will remember him from his teen idol days.

Interestingly, agreed to join the cast of the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman pilot in order to raise money for college, a familiar narrative for people in that age group. He didn’t think that the series would go on for any longer than that pilot. To his surprise, it went on for six years. He starred as the character Matthew Cooper, and he participated in a full 147 episodes.

Chad Allen’s career didn’t end then. He has had a large number of minor or guest roles in television series. His resume almost reads like a list of the most popular television shows of the last thirty years or so. However, Chad Allen might be more well-known today as a gay actor. In a time period in which gay actors can finally share their personal stories, Chad Allen is going to show up on lists of gay actors, and many people are familiar with his quotes related to gay rights and the portrayal of gay characters. Chad Allen was outed as gay in 1996, during a time period when only one in four people were in favor of gay marriage. Still, he become an LGBT activist and soldiered on through despite the setback.

Chad Allen has been in a relationship with his partner Jeremy Glazer since 2005, so his personal life has been relatively stable for a while now. In terms of his family life, it is interesting that Chad Allen was brought up in a dedicated Catholic home. He still regards himself as spiritual. For the most part, Chad Allen’s past and present seems to defy the stereotypes about actors in general as well as gay actors. He has not had a life without conflict, but he has not had a tragic life either.