Allegra Kent Allegra Kent Allegra Kent (born August 11, 1937) is an American ballet dancer, actress, children's book author and columnist. Iris Margo Cohen was born to Jewish parents, Harry Herschel and Shirley (née Weissman) Cohen, and later changed her name to Allegra Kent. Kent grew up in what she later described as a dysfunctional environment. In "Once a Dancer: An Autobiography", she describes her Texan father – "who liked to substitute 'Cowboy' for Herschel" – as having "a gambler's soul and a restless nature". She describes her Wisznice-born immigrant mother as feeling "neither European nor American; she was ashamed of her
Gabriele Allegra for working too hard, often resulting in the deterioration of his health. He used to say, "The most enviable fate for a Franciscan who doesn't obtain the grace of martyrdom, is to die while he is working". In another letter Allegra wrote: "The work upon the Bible is hard and intense, but I must work because if I stop, I will never get up again." Although the translation of the Bible was the main focus of Allegra's work, and he has usually been viewed as primarily a Scripture scholar, he took time to help the poor and the sick, particularly