Peter Allen (musician)

Allen was the first husband of Liza Minnelli. They met in October 1964, were engaged on 26 November 1964, married on 3 March 1967, formally separated on 8 April 1970, and divorced on 24 July 1974.^[2][3][4] Allen had a long-term partner, model Gregory Connell (1949–84). They met in 1973 and were together until Connell's death in 1984.^[5][6] Allen and Connell died from AIDS-related cancer eight years apart, with Allen becoming one of the first well-known Australians to die from AIDS. Allen remained ambiguous about his sexuality in that he did not pretend to be straight after divorcing Minnelli, but never publicly came out as gay either.^[7] In a 1991 interview with the gay newspaper New York Native, he explained, "I was 'out' on stage years before anyone else. But I think outing is limiting. I don't feel like I should be labeled."^[8] Despite Allen's outgoing persona, he was an intensely private man who shared little about his personal life even with those close to him. Few people knew Allen had HIV/AIDS, partly in fear of alienating his conservative, heterosexual fans and thinking audiences would not want to see a performer they knew was sick.^[7] In 1998, a musical about his life, The Boy from Oz, debuted in Australia. It ran on Broadway and earned Hugh Jackman a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Personal life[edit]

Though flamboyant on stage, Allen was quite the opposite offstage. He once remarked, "I'm not the let's-tear-his-clothes-off type. I'm fairly quiet. The maniac only comes out when I hit the stage. I have to be a different person offstage. If I were to try to keep that up 24 hours a day, I would have a nervous breakdown."^[19] Allen described his stage persona as "a much more interesting person than me. I think that's why I'm in show business, to get to be that other person."^[20] Allen further depicted his stage persona as "someone much taller, much handsomer, with a better hairline."^[21] Although Allen described himself as "so boring" when not performing, he enjoyed swimming; wind surfing; skiing; water skiing; sailing; collecting Hawaiian shirts; reading; cooking; and growing flowers, herbs, and vegetables.^[19][22][23] Allen spent so much time working in his yard that he imagined his neighbors thought he was a landscape gardener.^[19]


Allen owned a beach house in Leucadia, California (north of San Diego), a place he called a 'shack' in Oak Beach, Queensland, Australia, and a penthouse apartment in Manhattan.^[24] While visiting Gregory Connell's parents in Leucadia in 1975, Allen learned there was a nearby house for sale and so purchased his first house with the earnings made from his 1974 song, "I Honestly Love You".^[25] The area was quiet and far enough away from Los Angeles that he did not get people dropping in because they were in the neighborhood.^[23] He wrote the 1976 song "Puttin' Out Roots" about his move to Leucadia.^[26] The living room of Allen's Leucadia beach house is featured on the cover of his 1979 album, I Could Have Been a Sailor.^[27]


Allen met Liza Minnelli at London Airport on 28 October 1964, where she and her mother Judy Garland were rehearsing for their upcoming performance at the London Palladium in early November.^[28] They were engaged a month later on 26 November 1964 at Trader Vic's, a restaurant at the London Hilton. They married in New York City on 3 March 1967, formally separated on 8 April 1970, and divorced on 24 July 1974.^[2][3][4]


Allen became more comfortable with his homosexuality in the early 1970s.^[29] He explained, "I was afraid as a teen, that if I acknowledged that I preferred my own kind, my family would stop loving me. We do tend to underrate our families."^[30] Allen and Gregory Connell met when he and a mutual friend attended Peter's show at New York's Continental Baths in 1973.^[31] Greg thought Peter was working too hard for the money he was getting and so helped him get his first band together, while Peter found him gorgeous, sweet, and good-hearted.^[5][32] According to Allen's biographer Stephen MacLean, Connell was "Peter's big love."^[33] Connell, a fashion and print model originally from Texas, attracted major clients, such as Coca-Cola and did lucrative print ads and commercials.^[34] Moreover, he acted in community and dinner theatres and sang in a group called "Voice Six".^[35] After they got together, Connell left his modeling career to support Allen's music career by becoming his lighting and staging director and tour manager. This arrangement enabled them to be together while Allen performed around the world. Connell also sang backup on Allen's 1976 song, "I Go to Rio".^[36][37] He did so much work behind the scenes that Peter once remarked, "Gregory does everything but get up here and sing!"^[38] After becoming ill in late 1982, Connell died from AIDS-related pneumonia on 11 September 1984, at their home in Leucadia.^[39][40]


Although Allen wrote "Once Before I Go" in 1982 for good friend Ann-Margret to use as a closing song at her concerts, the song took on new meaning when he sang it. According to the song's co-writer Dean Pitchford, Allen asked him to personalize the last verse of "Once Before I Go" from "The air I breathe/My morning sun/You'll be with me in years to come" to "You are the light that shines on me/You always were and you'll always be" to reference Connell's role as Allen's lighting director.^[41] Allen told Pitchford that "it was the one song he related most to Greg; that he thought of Greg as he sang it, Greg behind the lights at all of his shows."^[42][43] Allen further told Pitchford that "after Gregory died, he would always look into the spotlight and imagine that Gregory was behind the light."^[43]


Allen dedicated his 1985 album, Captured Live at Carnegie Hall to Connell and sang songs in his memory at AIDS benefit concerts.^[44][45][46] After Connell's death, Allen poured himself even more into his work. Allen spent several years getting his musical Legs Diamond on Broadway (it premiered in 1988), recorded his final album Making Every Moment Count in 1990, and continued performing in concerts and doing various benefits until his death in 1992 at the age of 48.^[47][2]


On 26 November 2005, an extension of the Tenterfield Library was opened and named the "George Woolnough Wing", named after Allen's paternal grandfather who was memorialized in his song, "Tenterfield Saddler".^[39]

Death and legacy[edit]

Allen's last performance was on 26 January 1992, in Sydney, and he was diagnosed with an AIDS-related throat cancer shortly after. Allen spent his final days at his beach house in Leucadia.^[48][39] He died at Mercy Hospital, San Diego, on 18 June 1992.^[49] A private memorial service was held on 21 June 1992, at his home in Leucadia, where his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean within sight of his house.^[50]


A documentary titled The Boy from Oz about Allen was produced after his death, featuring clips from his performances as well as interviews with performers who worked with him.^[51]


A stage musical based on his life, also titled The Boy from Oz, opened in Australia in 1998. Using his largely autobiographical songs, the production starred Todd McKenney as Allen and Christina Amphlett of the rock group Divinyls as Judy Garland. In 2003, the musical opened on Broadway, becoming the first Australian musical ever to be performed there. In this production Allen was played by Hugh Jackman, who won a Tony Award for his portrayal in 2004. Jackman performed this role again two years later when the show toured large arenas in Australia under the title The Boy from Oz: Arena Spectacular. A TV mini series, Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, was broadcast in Australia in 2015 with Joel Jackson playing the adult Allen and Ky Baldwin playing him as a youth. Supporting roles were played by Rebecca Gibney as Marion Woolnough (Allen's mother), Sarah West as Liza Minnelli and Sigrid Thornton as Judy Garland.^[52]


Allen was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1993.^[53]