Allan Warren

Michael Allan Warren (born 26 October 1948) is an English portrait photographer, primarily known for his images of members of high society.

Not to be confused with Alan Warren or Allen Warren.

Allan Warren
Warren in 2010
Born
Michael Allan Warren

(1948-10-26) 26 October 1948
Wimbledon, London, England, United Kingdom[1]
NationalityBritish
OccupationPhotographer

Early life

After growing up in post-war London with his mother, Warren attended Terry's Juveniles, a stage school based in the Drury Lane Theatre. It was during this period that he attended auditions through which he received several assignments. One such piece of work was as a child presenter in "The Five O'clock Club", which afforded him the opportunity to associate with a variety of people, including a young Marc Bolan (then performing as "Toby Tyler") who would later employ Warren as his first manager.[2][3]

Career

Warren started his photographic career at the age of 17 when he was acting in Alan Bennett's play Forty Years On with John Gielgud in the West End at the Apollo Theatre.[1] Around this time Warren bought his first second-hand camera and began to take photographs of his fellow actors. His first major assignment was when his friend Mickey Deans asked him to cover his wedding to Judy Garland, which marked the beginning of Warren's work as a professional photographer.[4] When in New York for personal reasons, he attended an audition for the Broadway production of Minnie's Boys. However, he later declined the role offered to him in favour of returning to London and pursuing photography as his vocation.

After this decisive event Warren embarked on his photography career, throughout which he took portraits of personalities including many actors, writers, musicians, politicians and members of the British royal family.[5][6] In the early 1980s Warren embarked on a quest to photograph all 30 British dukes.[7] Together with Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester he set up the Duke's Trust, a charity for children in need.[8][9][10] Warren has uploaded many pictures from his archive to Wikimedia Commons.

Miscellaneous

In the early 1990s, Warren embarked on writing plays. One of his works, The Lady of Phillimore Walk,[11] was directed by Frank Dunlop and critics went as far as comparing it to Sleuth, a thriller written by Anthony Shaffer. The cast of "The Lady of Phillimore Walk" consisted of Zena Walker and Philip Lowrie;[12] and saw productions in the United States.[13]

Warren invented the Hankybreathe, a handkerchief which allows the user to inhale air through a carbon filter at the mouth, to filter out the noxious effects of exhaust emissions. The invention, which is meant to be dabbed in eucalyptus oil, harks back to the nosegay and stems from Warren's experience with asthma in heavily polluted London.[14][15][16] In January 2018, Allan Warren was used as a clue in the Times Daily Quiz.[17]

Bibliography
  • Nobs & Nosh – Eating with the Beautiful People, 1975
  • Confessions of a Society Photographer, 1976
  • The Dukes of Britain, 1986
  • The Lady of Phillimore Walk (play), 1991
  • Dukes, Queens and Other Stories, 1999
  • Strangers in the Buff, August 2007
  • Carpet Dwellers, October 2007
  • Nein Camp, December 2012
  • Stand By To Repel All Boarders, December 2014

References
  1. Pride Life, No.03 Autumn 2008
  2. Paytress, Mark (2006). Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84609-147-0.Google books
  3. The Hollywood Reporter, Vol. CCLI, No. 43 Friday, 2 June 1978
  4. Washington Times, November 2012
  5. The Confessions of a Society Photographer – Allan Warren (Jupiter, London, 1976) ISBN 0-904041-68-9 ISBN 978-0-904041-68-2
  6. Nobs & Nosh : Eating with the Beautiful People – Allan Warren (Leslie Frewin, London, 1974) ISBN 0-85632-100-1 ISBN 978-0-85632-100-9
  7. The Spectator, 3 April 1999
  8. Daily Express, 25 March 1988
  9. Marcus Scriven – Splendour and Squalor: The Disgrace and Disintegration of Three Aristocratic Dynasties, Atlantic Books, Limited, 2010 ISBN 978-1-84354-125-7 Google Books
  10. Washington Times November 2012
  11. "University of Glasgow". Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  12. Allen Wright The Scotsman, 20 January.1992
  13. "Francis Wilson Playhouse, Florida". Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  14. "Inventor Tries to Clear the Air, One Car at a Time", Los Angeles Times, 16 August 1999
  15. "The fume-fighting handkerchief that makes good scents", Evening Standard, 15 June 1998
  16. Natasha Narayan "Handy 'Hanky' may ease smog effects", Time Out, 17–24 June 1999
  17. The Times, Wednesday January 3, 2018 No 72422
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