Education and early career Allan attended the
University of Washington, where he majored in Drama. While in college, he supported himself working as a radio and television announcer and sportscaster. In the 1960s, he appeared in several Broadway productions such as
Viva Madison Avenue!,
Oliver!, and
Barefoot in the Park. In 2004, he started playing the role of
Edward Quartermaine in
General Hospital. He appeared in numerous
made-for-television movies. He hosted
Celebrity Bowling during the 1970s Allan was a featured character in several episodes of
Adam-12. He played Reno West, a prolific burglar who was known as, "Take a little, leave a little" because of his M.O. He was finally caught by Reed and Malloy in the episode 'Capture' (season 6, episode 9). Allan wrote a book,
Please, Spell the Name Right, in reference to his name often being spelled incorrectly. The book is about his experiences of 50 years as an actor working with other actors and was released in November 2004. He also played Mr. Marraco in the Carman film, The Champion. ==Personal life and death==