honored for her contributions to dance and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Nia Peeples at The Carnival: Choreographer's Ball 10th anniversary show. Allen was awarded an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as from her alma mater, Howard University. 2020 Kennedy Center Honoree On September 19, 2021, Allen received the Television Academy’s 2021 Governors Award at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Personal life Allen is married to former NBA player Norm Nixon; the couple have three children: dancer Vivian Nichole Nixon (who played Kalimba in the Broadway production of Hot Feet) basketball player Norman Ellard Nixon Jr. (Wofford College & Southern University), and DeVaughn Nixon. Allen was previously married to Win Wilford from 1975 to 1983. She is the sister of actress/director/singer Phylicia Rashad (she guest starred in an episode of The Cosby Show & Rashad in an episode of In the House and also Greys Anatomy), Tex Allen (Andrew Arthur Allen III, born 1945), a jazz composer, and Hugh W. Allen, a real estate banker, who appeared on three episodes of A Different World as Quincy Tolleson. Filmography Film Television Director Writer Movement magazine, regular columnist since 2006 Dancing in the Wings paperback, by Debbie Allen (Author), Kadir Nelson (Illustrator) Discography Special Look (1989) References External links (archive) 1950 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Houston African-American female dancers African-American dancers African-American actresses African-American television directors African-American television producers African-American choreographers American choreographers American female dancers Dancers from Texas American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American television directors Television producers from Texas American women television producers American women choreographers Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Drama Desk Award winners American voice directors Howard University alumni Primetime Emmy Award winners University of California, Los Angeles faculty American women television directors 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people African-American history of Westchester County, New York Kennedy Center honorees