Karen Allen
Biography
Karen Jane Allen, born October 5, 1951, in Carrollton, Illinois, United States, is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and its sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Allen’s film career includes roles in National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), The Wanderers (1979), Cruising (1980), Starman (1984), Scrooged (1988), The Sandlot (1993), and Poster Boy (2004). According to The Movie Database, she has accumulated 81 credited acting roles. Her professional profile is listed under the name Karen Allen and the alternative spelling Karen Jane Allen.
Career overview
Karen Allen was born on October 5, 1951 in Carrollton, Illinois, USA. She is an American actress who has been credited in a total of 81 film and television productions. Early in her career she appeared in a series of late‑1970s and early‑1980s movies, including a role in the comedy National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), the coming‑of‑age drama The Wanderers (1979), and the crime thriller Cruising (1980). These early parts helped establish her presence in Hollywood during a period marked by a mix of genre films.
Allen’s most widely recognized role is that of Marion Ravenwood, the spirited love interest of the titular adventurer in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). She returned to the same character more than two decades later in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), linking her early success to a later resurgence in the franchise. Between those landmark appearances she continued to work in a variety of genres, appearing in the science‑fiction romance Starman (1984), the holiday comedy Scrooged (1988), and the family sports film The Sandlot (1993). Her later work includes a role in the independent drama Poster Boy (2004).
Throughout her career Karen Allen, also known as Karen Jane Allen, has maintained a steady output of performances across film and television, contributing to a diverse body of work that spans more than four decades.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Other Mommy (2026)
- The Easy Kind (2024) as Kathy
- A Stage of Twilight (2024) as Cora
- The Unofficial Science of Indiana Jones (2024) as Self
- Unsinkable (2024) as Nancy Smith
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) as Marion
- Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford (2023) as Self
- The Last Movie Stars (2022) as Frances Woodward (voice)
- The Last Movie Stars (2022) as Self
- The Last Movie Stars (2022) as Self / Frances Woodward
- Going Home (2022) as Bonnie
- Things Heard & Seen (2021) as Mare Laughton
- Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age (2021) as Self - Actress (archive footage)
- 50 States of Fright (2020) as Sheriff Stallings
- Josh Gates Tonight (2020) as Self
- Colewell (2019) as Nora
- A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. (2017) as director
- A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. (2017) Director
- A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. (2017) Screenplay
- Bad Hurt (2016) as Elaine Kendall
- Year by the Sea (2016) as Joan
- November Christmas (2011) as Claire Sanford
- White Irish Drinkers (2011) as Margaret
- Blue Bloods (2010) as Betty Lowe
- A Dog Year (2009) as Paula (voice)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) as Marion Ravenwood
- Animal House: The Inside Story (2008) as Self
- The Graham Norton Show (2007) as Self
- Witch's Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills (2006) as Self
- Shaka Zulu: The Citadel (2005) as Katherine Farewell
- When Will I Be Loved (2004) as Alexandra Barrie
- Poster Boy (2004) as Eunice Kray
- Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) as self
- Where Are They Now?: A Delta Alumni Update (2003) as Katy Schoenstein
- Plain Dirty (2003) as Butcher Lee
- World Traveler (2002) as Delores
- In the Bedroom (2001) as Marla Keyes
- My Horrible Year! (2001) as Belinda Faulkner
- The Perfect Storm (2000) as Melissa Brown
- Wind River (2000) as Martha
- The Basket (2000) as Bessie Emery
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) as Paula Varney
- Falling Sky (1999) as Resse Nicholson
- The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion (1998) as Self - Katy
- 'Til There Was You (1997) as Betty Dawkan
- All the Winters that Have Been (1997) as Hannah Raven
- Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story (1996) as Margaret
- The Road Home (1994) as Alison Matson
- The Sandlot (1993) as Mom
- Ghost in the Machine (1993) as Terry Munroe
- King of the Hill (1993) as Miss Mathey
- Rapture (1993) as Georgianne Corcoran
- Voyage (1993) as Catherine 'Kit' Norvell
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)
- Malcolm X (1992) as Miss Dunne
- Nonsense and Lullabyes: Nursery Rhymes (1992) as (voice)
- Nonsense and Lullabyes: Poems (1992) as (voice)
- The Turning (1992) as Glory Lawson
- Sweet Talker (1991) as Julie Maguire
- Law & Order (1990) as Judith Sandler
- Challenger (1990) as Christa McAuliffe
- Secret Weapon (1990) as Ruth
- Animal Behavior (1989) as Alex Bristow
- Scrooged (1988) as Claire Phillips
- Backfire (1988) as Mara McAndrew
- The Glass Menagerie (1987) as Laura Wingfield
- Terminus (1987) as Gus
- The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985) as Jackie Foster
- Starman (1984) as Jenny Hayden
- Until September (1984) as Mo Alexander
- Split Image (1982) as Rebecca / Amy
- Shoot the Moon (1982) as Sandy
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Marion Ravenwood
- East of Eden (1981) as Abra
- The Making of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981) as Self
- Great Movie Stunts: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Self (archive footage)
- Fridays (1980) as Self
- Cruising (1980) as Nancy Gates
- A Small Circle of Friends (1980) as Jessica Bloom
- Knots Landing (1979) as Annie Fairgate
- The Wanderers (1979) as Nina
- Manhattan (1979) as Television Actor #2
- Animal House (1978) as Katy
- Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II (1978) as Elizabeth
- The Cutting Room Floor