ALLEN, Jane 1941-

PERSONAL: Born July 29, 1941, in Melbourne, Australia; daughter of Averell Stuart (a lawyer) and Margaret Seymour (a homemaker; maiden name, Frazer) Bradshaw; married Gerald Ian Allen, 1964 (marriage ended, 1969); children: Mark Seymour. Ethnicity: "White." Education: University of Sydney, B.A. (with honors), 1994, M.Phil., 1998. Politics: Liberal. Religion: Anglican. Hobbies and other interests: Opera, chamber music, cinema, cooking, Siamese cats.

ADDRESSES: Home—22 Hopewood Rd., Poowral, New South Wales 2576, Australia. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Barry Stern Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia, assistant, 1969-72; Watters Gallery, Sydney, assistant, 1984-88; University of Sydney, associate lecturer in psychology, 1994-97. Breast Cancer Support Group, convenor, 2001—.

MEMBER: New South Wales State Art Gallery Society, New South Wales Writers' Centre (Sydney, Australia), Ski Club of Australia, a local film society.

WRITINGS:

Pier Angeli: A Fragile Life, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1992.

A Walk through Blue Poppies: The Letters of EricShipton to Margaret Bradshaw, 1934-1974, Breakout (Sydney, Australia), 2004.

WORK IN PROGRESS: An historical novel concerning the visit of Pauline Bonaparte to her brother Napoleon on Elba from 1814-1815.

SIDELIGHTS: Jane Allen told CA: "My primary motivation in writing a biography of Pier Angeli was to tell a story no one else had told and to set the record straight. The life of this Italian actress, who captivated me as a child with her early films, was far more interesting and tragic than any of her work on screen.

"Having recently completed my master's thesis on Sigmund Freud, I felt happiest when immersed in the research process: uncovering facts, following trails, striving to tell the truth about my subject. I write quickly to a strict schedule, in a quiet, rural atmosphere with minimal distractions. Biographers who inspire me include Nicholas Shakespeare, Charles Higham, and Val Holley; other influences are Robertson Davies, P. D. James, E. Annie Proulx, and Jeanette Winterson."