The ‘You’ll Like My Mother’ And ‘Scream, Pretty Peggy’ Actress Was 78

Actress Sian Barbara Allen, who debuted on television in episodes of dramas O’Hara, U.S. Treasury, Alias Smith and Jones and Gunsmoke in 1971, died on Monday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was 78 and the cause of her death was Alzheimer’s disease.

Born July 12, 1946 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Sian Barbara Allen accumulated over two dozen TV show guest appearances throughout the course of her career. Included were two episodes of family drama The Waltons as the love interest for Richard Thomas’ John-Boy, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, The F.B.I., and three episodes each of Ironside and Marcus Welby, M.D.

On the big screen, Allen appeared opposite Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas in the horror-thriller You’ll Like My Mother in 1972, which resulted in a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year.

In 1973, Allen was cast opposite the legendary Bette Davis in the made-for television Psycho-like horror film Scream, Pretty Peggy.

Additional credits included the 1974 western Billy Two Hats, and the TV movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case in 1976. Allen’s final performance on television was in an episode of drama L.A. Law in 1990.

Allen is survived by her daughter, Emily Fonseca, her two sisters, Hannah Davie and Meg Pokrass, her nephew, Miles Bond, cousins Marcy, Mike and Mark Reuben and grandson Arlo Fonseca.