Keith Philip George Allen (born 2 June 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, singer-songwriter, artist, author and television presenter. He is the father of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Owen-Allen. Allen was born on 2 June 1953 in Gorseinon, near Swansea, in south Wales, the second of three children, the son of Edward Charles Owen, a Royal Navy submariner. His younger brother is actor Kevin Allen. He spent his early years near Swansea and in Malta, and most of his childhood in Gosport while his father served in Portsmouth. At the age of eleven he was sent to Brentwood boarding school in Essex when his father was posted to Singapore. He was expelled from the school at the age of thirteen. At the age of fifteen he was sent to a borstal after repeatedly being caught thieving, later saying that he "had a great time" there. After having several jobs during the 1970s, including a job as a stagehand from which he was sacked after joining Max Bygraves' chorus line on stage naked, Allen first found success as a stand-up comedian, opening for rock bands such as the Clash. He appeared in a number of films in the series The Comic Strip Presents...