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Irwin Allen
Born
Irwin O. Cohen

(1916-06-12)June 12, 1916
Died November 2, 1991(1991-11-02) (aged 75)
Resting place Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation
Years active 1950–1986
Known for Science fiction movies and television series
Spouse(s)
Sheila Mathews
(m. 1974)
Parents
  • Joseph Cohen (father)
  • Eva Davis (mother)

Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen, June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director. He was famous for his exciting science fiction shows and movies. Later, people called him the "Master of Disaster." This was because he made many popular movies about big disasters.

Some of his most famous movies include The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He also created and produced popular 1960s TV shows. These included Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.

Who Was Irwin Allen?

Early Life and First Jobs

Irwin Allen was born in New York City on June 12, 1916. His parents were immigrants from Russia. He studied journalism and advertising at Columbia University. However, he had to leave college early. This was because of money problems during the Great Depression.

In 1938, Allen moved to Hollywood. He worked as an editor for Key magazine. Then, he spent 11 years producing his own radio show. This show was very successful. Because of its popularity, he started writing a gossip column for newspapers. It was called "Hollywood Merry-Go-Round."

Allen also produced his first TV show. It was a celebrity panel show, also named Hollywood Merry-Go-Round. After this, he began making films.

Moving into Movies

Irwin Allen started producing films when the movie business was changing. He would put together a package. This included a director, actors, and a script. Then, he would sell these packages to film studios.

His first film as a producer was Where Danger Lives (1950). He made two more films for RKO Pictures. These were Double Dynamite (1951) and A Girl in Every Port (1952).

Allen directed his first film in 1953. It was a documentary called The Sea Around Us. This movie was based on a popular book by Rachel Carson. It mostly used old film clips. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Even though it was a success, Rachel Carson was not happy with the final film.

Science Fiction and Disaster Films

Allen loved making exciting movies. He directed The Animal World (1956). This film showed the evolution of life. It included a cool dinosaur scene made with stop-motion animation.

He also directed The Story of Mankind (1957). This movie had many famous actors in small roles. Allen was very good at using existing film footage to save money.

In 1959, he produced The Big Circus. Allen was fascinated by circuses. He even worked at a carnival when he was 16. He tried for many years to make more circus-themed movies.

Working with 20th Century Fox

Allen then moved to 20th Century Fox. There, he wrote, produced, and directed three films. These were The Lost World (1960), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), and Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962).

The Lost World was based on a novel about dinosaurs. For this movie, Allen used live animals instead of stop-motion. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was an adventure about saving the world. This movie later became a popular TV series.

Famous TV Shows

In the mid-1960s, Allen focused on television. He created several science-fiction TV series. These shows used amazing special effects.

  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968) made Allen famous in TV. Many sets from the movie were reused for the show. This helped save money.
  • Lost in Space (1965–1968) was originally meant to be a family show. It was like a science-fiction version of The Swiss Family Robinson. But it quickly became a children's show. It focused on the young Will Robinson, the robot, and the funny villain, Dr. Smith.
  • The Time Tunnel (1966–1967) was a show where characters traveled to different historical times. Allen was great at mixing new scenes with old film footage. The show was canceled after one season. Allen said it was his favorite TV show.
  • Land of the Giants (1968–1970) was a very expensive show for its time. It was another show about people being stranded. Allen made sure the bad guy character didn't take over the show.

Disaster Movies

In the 1970s, Allen produced his most successful films. These were The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He directed the exciting action scenes in both movies. These films made disaster movies very popular.

The Poseidon Adventure was about a capsized ship. Allen helped raise half of the money for the movie. It earned over $100 million. The special effects won an Academy Award.

The Towering Inferno was about a fire in a skyscraper. Two big studios, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., worked together on this film. This was the first time two major studios made a movie together. The film was a huge hit and won three Academy Awards.

Later Career and Legacy

After his big movie successes, Allen made more TV films. He also returned to Warner Bros. He produced more disaster movies for TV. These included Flood! (1976) and Fire! (1977).

He also directed big-budget movies like The Swarm (1978) and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979). However, these movies were not as successful. This led to the end of his career making big movies for theaters.

Irwin Allen often said he would never run out of disaster ideas. He found inspiration in daily newspapers. He believed people were interested in tragedies.

Allen's last films were for TV. These included Code Red (1981–1982) and Alice in Wonderland (1985). His final credit was the TV movie Outrage! (1986).

He planned to make a musical movie of Pinocchio. But his health declined, and he retired in 1986. Irwin Allen died from a heart attack on November 2, 1991, in Los Angeles. He is buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.

His Impact

Irwin Allen left a lasting mark on film and TV. One of his famous camera tricks is called the "Irwin Allen rock-and-roll." This is when the camera shakes to make it look like a ship is tossing around. You can see this in many episodes of Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

His career was featured in a 1995 documentary called The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen. Many actors and people who worked with him shared their memories. Later, some of his shows were remade. These included a new Poseidon movie in 2006.

Partial Filmography of Irwin Allen

Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1950 Where Danger Lives Yes
1954 Dangerous Mission Yes
1957 The Story of Mankind Yes Yes Yes
1960 The Big Circus Yes Yes
The Lost World Yes Yes Yes
1961 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Yes Yes Yes
1962 Five Weeks in a Balloon Yes Yes Yes
1972 The Poseidon Adventure Yes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
1974 The Towering Inferno Yes Directed action sequences
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Picture
1978 The Swarm Yes Yes
1979 Beyond the Poseidon Adventure Yes Yes
1980 When Time Ran Out Yes

Documentary films

Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1953 The Sea Around Us Yes Yes Yes Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
1956 The Animal World Yes Yes Yes -

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Irwin Allen para niños

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