Actress Sian Barbara Allen, who starred in popular TV shows such as The Waltons, Gunsmoke, and Ironside, died on Monday at the age of 78. Her sister Meg Pokrass said in a Facebook post that Allen passed away “peacefully.” According to an online obituary, the actress lived the final year of her life in North Carolina and died of Alzheimer’s Disease. A staple of 1970s TV, Allen was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising New Actress in 1973 for her role in the horror film You’ll Like My Mother. According to IMDb, she began dating actor Richard Thomas while working on the film, a relationship that lasted several years in the 1970s. Thomas, who played John Boy on The Waltons, recommended Allen for the role of his character’s love interest, Jenny Pendleton. Allen then starred as the titular character Peggy Johns in the TV thriller Scream, Pretty Peggy alongside Bette Davis and Ted Bessell, and appeared in TV shows such as The Rockford Files and Bonanza. Her 1990 appearance in an episode of L.A. Law was her last before she retired from acting to focus on her family after marrying and having a daughter.
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