Biography
Date of Birth
5 December 1974, Cerritos, California, USA
Birth Name
Chad Allen Lazzari
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Trivia
Only signed on for the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993) pilot to earn money for college. He did not think the series would be picked up and thought that it would pay for his college tuition. The series ran for 6 years.
Travels to Costa Rica are featured in the February 2004 issue of "The Out Traveler" magazine.
One of the co-founders of The Creative Outlet theater company in 1995, and has appeared in several theater productions during the summer breaks.
One of the co-founders of a production company called Mythgarden, which he formed with producer Christopher Racster and actor Robert Gant (Queer as Folk (1999)).
Has been featured on the cover of "The Advocate" three times: October 9, 2001, November 25, 2003, and August 30, 2005.
He donated many items to Rocky Stone to be given to less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign.
As of 2006, he has a position on the Honorary Board of Directors for The Matthew Shepard Foundation. On July 22, 2006, he joined Shepard's mother Judy and about 800 other people in a peaceful demonstration outside the Colorado Springs, Colorado, headquarters of Focus on the Family, a Christian organization.
As a boy, he played the autistic character "Tommy Westfall" on the TV series St. Elsewhere (1982). At first a minor character, Tommy took on great significance in the final episode when the entire series was revealed to have taken place inside his head. This has given rise to a fan theory known as the "Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis", which states that numerous shows that are connected to "St. Elsewhere" through character crossovers or dialog references have also taken place in Tommy's mind. For instance, the show had a crossover with Cheers (1982), and several characters from "St. Elsewhere" were featured in Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). From those links, the program can be linked to at least 280 other non-animated shows, ranging from I Love Lucy (1951) to CSI: NY (2004) (as of 2007).
Allen has been with his partner, actor Jeremy Glazer, since May 2005. They both appear in the film "Save Me" (2007).
Best known by the public for his roles as David Witherspoon on Our House (1986) and Matthew Cooper on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993).
Acting mentors were Wilford Brimley and Jane Seymour.
Has a twin sister, Charity Lazzari.
His father is of Italian ancestry, including roots in Sicily. His mother is of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and English descent.
Quotes
I don't know if it's as damaging on a public level, but I'm certain it's damaging on a personal level. I'm absolutely certain that forcing any young person or not-so-young person into dealing with the issue when they aren't ready to or simply don't want to is damaging to the soul. It's just not right.
[Until Brokeback Mountain (2005)] there was a huge fear or belief that you couldn't tell a story with a gay hero and have it make money. A well-made movie with a good story trumps everything. It's not just a victory for gay rights; it's a victory for humanity.
The constitution exists to protect minorities like us from majority votes. We need the constitution to stand up for us. We need politicians and like-minded, fair-minded people to stand up and insist that the constitution protect us the way it's designed to do.
I don't remember a time when I didn't know I was gay. I may not have known what to call it, and for a long time, I probably wouldn't have even associated it with sexual attraction. But, I knew something about me was different. I have been acting since I was a child. On one of my very first jobs I was playing a sick kid on some bad TV show and Alec Baldwin was giving me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Alec Baldwin! I couldn't wait to get to work. I would sit and stare at him all day long. I couldn't stand not to be around him. I think I was eight years old at the time.
