From 1961 to 1963, he served as a
White House social aide during the
John F. Kennedy administration. From 1963 to 1969 he chaired a non-partisan White House youth program under both the
Lyndon B. Johnson and
Richard M. Nixon administrations, during which time he worked on a master's degree in international relations at
Georgetown University. Allison returned to the
University of Southern California in 1973 to obtain two master's degrees (in cinema production and professional writing) and a Ph.D. in philosophy. In 1977, he wrote and produced
Fraternity Row for
Paramount Pictures, which won him numerous industry awards. He worked continuously on a number of studio films in the U.S. and abroad, and also wrote and produced
The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984), a TV mini-series for Columbia Pictures Television. The mini-series aired on NBC in 1984, and depicts the adventures of the United States' first Olympic team at the
Athens 1896 Games. "The First Olympics", which received a number of
Emmy nominations and awards, also won Allison the WGA Annual Award for Outstanding Script of 1984 (Television Long Form Series) from his colleagues at the
Writers Guild of America. In 1978, Allison helped to found and served as co-chair of the
Utah/US Film Festival with
Robert Redford, which would later go on to become the
Sundance Film Festival. Allison began work in 1984 on "The Olympic Century", the official 25 volume history of the modern Olympic movement, in a cooperative partnership with the
International Olympic Committee and several national Olympic committees. The series will be available to teachers, schools, students and libraries beginning in the Fall of 2008. In 1987, the series development was designated 1st Century Project with Allison serving as chairman, which he has done up and until the present time. Allison died at his home in
Los Angeles, May 13, 2008. Allison was widowed in 1997 and is survived by one son, Richard, who lives and works in
London, England. ==References==