Is Allen Greene from The Shawshank Redemption a real person?
I don’t know about Allen Greene. But the director, Frank Darabont created his character because he was “sick of Hollywood executives telling him whom to put in a movie” and wanted to turn one of his unpublished novels into a screenplay.
No, it’s just a character in the movie. Maybe you’re thinking of Red?
The character Allen Greene was played by Alan Autry and is not based on any real person. They portrayed him as the Governor of Ohio and appeared at their political conventions to endorse candidates for office to be able to make Shawshank seem realistic.
Many people though think that he really does exist because they believe many movies are based on true stories which this one may or may not be. But it isn’t and Allen Greene doesn’t actually exist but if you want, state that he is an actor who was playing a fictional role in order to maintain belief that the film could have been real life events happening instead of just a mediocre movie
The timeline of the movie which was released in 1994 seems to coincide with Mr. Greene’s life, and many similarities can be drawn between Allen and him, ranging from family dynamics to educational background. Red believes that the Warden is reading his mail because Allen doesn’t mention Popeye in a subsequent letter. The Warden mentions that he has seen Popeye as well; it is unclear if this means he’s read all their letters or read them more closely than Red knows. The only way to be sure would be for there to be an actual Allen Greene who served time at Shawshank prison during 1980-1988 like the main character does then cross referenced details for him with known facts about the film producer, Frank Darabont
It’s possible that Allen Greene from The Shawshank Redemption was a real person. However, he doesn’t appear to be mentioned in any Shawshanke Redemption history books or documentaries. But on the other hand, it is only a movie!! So we may never know if he actually existed or not!
“This is a simple yes and no question.”
Yes because this person has given interviews and created an autobiography, but little to none of the names were listed. Most people assume it was the actor Tim Robbins or Stephen King. In reality it could have been either as they both had read of Greene in newspapers at around the time Shawshank Redemption was set. No because there’s no solid evidence for one guess being more likely than another, so each individual would probably act on their own personal understandings or opinions when deciding which answer to go with.
Yes.
The character is based on real-life Shawshank State Prison warden, Russell T. “Mandigo” Werman (1917–2002), who served as its leader from 1965 to 1984. During his tenure at the prison, Werman was credited with significantly reducing inmate violence and chronic overcrowding by implementing enlightened policies for rehabilitation that won him national acclaim as well as criticism from powerful interest groups in Ohio that wanted him removed because they saw him as soft on crime
That’s a tough question. It looks like he could be a real person, but there is not enough information to answer that question definitively for sure.
Some people might ask whether the protagonist of The Shawshank Redemption, known as “Red” (played by Morgan Freeman) is actually named Allen Greene–researching the list of actors in this movie most definitely raises doubts that Morgan Freeman really played Red under his own real name. However, because veteran director Frank Darabont has been quoted calling Morgan Freeman’s character in the movie “Allen,” we might be able to conclude that both are one and the same person…or not. We’ll have to wait for more definitive evidence before we know for sure, I’m afraid!
There are a number of “Allen Greens”, but I can’t find any with possible ties to the movie. Not that would mean much, since it sounds like the main question is who is credited as: Director, Produced by, Executive producer (and so on). Further casting details might help too. It might be true there’s no Allen Greene in Shawshank Redemption, and then again it could be fiction. In general it’s tough telling whether he is a real person or not.
