Alicia Allain, a producer and actress who started in the business as a hair stylist, has died according to a social media post by her husband, John Schneider. She was 53.
“This is a time of unimaginable sorrow for me,” former Dukes of Hazzard star Schneider wrote after his wife’s passing. “Grief is much too small a word. I’ve heard it said that ‘with great love comes great sorrow.’ I had no idea what that meant until now. Alicia was the fuel that ran my biggest dreams. The inspiration behind every creative thought. The very fabric of my soul. The glue that held me together. I miss her more than any words could possibly describe.”
Schneider also asked, “Please respect our privacy during this time of grief. Please do not ask any questions.”
Allain produced Paul Schrader’s 2002 film Auto Focus based on the life of Hogan’s Heroes star Bob Crane. The film featured Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe and Maria Bello. In the same year, she was a co-producer on The Badge, which starred Billy Bob Thornton and Patricia Arquette. Before that, Allain line-produced Lush, starring Campbell Scott, Laura Linney and Jared Harris.
She also produced a number of movies starring Schneider in the past decade, many of which he also directed. Those titles include Inadmissible, Anderson Bench (as EP), 4: GO (as EP), Hate Crime and last year’s To Die For. The duo reportedly married in 2019.
Allain appeared as an actress in half-a-dozen projects, including Auto Focus and last year’s Schneider-directed Tres Leches, which she also produced.
An obituary says the producer “passed away at her home surrounded by her family as she took her last breath on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.” She is survived by Schneider, who called her “My Smile”; her daughter Jessica Ann Dollard; parents Michael and Linda Marino Allain; brother Brandy Michael Allain; grandmother Doris Crutti Marino Alvarado; step-daughter Karis Schneider and granddaughter, Sierra Schneider. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Ferd Sr. and Ruby Allain, Joe Marino.
According to the obituary, a private service will be held.