Chad Allen

Chad Allen Bio

Chad Allen Lazzari, known professionally as Chad Allen, is an American psychologist and retired actor whose career in entertainment began when he was just seven years old. He first gained recognition as a teen idol during the late 1980s through starring roles on NBC’s family drama Our House and the sitcom My Two Dads, and later cemented his reputation with a long-running turn on the CBS western Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. After stepping away from acting in 2015, Allen pursued formal training in psychology, completing doctoral studies and building a second professional life as a clinical psychologist. He has also remained a visible advocate for LGBTQ+ causes.

Over the course of his screen career, Allen earned three Young Artist Awards and was honored with a GLAAD Media Award for his contributions to equality and visibility. He is recognized for transitioning from child stardom to adult roles with a notable run of independent films and television movies in the 2000s. Today, Allen is equally associated with his advocacy work and his academic and clinical pursuits in psychology.

Early Life and Background

Chad Allen Lazzari was born on June 5, 1974, in Cerritos, California, and grew up in the neighboring community of Artesia. He was raised in a strict Roman Catholic household and has spoken about how that upbringing shaped him into what he describes as a deeply spiritual person. Allen is of predominantly Italian heritage, with some German ancestry, and is one of three siblings, including a twin sister named Charity and a brother, Steve Lazzari, who works for Union Pacific Railroad.

He attended St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, where he balanced his studies with the demands of a growing acting career that had begun in childhood. From a young age, Allen showed an early interest in performance, and the entertainment industry quickly became a central part of his formative years. His family supported his work on screen while ensuring that education remained a priority, a foundation that later influenced his decision to return to formal academic study as an adult.

Path to Acting

Allen’s path into acting began almost by accident when he was cast in a small role at the age of seven, launching a screen career that would span more than three decades. His earliest television appearances included guest spots on prime-time series such as Airwolf, St. Elsewhere, and Cutter to Houston, where he worked alongside actors who would later become major Hollywood names. The role of the autistic child Tommy Westphall on St. Elsewhere, in particular, gave him valuable experience on a long-running ensemble drama and introduced him to a national audience.

By the mid-1980s, Allen had earned his first regular series role as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama Our House, which ran from 1986 to 1988. He followed this success with a recurring part as Zach Nichols on the NBC sitcom My Two Dads from 1989 to 1990, where he starred opposite well-known adult leads. These early starring roles established him as a recognizable teen idol and led directly to his casting on one of the most popular family dramas of the 1990s.

Chad Allen Career

Early Career (1981–1990)

Chad Allen’s first notable work came in the early 1980s with appearances on series including Airwolf, St. Elsewhere, and the medical drama Cutter to Houston, the latter featuring a young Alec Baldwin. He was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his guest turn on Airwolf and gained industry attention for his portrayal of Tommy Westphall on St. Elsewhere. In November 1986, he co-starred with Louis Gossett Jr. in the three-part NBC mini-series Straight Up, which addressed substance abuse through a fantasy framework.

His breakout as a series regular came with Our House from 1986 to 1988, where he played David Witherspoon alongside Wilford Brimley and Deidre Hall. The role earned him a wider fan base and helped him secure his next major project, the NBC sitcom My Two Dads, which ran from 1989 to 1990. He also won three Young Artist Awards during this period, validating his standing as one of the most promising young actors in television at the time.

Breakthrough (1993–1998)

Allen’s most defining role arrived in 1993 when he was cast as Matthew Cooper on the CBS western drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, starring alongside Jane Seymour. The series ran for six seasons until 1998 and turned Allen into a household name, with Matthew Cooper becoming a beloved character for audiences who followed the show. The role allowed him to grow from teen performer into a serious adult actor, and it remains the work most closely associated with his career.

By the end of the show’s run, Allen had firmly transitioned from child stardom to adult roles, and he began searching for more challenging material. This period also marked his first steps toward greater personal honesty, as he would later be publicly outed in 1996, an event that ultimately reshaped both his life and his career trajectory in the years to come.

Notable Works and Milestones

After Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman wrapped, Allen reinvented himself with a string of independent projects, most notably a series of television movies for the here! network in which he played gay private investigator Donald Strachey, a character adapted from the novels of Richard Stevenson. The franchise began with Third Man Out in 2005 and continued with Shock to the System in 2006, On the Other Hand, Death in 2008, and Ice Blues in 2008. He also starred in the 2006 docudrama End of the Spear and the 2007 Sundance Film Festival selection Save Me, the latter of which he developed and produced himself.

Chad Allen Award Nominations

Chad Allen received multiple award nominations across his career, particularly during his time as a young performer in the 1980s. He was nominated at the 6th Youth in Film Awards for his guest appearance on the series Airwolf, and he earned several additional Young Artist Award nominations throughout his early television work. He was also recognized by various LGBTQ+ media organizations for his visibility and contributions as an openly gay actor working in mainstream entertainment.

Chad Allen Awards Won

Chad Allen won three Young Artist Awards during his early career as a child and teen performer, establishing him as one of the most awarded young actors of his generation. In May 2009, he was presented with the Davidson/Valentini Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in recognition of his advocacy for LGBTQ+ equality and his contributions to fair representation in media. He acknowledged the award alongside his partner, Jeremy Glazer, in a widely noted acceptance speech.

Chad Allen Family

Chad Allen was raised in a close-knit family with his twin sister, Charity, and his brother, Steve Lazzari. His upbringing in a strict Roman Catholic household in Southern California played a central role in shaping his early worldview and his lifelong interest in spirituality. He has credited his family with supporting his early acting ambitions while also encouraging him to value education and personal growth.

Personal Life

Allen was outed as gay in 1996 at the age of 21 after a tabloid published photos of him with another man, an experience that ultimately led him toward deeper activism for the LGBTQ+ community. He appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live in January 2006 alongside then-San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to discuss same-sex marriage and has been featured multiple times in The Advocate magazine. From 2006 to 2015, he was in a relationship with actor Jeremy Glazer, whom he met in 2005.

Allen has been sober for many years and has spoken publicly about the importance of recovery in his life. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor of arts in psychology in June 2015 and completed his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University New England in 2020. He announced his retirement from acting in April 2015 and now works as a clinical psychologist.