Opera Singer. A baritone, he was one of his country's premier artists over a career of close to 50 years. Raised in Melbourne, he took to opera early via the encouragement of his aunt, a respected soprano. After study with various instructors, most notably Ivor Boustead, teacher of the legendary Wagnerian Marjorie Lawrence, he joined the National Theatre of Melbourne where he made his 1950 professional bow as Sciarrone in Puccini's "Tosca". After refining his craft in comprimario parts from Verdi's "La Traviata" and Jacques Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffman", he sang his first principal roles as Sharpless of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" and Mr. Kofner in Menotti's "The Consul", then moved to Paris for further study. Allman spent four seasons at Covent Garden, London, where his assignments included small parts in Hector Berlioz' "Les Troyens" and Wagner's "Ring Cycle", and later appeared at various theatres in Germany as well as in Singapore, Zurich, Houston, New Orleans, and elsewhere. He was gradually to build a large repertoire of principal roles including the title leads of Verdi's "Rigoletto", "Simon Boccanegra", and "Macbeth", Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman", and Puccini's comic patron saint of crooked lawyers "Gianni Schicchi", the elder Germont in "La Traviata", Marcello from Puccini's "La Boheme", the four villains of "The Tales of Hoffman", Wolfram from Wagner's "Tannhauser", Tonio in Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci", both Don Fernando and Don Pizarro of Beethoven's "Fidelio", Telramund in Wagner's "Lohengrin", and two of opera's most evil characters, the lecherous Baron Scarpia of "Tosca" and the scheming Iago from Verdi's "Otello". Though he did not join the company of Opera Australia until 1969, he bowed there in 1960 as John the Baptist in Richard Strauss' "Salome", then in 1965 toured his homeland as part of the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company, co-starring with Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti in acclaimed performances of "La Traviata" and of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" under the baton of Richard Bonynge. A key part of Opera Australia from 1969 until his 1997 retirement, Allman continued to present his staple roles to rave reviews and appreciative audiences. Designated Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1980, he was invested as Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1992; he bade farewell to the stage with a 1997 all-star gala, lived out his days in Sydney where he continued to mentor young singers and to perform in public occasionally, served as Patron of the Joan Sutherland Society of Sydney, and died following a protracted illness. At his death much of his legacy was available on CD including a 'live' preservation of Donizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia" conducted by Maestro Bonynge that some experts consider definitive.