Chad Allen (born Chad Allen Lazzari on June 5, 1974, in Cerritos, California) is an American psychologist and retired actor. Allen was born on June 5, 1974. He grew up in Artesia. He has a twin sister named Charity and a brother named Steve Lazzari who works for Union Pacific Railroad. Allen is of predominantly Italian origin, with a "dose" of German origin. He was raised in a "strict" Roman Catholic household and regards himself as being a "deeply spiritual person" because of his upbringing.
Beginning his career at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree. In the 1980s, actor Chad Allen became a teen idol thanks to his TV roles. After getting his start as a child star, Allen became famous playing David on Our House, Tommy on St. Elsewhere, and Zach on My Two Dads. As an adult, he starred in the series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman as Matthew Cooper. But, after a long career that continued into the early 2010s, Allen decided to officially retire from acting to take on a new, very different pursuit.
Here's a look at his journey from the screen to psychology:
Early Career and Teen Idol Status
Chad Allen first popped up on TV screens as a child actor in the 1980s. He was in many series in either guest-starring or recurring roles during that first decade and many more in the years that followed, as well as several movies. He was a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama Our House and as Zach Nichols on the NBC sitcom My Two Dads before transitioning to an adult career as Matthew Cooper on the CBS western drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Allen was very busy during his child and teen acting days. In addition to Our House, St. Elsewhere, and My Two Dads, Allen guest-starred on several prime time series, including an early episode of Airwolf for which he was nominated as "Best Young Actor: Guest in a Series" at the 6th Youth in Film Awards and St. Elsewhere, in which he played autistic child Tommy Westphall (1983-88).
Read also: Explore Chad Allen's career
In 1983, he appeared on Cutter to Houston, playing "a kid who got hurt and had to be given mouth-to-mouth and carried to the waiting chopper by Dr. Hal Wexler (Alec Baldwin)". On November 5 of that year, the three-part mini-series Straight Up premiered, where he co-starred with Louis Gossett Jr. In 1989-90, he had a recurring role as Zach in My Two Dads.
Notable Roles in Television
Chad played a major role in the success of multiple TV shows over the years. In fact, he was a big part of four successful TV series. Not a lot of actors can make the same claim. Not only that, but they all came fairly close together in his career. The first started in 1982, and the last started just 11 years later, in 1993. They simply wouldn’t have been the same without him, and they may not have even worked at all. The amazing thing about that is three of them were shows he was on when he was just a young kid.
- St. Elsewhere (1982-1988): In St. Elsewhere, he played the autistic character Tommy Westphall. The series' final episode, "The Last One", ends with the indication that all of its storylines occurred in Tommy's imagination.
 - Our House (1986-1988)
- My Two Dads (1987-1990)
Allen's next contract role was Matthew Cooper in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman alongside Jane Seymour (1993-98). As an adult, he starred on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman for all six of its seasons. He went on to act in episodes of NYPD Blue, Cold Case, Charmed, Criminal Minds, General Hospital: Night Shift, and Dexter, among other TV, stage, and movie roles.
Transition to Adult Roles
Starting with Third Man Out (2005), Allen stars as Donald Strachey, a gay private detective in a monogamous relationship, in a series of television movies for the here! network based on novels by Richard Stevenson. The sequel, Shock to the System (2006), was followed by On the Other Hand, Death (2008) and Ice Blues (2008).
From June through August 2008, Allen appeared with Valerie Harper in Looped, a play based on an afternoon looping session with Tallulah Bankhead for the film Die! Die!. Starting on September 23, 2008, Allen portrayed the love interest of Dr.
Read also: Discover Chad Allen DDS's career
Personal Life and Activism
In 1996, at age 21, Allen was outed as gay when the US tabloid The Globe published photos of him kissing another man in a hot tub at a party. The photos were sold by someone who claimed to be a friend of the couple. Allen has since become an activist for the LGBT community in addition to his continuing acting and producing career.
On January 17, 2006, Allen appeared on CNN's Larry King Live with San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to represent his viewpoint in a debate over same-sex marriage. In November 2006, The Los Angeles Daily News wrote in passing that Allen's partner, Jeremy Glazer, was also in the film Save Me. In a September 2008 interview with Out.com, Allen stated that he was currently in a three-year relationship and had been sober for eight years. In October 2008, AfterElton.com stated his boyfriend to be Glazer. In May 2009, Allen was the recipient of a GLAAD Media Award: the Davidson/Valentini Award.
Roofman | Official Trailer (2025 Movie) - Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst
Retirement from Acting and Pursuing Psychology
Allen made his retirement from acting official in 2015. “After 30-plus years as an actor, I made the decision a couple years ago to begin letting that side of my life go,” he said. “I’ve been focusing on my education and working as a clinical psychologist, which is something that I’m super excited about.
Allen graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in June 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Allen-who now goes by his full name, Chad Allen Lazzari-studied psychology as an undergrad student at UCLA and graduated in 2015. Then, he attended Antioch University New England where he received his doctor of psychology degree in 2020.
“This was the last big hurdle in 7 years of incredibly hard work,” he wrote. “Passing the licensing exam pretty much took over my life the past 6 months but I’m SO grateful to my family and friends ( especially you Mikey ) for putting up with me as I got over this hump. It’s a strange feeling… a long journey on a trail that was truly awful at times, glorious at others. My life looks NOTHING like it did when I started. For now I’ll just say thank you.
Read also: Chad Reed: An in-depth biography
He graduated from the Psy.D. program at Antioch University New England in 2020. Chad Allen Lazzari, Psy.D., is a 2020 graduate of the Psy.D.
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
