Born in Rockford, Illinois, on December 14, 1962, Ginger Lynn Allen headed to California in 1982 to visit her ailing grandfather. She decided to stay and took a job as a manager at the Musicland record store in Redlands. She lived in a trailer in one of the worst parts of town for nearly a year when she answered an ad for figure modeling work. This led to employment the same day and a shoot for Penthouse magazine.

Work in the adult film industry soon followed. She worked in that industry from December 1983 to February 1986, appearing in a total of 69 films (plus countless re-releases and compilations). She retired, partly because the work stopped being fun and she had very little free time. That same year, the FBI approached her to testify on behalf of Traci Lords, who had just been exposed as a minor during her years working in the adult film industry. She refused and was eventually arrested for tax evasion.

After her years in adult films, she appeared in many "legitimate" films throughout the late 1980s and 1990s — most notably in the Vice Academy films. She also appeared in Metallica's music video for "Turn the Page." She has a son, whom she gave birth to on March 24, 1996. She tours men's clubs across the country and in 1999 signed a comeback contract with VCA Pictures. To date, she has appeared in four new adult films: Torn (1999), White Lightning (2000), New Wave Hookers 6 (2000), and Taken (2005).