# Winifred Allen > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Winifred_Allen > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Winifred_Allen.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winifred_Allen > Source revision: 1325815390 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American actress (1896–1943)}} {{about||the photographer|Winifred Hall Allen}} {{Use American English|date=October 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Winifred Allen | image = Silent film actress Winifred Allen (SAYRE 1618).jpg | image_size = | caption = Allen in 1921 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|06|26|mf=yes}} | birth_place = [New Rochelle, New York](/source/New_Rochelle%2C_New_York), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|01|03|1896|06|26|mf=yes}} | death_place = New York, U.S. | other_names = Winifred Sperry Tenney | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1915–1924 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|[Lawrence Sperry](/source/Lawrence_Sperry)|1918|1923|reason=d.}} *{{marriage| Vernon E. Tenney |1929}} }} | relatives = [Elmer Ambrose Sperry](/source/Elmer_Ambrose_Sperry) (father-in-law) }} '''Winifred Allen''' (June 26, 1896 – January 3, 1943) was an American silent film actress. She appeared in several films between 1915 and 1924. She was known later as '''Winifred Sperry Tenney'''.{{cite web |title=Winifred Allen |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4526621 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011243/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4526621 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |publisher=[British Film Institute](/source/British_Film_Institute) |access-date=10 February 2019}} == Early years == Allen was born in [New Rochelle, New York](/source/New_Rochelle%2C_New_York), the daughter of Henry D'Arcy Kelly.{{Cite news |date=1929-12-10 |title=Mrs. Winifred Sperry and Vernon Tenney Obtain License to Marry |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-times-mrs-winifred-s/175685129/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Times |pages=45 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her mother was born in Ireland.1930 United States census, via Ancestry. She graduated from the public schools there and went on to study at the [Art Students League of New York](/source/Art_Students_League_of_New_York). The deaths of both parents prompted her to leave school and seek a career in films.{{cite news |last1=Dean |first1=Daisy |title=Movieland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30799408/winifred_allen/ |access-date=20 April 2019 |work=Muncie Evening Press |date=May 7, 1917 |location=Indiana, Muncie |page=9|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} Her sister May Allen was also an actress.{{Cite book |last=Davenport |first=William Wyatt |url=http://archive.org/details/gyrolifetime00dave |title=Gyro! : The life and times of Lawrence Sperry |date=1978 |publisher=Scribner |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-684-15793-1 |pages=5-7}} == Career == [[File:From Two to Six (1918) poster.jpg|thumb|170px|Poster for ''[From Two to Six](/source/From_Two_to_Six)'' (1918)]] Allen acted with the [Edison](/source/Edison_Studios) and Reliance studios, as well as with other film companies.{{cite journal |title=Winifred Allen |journal=Motography |date=April 17, 1915 |volume=XIII |url=https://archive.org/stream/motography13elec#page/615/mode/1up |access-date=20 April 2019}} She appeared in 11 films listed by the [American Film Institute](/source/American_Film_Institute), all made between 1915 and 1924.{{cite web |title=Winifred Allen |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Person/157753-Winifred-Allen?isMiscCredit=False |publisher=[American Film Institute](/source/American_Film_Institute) |access-date=10 February 2019}} "Winifred Allen did genuine and delightful work as the plucky little bride" of [Jack Deveraux](/source/Jack_Deveraux)'s character, according to a 1917 review of ''[The Man Who Made Good](/source/The_Man_Who_Made_Good).''{{Cite journal |date=May 5, 1917 |title=The Films Reviewed |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dramatic_Mirror_of_the_Stage_and_Motion/lWtDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Winifred%20Allen%20actress&pg=RA17-PA27&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Dramatic Mirror |pages=28}} She played Jack Deveraux's wife again in ''[American – That's All](/source/American_%E2%80%93_That's_All)'' (1917).{{Cite journal |date=June 9, 1917 |title=The Films Reviewed |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dramatic_Mirror_of_the_Stage_and_Motion/lWtDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Winifred%20Allen%20actress&pg=RA22-PA30&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Dramatic Mirror |pages=30}} She and actress [Ann Dvorak](/source/Ann_Dvorak) knitted warm items for American soldiers during the filming if ''[The Man Hater](/source/The_Man_Hater)'' (1917).{{Cite book |last=Rice |first=Christina |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ann_Dvorak/pXH9AAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Winifred%20Allen%20actress&pg=PA18&printsec=frontcover |title=Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel |date=2013-11-14 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-4440-5 |pages=18 |language=en}} == Publications == * "To the Studio by Aerial-Taxi" (March 1918){{Cite journal |last=Allen |first=Winifred |date=March 1918 |title=To the Studio by Aerial-Taxi |url=https://archive.org/details/Film-Fun-1918-03-No-348/mode/2up?q=Winifred+allen |journal=Film Fun |issue=348 |pages=27 |via=Internet Archive}} == Personal life == In 1918{{Cite journal |date=March 28, 1921 |title=Who's Who in American Aeronautics |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Aviation_Week_Space_Technology/m5dxYYm6N34C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA396&printsec=frontcover |journal=Aviation |volume=10 |issue=13 |pages=396}} Allen married aviation pioneer [Lawrence Sperry](/source/Lawrence_Sperry), and ''[Flying](/source/Flying_(magazine))'' magazine reported that they were "the first couple to take an aerial honeymoon" after they flew from [Amityville](/source/Amityville%2C_New_York) to [Governors Island](/source/Governors_Island).{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Doug |title=The Golden Avenue: The History and People of Ocean Avenue, Amityville, NY |chapter=Lawrence Sperry and early flight|date=2018 |isbn=9780359097302 |pages=69–70 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uR0DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Winifred+Allen%22+sperry&pg=PA69 |access-date=10 February 2019}}{{Cite news |date=1918-03-10 |title=Ready for Honeymoon in a Navy Aeroplane |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-ready-for-honeymoon-in/175684951/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=The Plain Dealer |pages=71 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had two children, also named Lawrence and Winifred. Sperry died in an airplane crash in 1923.{{cite news |date=January 20, 1931 |title=Sperry Heirs End Fight on Estate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30799637/daily_news/ |access-date=20 April 2019 |work=Daily News |location=New York, New York City |page=10 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} She married Vernon E. Tenney in 1929.{{Cite news |date=1929-12-12 |title=Mrs. Winifred Sperry Weds Vernon Tenney; Rev. Dr. Reed Performs Ceremony in Park Avenue Home of Chance Vought |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/12/archives/mrs-winifred-sperry-weds-vernon-tenney-rev-dr-reed-performs.html |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The Tenneys divorced in 1935, and he died at sea in 1937.{{Cite news |date=1938-07-10 |title=Tenney Will Fight Averted by Settlement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-advertiser-tenney-will-fig/175683644/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} She lived in Hawaii with her children in the 1930s.{{Cite news |last=Wilder |first=Betty |date=1953-06-27 |title=New Kuleanas at Kuliouou Nestle About Old Lagoon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-new-kuleanas-at-k/175683844/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com}} She died in 1943, in New York, at the age of 46.{{Cite news |date=1943-01-05 |title=Mrs. W. A. Tenney, Rites Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-mrs-w-a-tenney-rites/175684388/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=Brooklyn Eagle |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1943-01-18 |title=Tenney Will Filed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-tenney-will-filed/175684102/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} ==Selected filmography== *''[When We Were Twenty-One](/source/When_We_Were_Twenty-One)'' (1915) *''[Seventeen](/source/Seventeen_(1916_film))'' (1916) *''[The Long Trail](/source/The_Long_Trail_(film))'' (1917) * ''[The Haunted House](/source/The_Haunted_House_(1917_film))'' (1917) * ''[American – That's All](/source/American_%E2%80%93_That's_All)'' (1917) * ''[For Valour](/source/For_Valour_(1917_film))'' (1917) * ''[The Man Hater](/source/The_Man_Hater)'' (1917) * ''[A Successful Failure](/source/A_Successful_Failure_(1917_film))'' (1917) * ''[The Man Who Made Good](/source/The_Man_Who_Made_Good)'' (1917){{Cite journal |date=April 21, 1917 |title=Bessie Barriscale in New Triangle |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dramatic_Mirror_of_the_Stage_and_Motion/lWtDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Winifred+Allen+actress&pg=RA15-PA30&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Dramatic Mirror |pages=30}} *''[From Two to Six](/source/From_Two_to_Six)'' (1918) *''[Second Youth](/source/Second_Youth_(1924_film))'' (1924) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0021163}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Winifred}} Category:1896 births Category:1943 deaths Category:American silent film actresses Category:20th-century American actresses --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Winifred Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winifred_Allen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winifred_Allen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.