Allison Barron (born July 31, 1972), known professionally as Allison Dunbar, is an American actress. She has appeared on TV series such as The Sopranos, Quick Draw, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, StartUp, Single Parents, and For All Mankind. She was a longtime member of the Groundlings, an improvisational comedy troupe.
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Early life
Dunbar grew up in Ardentown, Delaware, the daughter of Wendy and Tim Barron. Her mother worked for the Villanova University School of Law, and her father was a deputy attorney general for the state. She began acting in plays at an early age. She attended St. Mark's High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she starred in the theater program and graduated in 1990. Her high school theater teacher said of her: "She was not the starry-eyed, I'm-going-to-be-an-actress kind of person. She knew about showing up at 6 a.m. for an audition and getting pictures and résumés done." She studied theater at Fordham University in New York City, graduating with honors in 1994. During college, she performed in several off-Broadway productions and TV commercials. She also made a Broadway appearance in Waitin' in the Wings at the Majestic Theatre.
Career
Dunbar made her TV debut with a guest role on Law & Order in 1994. After graduating from college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a TV career, saying: "Some people come out here to win Academy Awards or to be some heavy actor, but doing a sitcom has been my dream." During her early years in Los Angeles, she had further guest roles on TV series including Wings (1996), Silk Stalkings, Pacific Blue (both 1997), and Diagnosis: Murder (1998). She said of her preferred character type: "There's nothing more interesting than a spicy bad-girl role. It fits me. I'm no pushover."
In 2000, Dunbar booked her first TV series regular role on the Comedy Central sitcom Strip Mall, playing pornographic actress Hedda Hummer. After wrapping the second and final season of the show in 2001, she moved to Boston for two years as her then husband, Sean O'Donnell, signed with the Boston Bruins. Soon after returning to Los Angeles in 2003, she was cast as Nicole Lupertazzi, the wife of mobster Little Carmine, on the fifth season of the HBO series The Sopranos. Over the next several years, she made guest appearances on TV series including Criminal Minds (2005), Bones (2006), Shark (2007), 10 Items or Less (2008), and Castle (2010). She also co-wrote, produced, and starred in a television pilot called Nobody's Happy.
After being told she was "too old" for certain roles, Dunbar decided to "reinvent myself as a comedy actor" and studied improvisational theater with the Groundlings comedy troupe. She was promoted to the main company in 2012, going on to spend 13 years with the group. Following her departure, the Groundlings wrote on social media that she had "left a lasting mark on our theatre and community, and we're so grateful for the talent, creativity, and laughter she brought to our stage". She also worked as a burlesque dancer and choreographer and created a burlesque troupe, Smokeshow, based at the Harvelle's music club in Santa Monica.
In 2013, Dunbar became a series regular on the Hulu original show Quick Draw, a partly improvised parody of the Western genre; she played saloonkeeper and madam Honey Shaw on both seasons. Over the next decade, she had recurring roles on TV series including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015–2018), StartUp (2018; alongside future husband Ron Perlman), Single Parents (2019), and For All Mankind (2022), and appeared in comedy films including The F**k-It List, The Opening Act (both 2020), and Maggie Moore(s) (2023).
Personal life
Dunbar married ice hockey player Sean O'Donnell in 2001. They met while Dunbar was working as a bartender and O'Donnell was playing for the Los Angeles Kings. They divorced in 2004. In 2022, Dunbar married her StartUp co-star Ron Perlman in Italy after three years of dating. She is an avid supporter of pet adoption.