Born Dorothea Carothers Allen in Cleveland, OH; educated at Scripps College. She started out as a messenger girl at Columbia and worked her way up to sound cutter and assistant editor before getting her first important editing assignment from director Robert Wise in 1959 (ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW). She has since worked on many important productions, including several with director Arthur Penn, and has acquired a reputation as one of the most creative film editors in American cinema. In his review of SERPICO John Simon wrote, "Miss Allen has an almost uncanny knack for sensing the right moment at which to cut off a shot ... She lets it speak to us, as it were, subliminally, and the eruption of joy with which we realize that we have worked out its meaning is the very energy that carries us forward to the next scene." Other notable (non-nominated) credits include THE HUSTLER (1961), AMERICA, AMERICA (1963), BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967), RACHEL, RACHEL (1968), ALICE'S RESTAURANT (1969), LITTLE BIG MAN (1970), SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (1972), SERPICO (1973), NIGHT MOVES (1975), THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976), SLAP SHOT (1977), THE WIZ (1978), HARRY & SON and MIKE'S MURDER (1984), THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985), THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAY (1988), LET IT RIDE (1989), HENRY & JUNE (1990), and THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991). In 1992, Allen became the head of post production at Warner Bros. She only returned to editing eight years later with WONDER BOYS (2000). Subsequent credits include JOHN Q (2002), THE FINAL CUT (2004), HAVE DREAMS, WILL TRAVEL (2007), and FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN (2008). She married news executive Stephen Fleischman in 1945.  Nominated for Film Editing 1975: DOG DAY AFTERNOON  Nominated for Best Achievement in Film Editing 1981: REDS (w. Craig McKay)  Nominated for Best Achievement in Film Editing 2000: WONDER BOYS 3 nominations