He was born William Claud Michael Palmer, in London, England. After receiving his education at Felsted School in Essex, he began his career as a stockbroker’s clerk in the City of London, but gave up a life in the Square Mile on deciding that he preferred the stage, upon which he made his debut in 1910. He toured England’s repertory theatres playing minor parts up to the outbreak of World War I, when he was commissioned into the British Army as a subaltern, and saw active service with the Suffolk Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps Post-war he returned to acting, and in 1924 went to America to perform on the stage there initially. In 1929 he made his film debut in The Trial of Mary Dugan. Allister starred in 72 films including: “Slightly Scarlet,” “Platinum Blonde,” “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” “The Dark Angel,” “Dracula’s Daughter,” “Lillian Russell,” and “Kiss Me Kate.”