Nancy Anne Allen (born June 24, 1950) is an American actress. Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles. A strong supporting role in Carrie (1976) brought her recognition, and after marrying the director Brian De Palma, she appeared in several of his films, including Dressed to Kill (1980), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and Blow Out (1981). Her subsequent films include The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) and the RoboCop trilogy.