She appeared in numerous guest roles in TV shows, but she was best known of recurring parts in sitcom All in the Family (1972-1973) and in The Sopranos.

[1] Allen was born as Rae Julia Theresa Abruzzo in Brooklyn, New York City, on July 3, 1926,[3] to Julia (née Riccio), a seamstress and hairdresser and Joseph Abruzzo, an opera singer and chauffeur, whose brothers acted in vaudeville.

[4] Allen died in her sleep on April 6, 2022, at the age of 95 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills, California.

In 1958, she recreated her role as the nosy reporter Gloria in Damn Yankees in the film adaptation, in both of which she introduced the song "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.

[2] On television, she appeared on two consecutive episodes of Seinfeld as unemployment counselor Lenore Sokol, who must deal with George Costanza, who tries to get her to approve an extension of his benefits by dating her homely daughter, who ends up rejecting him.