Peter Allen (born Peter Richard Woolnough; 10 February 1944 – 18 June 1992) was an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and entertainer, known for his flamboyant stage persona, boundless energy, and lavish costumes. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, including Newton-John's first chart topping hit "I Honestly Love You", and the chart topping and Academy Award winning "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross. In addition to recording many albums, he enjoyed a cabaret and concert career, including appearances at the Radio City Music Hall riding a camel. His patriotic song "I Still Call Australia Home", has been used extensively in advertising campaigns, and was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013.

Allen was the first husband of Liza Minnelli. They married on 3 March 1967, separated on 9 April 1970, and were divorced on 24 July 1974. He had a long-term partner, model Gregory Connell (1949–1984). They were together from 1974 until Connell's death in 1984. Allen and Connell died from AIDS-related illnesses eight years apart, with Allen becoming one of the first well-known Australians to die from AIDS. Allen remained ambiguous about his sexuality in that he did not pretend to be straight after divorcing Minnelli, but never publicly came out as gay either. He explained, "I was as out as a not-out celebrity could be then." Despite Allen's outgoing persona, he was an intensely private man who shared little about his personal life even with those close to him. Few people knew he had HIV/AIDS, partly in fear of alienating his conservative, heterosexual fans and thinking audiences would not want to see a performer they knew was sick.

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Peter Allen, de son vrai nom Peter Richard Woolnough, est un auteur-compositeur-interprète australien, né le 10 février 1944 à Tenterfield (Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, Australie) et décédé le 18 juin 1992 à San Diego (Californie, États-Unis) d'un cancer de la gorge lié au Sida.

Ses chansons ont été popularisées par de nombreux artistes, parmi lesquels Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester et Olivia Newton-John. Une de ces chansons les plus célèbres, I Go to Rio, a été reprise par Claude François sous le titre Je vais à Rio.

Il a remporté un Oscar de la meilleure chanson originale en tant que parolier pour Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do), lors de la 54e cérémonie des Oscars.

En plus d'enregistrer de nombreux albums, il s'est produit en concert et dans les cabarets. Il épouse en 1967 l'actrice Liza Minnelli, dont il divorce en 1974; il dévoile plus tard son homosexualité et affiche publiquement sa relation avec le mannequin Gregory Connell, qui dure jusqu'à la mort de ce dernier, en 1984.

En 1998, une comédie musicale, The Boy from Oz, qui retrace sa vie est créé à Sydney. Elle est reprise à Broadway en 2003 avec Hugh Jackman dans le rôle principal et remporte un Tony Award, trois Theatre World Award et deux Drama Desk Award.

Source: Article "Peter Allen (chanteur)" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.