Sheila Mathews Allen obit

Irwin Allen’s Widow, Sheila Mathews Allen, Dies at 84

 

She was not on the list.

Sheila Matthews Allen, singer, actress and president of Irwin Allen Productions, died Nov. 15 in her Malibu home after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. She was 84.

Most recently, Allen headed the production company her late husband created. After producer Irwin Allen’s death in 1991, she took the reins, spending the last two decades engaged in the studio’s developments, including the 1998 big screen adaptation of “Lost in Space.” She also served as an exec producer on the Warner Bros. remake of “Poseidon” in 2006.

Allen met Irwin Allen in 1960, and from then on, appeared in several of his films and TV shows, including “Lost in Space” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” They married in 1974.

A Gotham native, Mathews Allen began by singing operatic arias she heard on the radio. By the age of 10, she was performing professionally. She appeared in a number of musicals during the 1940’s and ’50s, including “Oh, Captain!” with Tony Randall and “Destry Rides Again” with Andy Griffith.

 

Survivors include her brother C.J. Mathews, her family in San Diego and the Allen family of Massachusetts. Funeral services will be held this Friday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in L.A. Donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

 

Filmography

 

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1962    State Fair            Hipplewaite's Girl            Uncredited

1962    Five Weeks in a Balloon the Courtier            Uncredited

1972    The Poseidon Adventure            Gina Rowe  

1974    The Towering Inferno Paula Ramsay           

1977    Viva Knievel!            Sister Charity

1980    When Time Ran Out            Mona  

 

Television

 

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964, 1 episode) as Mrs. Melton

Lost in Space (1965-1968, 3 episodes) as Aunt Gamma / Brynhilda / Ruth Templeton

The Time Tunnel, (1966-1967, TV series) as Producer

Land of the Giants (1969-1970, 2 episodes) as Miss Collier, Nurse Helg, respectively

City Beneath the Sea (1971, TV movie) as Blonde Woman

The Waltons (1976-1978, 5 episodes) as Fanny Tatum

Alice in Wonderland (1985, TV movie) as Alice's Mother

Outrage! (1986, TV movie) as Mrs. Delehanty