Jo Harvey Allen is an actress, playwright, poet, and pioneer of women in radio. Her critically acclaimed plays have toured throughout the United States and Europe. She has written and starred in off-Broadway productions of A Moment's Hesitation (Dance Theater Workshop & The New School, NYC), Counter Angel (The New School, NYC), and As it is in Texas (St. Ann’s Church, NYC). Her other one-woman plays include Hally Lou (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles), Duckblind (Cornet Theater, Los Angeles), and Homerun (Remembrance through the Performing Arts, Austin). Other plays, in which Allen co-wrote and starred in, include: Chippy: Diaries of a West Texas Hooker (1993, American Music Theatre Festival); Covenant (2011, Oliver Ranch Foundation); and Do You Know What Your Children Are Tonight? (1985-1987, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC and Theatre Artaud, San Francisco). Allen co-wrote the radio play Every Three Minutes (NPR), as well as the opera Pioneer (1990, Spoleto Festival), in which she also co-starred.
Jo Harvey Allen is married to artist, singer, and songwriter Terry Allen and has starred in his radio and musical theater pieces, including Juarez (1990), The Embrace…Advanced To Fury (2001), Anti-Rabbit Bleeder: A Biography (1983), Reunion (1992), Warboy (2002-2007), and Ghost Ship Rodez (2011). Allen hosted the radio show Rawhide and Roses (KPPC AM/FM-Pasadena, 1965-1969). She is also the author of Cheek to Cheek (1983), a collection of poems. Allen has appeared in numerous films including co-starring roles in David Byrne's cult classic True Stories (1986), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991, directed by John Avnet), The Client (1994, directed by Joel Schumacher). She most recently appeared in Rosalyn Rosen's award-winning independent film The Other Kind (2015), and The Homesman (2014, directed by Tommy Lee Jones). The most recent film in which she co-stars is The Other Kind (2015), written and directed by Rosalyn Rosen. The award winning film is about a former county judge, his Bible toting wife, and their two adult children. The family sets out on a mission to rural Texas to save the youngest of their brood, an eccentric poet who believes Charles Bukowski lives inside his head. But the tables turn when a chilling family secret is exposed and reality is turned upside down. She has been the recipient of Art Matters and NEA fellowships. The Allen's have two sons, three grandsons, and live and work in Santa Fe, New Mexico.She has been the recipient of Art Matters and NEA fellowships. The Allen's have two sons, three grandsons, and live and work in Santa Fe, New Mexico.