Daughter of an Anglican minister of British lineage and a full-blooded Native American / Algonquin mother, this 5'11" former model (born: India Juliana Orban) became Playboy Playmate of the Month December 1987 and then was selected for Playboy Playmate of the Year 1988. As usual, some acting opportunities followed shortly thereafter. Aside from taking on several lead roles in B movies, Allen also branched out to other film-related jobs. She produced the comedy Almost Hollywood (1994) and wrote and produced the western The Rowdy Girls (1999). She also directed and produced several schlock horror films for Troma Entertainment, which were deemed unreleasable by co-financier Lloyd Kaufman. Instead, they ended up being folded into the anthology Tales from the Crapper (2004).

In her personal life, Allen was married to sportscaster Bill Macatee for a number of years but the two are now divorced.