Allen was one of the first black actors and performers to appear on television and stage in the United States, at a time when those venues were largely closed to African Americans.

[1] During the 1950s, Allen became one of the first black entertainers to have a recurring role on network television when she was cast as a WAC on staff on the CBS army base comedy The Phil Silvers Show, from 1955 to 1959.

[1] She was cast as a dancer in several Bradway productions early in her career, including the 1947 musical review Caribbean Carnival; a Broadway revival of Four Saints in Three Acts in 1952; and My Darlin' Aida, an adaptation of a Giuseppe Verdi opera, which also opened in 1952.

[1] Notable students of the Frank Silvera Writers Workshop have included award-winning playwrights Charles Fuller, Ntozake Shange and Samm-Art Williams.

Allen received a Lucille Lortel Awards nomination in 2006 for directing Funnyhouse of a Negro, a ground-breaking one-act play by Adrienne Kennedy, in 2006.

[1] Her second husband was Luther Henderson, a pianist, and prolific Broadway composer and arranger, with whom she had co-created the musical Little Ham, which was based on the play of the same name written by poet and playwright Langston Hughes.

[1] Billie Allen died peacefully at her home in Manhattan, New York City, on December 29, 2015, at the age of 90, just 15 days shy of her 91st birthday.

Grant; one granddaughter; several stepchildren; a brother, Dr. Edward B. Allen, and a host of relatives and artists that she directed and mentored throughout her long career.