Ginger Lynn Allen (born December 14, 1962) is an American pornographic actress and model who was a premier adult-entertainment star of the 1980s. She also had minor roles in various B movies. AVN has ranked her at #7 in a list of the 50 greatest porn stars of all time.^[2] After ending her pornography career, she began using her full name, Ginger Lynn Allen, and found work in a variety of B-movies. She had a late-career return to the adult industry and made a brief series of movies. Allen is a member of AVN, NightMoves Adult Entertainment, and XRCO Halls of Fame.

During her four-decade career, Allen has done a variety of roles and jobs. These include actress/performer, director, writer, producer, and assistant director.^[3]

Born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, Ginger Lynn Allen moved to California in 1982 to become her grandfather's caregiver following his heart attack. After he died, she had her "first nice boyfriend" move in with her. Allen, the breadwinner of the two, felt obligated to find a lucrative occupation. When she answered an advertisement from the World Modeling Agency in September 1983, she immediately signed a contract with that agency and did pictorials for Cheri and Penthouse, which brought her to the attention of the adult entertainment industry.^[4]

Allen began as a nude model and then began performing in hardcore sex films as Ginger Lynn by December 1983. Her first pornographic movie role was in Surrender in Paradise, in which she starred with Jerry Butler. Allen's "girl next door" good looks led to a quick rise in her popularity and eventually she became one of the most popular female performers in adult-entertainment history. She had her own line of videos through Vivid Entertainment with the director Bruce Seven. Allen received the Best New Starlet award in 1985 and is an inductee to the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) and Adult Video News (AVN) halls of fame. Allen signed a contract with Vivid Entertainment founder, Steven Hirsch, making her the first 'Vivid Girl' and beating out the then-underaged Traci Lords.^[5] She was later called to testify on Lords' behalf against porn producers; she refused, and according to her, was then targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for falsification of a tax return.^[6]

In February 1986, Allen left adult video in order to establish herself in mainstream films by using her full name. She appeared in several non-adult films, television shows and interactive movie segments of the Wing Commander computer games. She started her career in mainstream features with a small part in the western Young Guns II, which co-starred her future boyfriend Charlie Sheen's brother, Emilio Estevez.^[6]

Allen was the subject of an episode of the documentary series E! True Hollywood Story in 2002.^[7] Allen appeared in another episode about her relationship with actor Charlie Sheen in 2010.^[8]

In December 2005, she appeared in American Pie: Band Camp (2005) playing the supporting role of Nurse Sanders. In the same year, she portrayed Fanny in Rob Zombie's thriller film The Devil's Rejects^[9] and starred as Cherry Bomb in Zombie's slasher film 31.^[10]

Allen returned to the adult-entertainment industry in 1999 for three movies: Torn (1999), White Lightning (2000), and New Wave Hookers 6 (2000). In March 2006, she became a host of Playboy Radio's Sirius Satellite Radio show, Night Calls Radio, with former adult-entertainment performer Christy Canyon. In June 2007, Allen performed for two of Kink.com's hardcore websites, Ultimate Surrender and Sex and Submission.^[11] In 2008, Allen appeared in the films Dirty Rotten Mother Fuckers with James Deen (24 years her junior) and Seasoned Players 4 with Tom Byron, then performed in more than a dozen hardcore releases in each of the next two years.^[1]

Allen had a relationship with Charlie Sheen from 1990 to 1992 and accompanied him through drug rehabilitation.^[6] Despite the claims that Sheen has been physically violent towards women, Lynn said she never saw the actor become abusive in the slightest. "Not one time did he raise his voice. No violence," she said.^[12] She also had a long-term relationship with Los Angeles radio personality Ralph Garman.^[13]

In 1991, Lynn was charged with willfully submitting a false tax return^[6] in regard to the relatively small amount of $2,087.04. She was convicted, served four months and 17 days in federal prison, and spent most of her career earnings on legal fees.

In a 2003 interview, she described herself as the "single mother of a five-year-old son."^[14]

Allen was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2000. She underwent a total hysterectomy and some chemotherapy, and is regarded as cancer-free.^[14][15]