Ted Allan
Ted Allan, born Alan Herman on January 26, 1916, in Montreal, Quebec, was a Canadian writer known for his diverse contributions to literature, film, and theater. He adopted the pen name Ted Allan during his tenure as a reporter for a communist newspaper, which he used to infiltrate the National Socialist Party. Allan's activism led him to Spain in 1937, where he fought in the Spanish Civil War and engaged with prominent figures like Ernest Hemingway. His experiences during this tumultuous period greatly influenced his writing, including his novel "This Time a Better Earth."
Throughout his career, Allan wrote for various mediums, including films and plays, and was involved in notable projects like the Golden Globe-winning "Lies My Father Told Me." He spent significant time in both North America and England, where he found success with works such as "The Secret of the World" and "Love Streams," the latter of which won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. Despite facing challenges, including blacklisting during the Red Scare and personal hardships, Allan remained a prolific creator until his death on June 29, 1995, in Toronto. His legacy reflects a commitment to political activism and artistic expression, resonating through his body of work.
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Subject Terms
Ted Allan
Writer
- Born: January 26, 1916
- Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Died: June 29, 1995
- Place of death: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Biography
Ted Allan was born Alan Herman on January 26, 1916 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He invented the name Ted Allan while working as a reporter for a communist newspaper, the Daily Clarion, in order to infiltrate the local National Socialist Party, and he eventually adopted the name for all purposes. In 1937 Allan went to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War, following the example of his mentor, Dr. Norman Bethune of the Sacre Coeur Hospital in Montreal. In He made regular broadcasts during siege of Madrid, met Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway, and fell in love with a photographer for Le Soir named Gerda, who was killed; she is commemorated in his short story “Lisa” (featured in Harper’s in 1939). His return to New York was intended to be temporary, but his political activity prevented his return; the novel This Time a Better Earth is based on his experiences.
Allan married Kate Schwartz in 1938; she joined him thereafter in Mexico, where he took up residence in a small writers’ colony whose other members included Clifford Odets. They returned to the U.S. when their daughter Julie was born in 1940. Allan got a job writing movies for Paramount subsidiary Caradel and also became a regular contributor of short fiction to the New Yorker. He travelled across the U.S. with Dorothy Parker on behalf of Joint Refugee Anti-Fascist Committee and worked with Bertolt Brecht for the Office of War Information after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After the war he was caught up in the “red scare”—a phenomenon described in his stage play The Money Makers—and was blacklisted. After another brief sojourn in Spain, he moved back to Canada in 1949.
Allan remained in Canada—mostly in Toronto—until 1954, writing advertising copy, stage plays and TV scripts, and publishing a novel (as Alan Mansfield). He went to England in 1954, and The Money Makers was soon produced there as The Ghost Writers. He settled in England and found more successes: The Legend of Pepito was directed by Joan Littlewood, and he scripted TV shows for Bernard Braden. He left his wife, who had become an alcoholic, in 1957. The Secret of the World was the most successful of his subsequent plays, although Willie the Squowse—which had been adapted as a radio play in 1953—enjoyed a further lease on life when it was rewritten as a children’s story and won a competition run by The Times in the 1970’s. It appeared as an illustrated book before being adapted as a stage musical in 1987, and it was also filmed as The Great Rupert.
Allan began to write film scripts in some profusion in the 1970’s. Lies My Father Told Me (1975) won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. He returned to California in late 1970’s. Although he suffered a heart attack in 1979, he continued working. Love Streams (1984)—one of several projects undertaken with John Cassavetes—won first prize at Berlin film festival. The novel Love Is a Long Shot won the Stephen Leacock award in 1986. The off-Broadway play Chu Chem obtained rave reviews in 1988. Unfortunately, a 1990 homage to his one-time hero, Bethune: The Making of a Hero (based on the 1952 biography The Scalpel, the Sword) did not live up to his hopes. He died on June 29, 1995, in Toronto.