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.
Chad Allen at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, April 2009. (Photo: Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0)
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. Now, he plans to help today’s young people in his second career.
Early Acting Career
Allen was very busy during his child and teen acting days. In addition to Our House, St. Elsewhere, and My Two Dads, he 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.
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.
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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.
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! My Darling!. Starting on September 23, 2008, Allen portrayed the love interest of Dr. Kyle Julian in General Hospital: Night Shift.
The cast of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
In 2012, the cast of St. Elsewhere reunited for Entertainment Weekly and Good Morning America.
During the final season of his run on St. Elsewhere, the former actor appeared in St. Elsewhere, in which he played autistic child Tommy Westphall (1983-88). The series final episode, "The Last One", ends with the indication that all of its storylines occurred in Tommy's imagination.
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Allen added, “At one point I was the answer for a Trivial Pursuit question.”
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).
Transition to 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-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.
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Lazzari, C. (2020). Separating Rope Strands: An Unraveling of Shame in Gay Men.
Comments on Harvey Milk and his legacy from Actor Chad Allen
Current Practice
Chad Allen Psychotherapy, LLC is located at 825 Nicollet Mall Suite 1240 - Medical Arts Building Minneapolis, MN 55402. He specializes in Depression, Anxiety and Relationship Issues. He is currently holding sessions both in-person and remotely.
Allen is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, MA, LPCC. He is an out-of-network provider with regard to healthcare insurance and can provide a receipt which you can submit for OON reimbursement. He also holds a Certificate from Minnesota Psychoanalytic Society Psychoanalytic Training and a Certificate from Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis Candidate Psychoanalyst.
Allen welcomes LGBTQ+-identified individuals and couples, and people in nontraditional relationships. He offers individual sessions for $180 and couple sessions for $220. Payment methods accepted include American Express, Cash, Check, Discover, Health Savings Account, Mastercard, and Visa.
Treatment Approach
Types of Therapy he offers:
- Culturally Sensitive
- Existential
- Humanistic
- Integrative
- Interpersonal
- Multicultural
- Psychoanalytic
- Psychodynamic
- Relational
- Trauma Focused
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.
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 May 2009, Allen was the recipient of a GLAAD Media Award: the Davidson/Valentini Award. Allen has since become an activist for the LGBT community in addition to his continuing acting and producing career.
Education
Allen graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in June 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He graduated from the Psy.D. program at Antioch University New England in 2020.
Filmography
- Code of Vengeance (1985) TV movie - A.J.
- Code of Vengeance - "Code of Vengeance" (1985) - A.J.
- Total Recall 2070 - "First Wave" (1999) TV episode - Eddie J.
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