Irwin Allens Widow, Sheila Mathews Allen, Dies at 84

Sheila Mathews Allen, singer, actress and president of Irwin Allen Productions, died Nov. 15 in her Malibu home after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. She was 84.

Most recently, Allen headed the production company her late husband created. After producer Irwin Allen’s death in 1991, she took the reins, spending the last two decades engaged in the studio’s developments, including the 1998 bigscreen adaptation of “Lost in Space.” She also served as an exec producer on the Warner Bros. remake of “Poseidon” in 2006.

Allen met Irwin Allen in 1960, and from then on, appeared in several of his films and TV shows, including “Lost in Space” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” They married in 1974.

A Gotham native, Mathews Allen began by singing operatic arias she heard on the radio. By the age of 10, she was performing professionally. She appeared in a number of musicals during the 1940’s and ’50s, including “Oh, Captain!” with Tony Randall and “Destry Rides Again” with Andy Griffith.

Survivors include her brother C.J. Mathews, her family in San Diego and the Allen family of Massachusetts. Funeral services will be held this Friday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in L.A. Donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Popular on Variety

More from Variety

• 

  Alex Wolff Opens Up About Channeling Leonard Cohen, Going Aggro for Frat Drama ‘The Line’ and Touring With BFF Billie Eilish
• 

  What Film Fund From AI Startup Runway Means for Content’s Future
• 

  Billie Eilish and Finneas Endorse Kamala Harris for President Because ‘We Can’t Let Extremists Control Our Lives, Our Freedoms and Our Future’
• 

  Grammy Nominations Predictions: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift Will Vie in Top Categories
• 

  Fall Season’s Scripted Reduction Bodes Badly for Broadcast TV

Most Popular

• Inside the 'Joker: Folie à Deux' Debacle: Todd Phillips ‘Wanted Nothing to Do’ With DC on the $200 Million Misfire

  

• ‘Kaos’ Canceled After One Season at Netflix

  

• ‘Menendez Brothers’ Netflix Doc Reveals Erik’s Drawings of His Abuse and Lyle Saying ‘I Would Much Rather Lose the Murder Trial Than Talk About Our…

  

• Kathy Bates Won an Oscar and Her Mom Told Her: ‘You Didn't Discover the Cure for Cancer,’ So ‘I Don't Know What All the Excitement Is About…

  

• Saoirse Ronan Says Losing Luna Lovegood Role in ‘Harry Potter’ Has ‘Stayed With Me Over the Years’: ‘I Was Too Young’ and ‘Knew I Wasn't Going to Get…

  

• ‘Joker 2’ Director Says Arthur Fleck Was Never Joker: ‘He's an Unwitting Icon’ and Joker Is ‘This Idea That Gotham People Put on Him…

  

• ‘Joker 2’ Axed Scene of Lady Gaga’s Lee Kissing a Woman at the Courthouse Because ‘It Had Dialogue in It’ and ‘Got in the Way’ of a Music…

  

• Andrew Garfield Says Sex Scene With Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time’ Went a ‘Little Bit Further’ Than Intended: ‘We Never Heard Cut…

  

• ‘Skyfall’ Director Sam Mendes Says James Bond Studio Prefers Filmmakers ‘Who Are More Controllable’: ‘I Would Doubt’ I’d…

  

• Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried to Star in ‘The Housemaid’ Adaptation From Director Paul Feig, Lionsgate

  

Must Read

• Film

  COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie

  By Andrew Wallenstein 3 weeks

• TV

  Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…

  
• TV

  ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut

  
• TV

  50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)

  
• Shopping

  ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates

  

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXJ%2Fjp%2BgpaVfo7K4v46iqbChnmKurbjEp6pmr5mZvLh50qGcoqSRYrqiwMeerqxlkaG5prqMnaCeq12WwW6Ek2Zoa2hgbYJyg49pZg%3D%3D