WASHINGTON — Actress Sian Barbara Allen, who played the lead role in “Scream, Pretty Peggy” and was John-Boy’s love interest in two episodes of “The Waltons” during the 1970s, died March 31. She was 78.

Allen died from Alzheimer’s disease in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, her family said in an obituary.

Allen played Peggy Jones, a housekeeper in a mansion, in the 1973 film “Scream, Pretty Peggy” which also starred Ted Bessell and Bette Davis. That same year, she played Jenny Pendleton in “The Waltons” as the love interest of Richard Thomas’ character.

She also starred with Thomas, Patty Duke and Rosemary Murphy in the 1972 film, “You’ll Like My Mother,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising New Actress.

Two years later, Allen appeared with Gregory Peck and Jack Warden in “Billy Two Hats.”

In 1976, Allen played Anne Morrow, the wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh, in “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.”

According to her obituary, Allen was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on July 12, 1946. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, and after graduating from Reading High School she accepted a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse.

She first appeared onscreen during 1971 in television episodes of “O’Hara, U.S. Treasury,” “Alias Smith and Jones” and “Gunsmoke.”

During the 1970s and ‘80s, Allen landed television roles on “Colombo,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii-Five-O, “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” and “The Incredible Hulk.”

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