He was born in Oil City, Louisiana. While he was in elementary school the family moved to Cedar Grove, then a small town then, but now a Shreveport suburb. He completed Meadows-Draughon Business College, and in 1939 joined the U.S. Navy. Aboard the USS Omaha (CL-4) he went on patrol duty on America's eastern coastline, where he saw "a lot of submarine activity. In fact we were shot a several times," he says. Once, they boarded a German ship, the Oldenwald, and found tires from Japan that were being shipped to Germany. As a range finder, whose post was on the highest part of the forward mast, Allen served on escort duty for convoys from the east coast. Later he finished Fire Control School in Washington, D.C., and then was asked to stay as an instructor, a post he held until the end of the war. Allen was discharged on November 12, 1945 in New York City as an ensign. Returning to Shreveport he graduated from Centenary College in 1948 with a bachelor of science in accounting. He served in several posts of Norton family enterprises, including president of Norton Oil Company and president of Norton Art Foundation. He still serves on the foundation board.