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Debbie Allen Guest Stars on Peacock Series Fight Night: Clip

A monumental television icon guest stars on an upcoming episode of Peacock's. Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Debbie Allen.

The 74-year-old award-winning actress and dancer stars as the mother of Richard “Cadillac Richie” Wheeler (Terrence Howard). NBC Insideris an exclusive sneak peek of Episode 7, which you can watch above.

In the penultimate episode, Allen's Leola Wheeler enters wearing a white fur coat and jewels, eyeing an imposing portrait of Cadillac Richie's father and claiming that the elder would “stay awake at night…plotting, scheming, [and] dreaming” against Frank Moten (Samuel L. Jackson), a suspected member of the Black Mafia known as “The Black Godfather”.

It was Big Richie's hope that Moten would one day get his just desserts.

“That day never came,” Leola tells Cadillac Richie. “So I had to watch as that striped-headed snake undermined your father and turned him from a king into a middleman, just like what he did to you.”

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Leola then gives Cadillac Richie a few encouraging words and turns the aspiring crime boss's head so that he is looking at the New York skyline.

“I want that. I want all of it,” his mother demands. “For you.” For us. For Big Richie.

Who is Debbie Allen?

The role of the seemingly power-hungry woman belongs to the incomparable TV legend and famous dancer Debbie Allen, known to many as Dr. You will recognize Catherine Avery Fox from the hit series Grey's Anatomy. Allen's role in the series not only helped her earn an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, but she also received an award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series and has since worked as an executive producer on the 2015 medical drama .

The famed Houston-born choreographer has won five NAACP Image Awards, including for her starring role as dance instructor Lydia Grant in the syndicated series fame (1982-1987). The real-life dancer reprized her role from the 1980 film of the same name, which helped Allen win a Golden Globe and her first of five Emmy Awards.

This would be just the beginning, as according to the Television Academy, Allen would be nominated for 21 Emmys over the course of her spectacular career in the performing arts. Four of those came from the record-breaking ten times she choreographed the Academy Awards, as described by Weekly entertainment. Her work as a producer alongside Steven Spielberg on the 1997 film Amistad was also added to their trophy case in the '90s.

She is no stranger to the NBCUniversal family, having directed and produced The Cosby Show Spin off Another world — The Cosby Show Star Phylicia Rashad is Allen's real-life sister – and played the leading lady in In the house.

Allen's more recent successes include directing shows such as ” Jane the Virgin, scandal, RichAnd How to Get Away with Murderaccording to her IMDB profile.

When Allen was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2022, an honor she accepted from her sister, she spoke of the lasting impact of her career.

“It's just wonderful because we are so privileged and so lucky to work in an industry, in a community where we can touch millions and millions of people around the world,” she said in her acceptance speech.

Allen continues to direct the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles.

Watch her appearance in Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heistnow available to stream on Peacock.

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