Steve Allen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steve Allen
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Allen in 1977
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Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen
December 26, 1921 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | October 30, 2000 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Alma mater | Arizona State Teachers College |
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| Years active | 1940–2000 |
| Known for | Co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 4 |
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (born December 26, 1921 – died October 30, 2000) was a famous American entertainer. He was a television and radio host, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he became nationally known as the first host of The Tonight Show. This show was the very first late-night TV talk show.
Steve Allen started his career in radio. But he became most famous for his work on television. He hosted many game and variety shows. These included The Steve Allen Show and I've Got a Secret. He was also a regular on the popular show What's My Line?. From 1977 to 1981, he created and hosted Meeting of Minds. This was an award-winning show that featured historical figures in a talk show style.
Allen was a talented pianist and wrote many songs. He estimated he wrote over 8,500 songs. Some of these were recorded by famous singers. He won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1964 for his song "Gravy Waltz." He also wrote more than 50 books. These included novels, children's books, and books sharing his ideas.
In 1996, Steve Allen received a special award for his lifetime achievements. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A theater in Hollywood is also named after him.
Contents
Early Life and Beginnings
Steve Allen was born in New York City. His parents, Billy and Isabelle Allen, were a comedy team in vaudeville. Vaudeville was a type of theater show with different acts. His father passed away when Steve was a baby. He grew up in Chicago, mostly with his mother's family. His mother was known as a very funny performer.
When he was 16, Steve Allen ran away from home. He later talked about how easy it was to end up begging for money.
Allen's first job in radio was in Phoenix, Arizona. This was after he left Arizona State Teachers College. He joined the United States Army during World War II. After his time in the army, he went back to Phoenix. Then he moved to California.
Career Highlights
Starting in Radio
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Steve Allen became an announcer for a radio station in Los Angeles. In 1946, he started his own comedy show called Smile Time. Later, he moved to another radio station, KNX. His show, which mixed music and talk, became very popular. People would fill the studio to watch him.
During his show, Allen started going into the audience with a microphone. He would talk to people without a script. This became a famous part of his shows for many years. His program became a huge local hit. In 1950, he hosted a summer show for a national audience for the first time.
Moving to Television
Allen first appeared on television in 1949. He got a job announcing for professional wrestling. He didn't know much about wrestling. So, he made up names for many of the wrestling moves. Some of these names are still used today. He would also make jokes during the matches. This made audiences laugh a lot.
CBS television saw his talent. They gave him his first network show. The Steve Allen Show started on Christmas Day, 1950. It later moved to an early evening time slot. For this show, he and his family moved from Los Angeles to New York.
He became nationally famous in 1951. He filled in as a guest host for the popular show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. During a live commercial, he made tea and soup. Then he poured them into Godfrey's ukulele. The audience, and even Godfrey, laughed a lot. This made Allen a big star.
Allen was also a regular on the game show What's My Line? from 1953 to 1954. He often returned as a guest on the show. He was known for asking, "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" when trying to guess things.
Hosting The Tonight Show
In July 1953, Steve Allen started a late-night talk show in New York. The next year, on September 27, 1954, the show became The Tonight Show on the NBC network. It ran from 11:15 p.m. to 1 a.m. on the East Coast.
Steve Allen is often credited with creating The Tonight Show. He told his audience on the first night, "This program is going to go on forever!" As host, he started the "man on the street" interviews. He also created audience-participation comedy breaks. These ideas became common parts of late-night TV shows.
The Steve Allen Show (Prime Time)
In June 1956, NBC gave Allen a new show. It was a prime-time variety show on Sunday nights. NBC hoped it would be more popular than The Ed Sullivan Show. This show featured many famous performers. Early rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis appeared. Many TV and film stars also guested.
The show had a group of regular comedians. These included Don Knotts and Louis Nye. They often appeared in "Man in the Street" interviews. These comedians became famous after working with Allen.
Allen's show also had funny moments like "Crazy Shots." These were visual jokes with Allen playing the piano. He would also ask audience members to pick three musical notes. Then he would compose a song on the spot.
One time, Allen laughed so much during a segment that he couldn't stop. He was laughing because he saw his messy hair on a monitor. The more he tried to fix it, the funnier it got.
Allen helped make the Polaroid camera popular. He showed how it worked during live commercials. He was paid in Polaroid stock, which made him a lot of money.
Allen left The Tonight Show in early 1957. He wanted to focus on his Sunday night show. He hoped it would beat Ed Sullivan in the ratings. In 1959, Allen moved to Los Angeles. He continued to write songs and host other shows.
The show returned on ABC in 1961. Many of the original cast members came back. But this new version was canceled after only 14 episodes.
Later TV Projects
From 1962 to 1964, Allen hosted another late-night show. It was also called The Steve Allen Show. This show had wild stunts and comedy skits. Sometimes, the skits would even go outside the studio. He would feature interesting people from Southern California.
On one episode, Allen called Johnny Carson's home. He pretended to be a TV rating interviewer. He asked Carson what show he was watching. Carson didn't realize it was Allen at first.
Allen's show also featured many jazz songs. He played with the show's band. Many famous comedians, like David Letterman and Steve Martin, said Allen's show influenced them.
Allen hosted many other TV programs until the 1980s. He hosted The New Steve Allen Show and the game show I've Got a Secret. In the summer of 1967, he had The Steve Allen Comedy Hour. This show featured early TV appearances by Rob Reiner and Richard Dreyfuss.
From 1968 to 1971, Allen returned to nightly talk shows. He continued his funny stunts. These included jumping into vats of oatmeal and cottage cheese. He also introduced comedians like Albert Brooks and Steve Martin to national audiences.
Allen guest-hosted The Tonight Show a few times in the 1970s and 1980s. His last time hosting was in 1982.
From 1984 to 1986, Allen hosted Steve Allen's Music Room on the Disney Channel. This was a talk show about jazz music. It featured many famous musicians and entertainers.
Meeting of Minds
From 1977 to 1981, Steve Allen created, produced, and hosted Meeting of Minds. This show aired on Public Broadcasting Service. The series brought together famous historical figures. They would have round table discussions. The characters talked about important topics like racism and women's rights.
Allen loved philosophy and history. He wrote the scripts based on the real writings of these historical people. He described the show as "drama disguised as a talk show." His wife, actress Jayne Meadows, played most of the female roles.
Allen first thought of the show in 1959. But it took almost 20 years to make it happen. Many people in TV thought the show was "too thoughtful" for American audiences. So, Allen produced the first shows himself. This helped him get more support. The show became very popular when it finally aired nationally in 1977.
Allen won a special Peabody Award in 1977 for creating the show. In 1981, the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series. Allen's writing was also nominated for an Emmy. He wanted to be remembered for this show. He believed its topics and characters would always be important.
A Prolific Composer
Steve Allen was a very active composer. He said he wrote over 8,500 songs. But only a small number were ever recorded. In one famous challenge, he bet he could write 50 songs a day for a week. He did it while composing in a music store window.
Allen's most famous song is "This Could Be the Start of Something" from 1954. Many artists recorded it, including Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. Allen used it as the theme song for The Tonight Show and many of his later TV projects.
He wrote the lyrics for "Theme from Picnic" in 1955. This song became a hit for The McGuire Sisters. He also wrote lyrics for "Gravy Waltz," which won a Grammy Award.
Allen also wrote the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical called Sophie. It was about the singer Sophie Tucker. The show opened in 1963 but closed quickly. He also wrote music for a London show called Belle Starr.
In 1985, Allen wrote 19 songs for the TV mini-series Alice in Wonderland. His wife, Jayne Meadows, played the Queen of Hearts in it.
Acting Roles
Allen sometimes acted in movies and TV shows. He wrote and starred in his first film in 1949. His most famous movie role was playing Benny Goodman in The Benny Goodman Story (1956). He said his only musical contribution to the film was playing the clarinet badly. This was for scenes where Goodman was just learning.
In the late 1980s, Allen and his wife, Jayne Meadows, appeared on the TV drama St. Elsewhere. They played the birth parents of a character. In 1998, they also guest-starred in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street.
Allen also did voice work for two episodes of The Simpsons in the 1990s.
An Author and Thinker
Steve Allen was a comedy writer and wrote over 50 books. These included his own life stories, children's books, and mystery novels. He also wrote many essays and shared his opinions.
Some of his well-known books include Dumbth, which was about the American education system. He also wrote books about his views on religion.
Allen was a freethinker and a humanist. He spoke out against organized religion. He was active in the scientific skepticism movement. This group works to promote critical thinking and debunk false claims. He wrote many articles for their magazine, Skeptic.
He was critical of rude language on TV and radio. He especially criticized Howard Stern and other "shock jocks."
Allen and Rock Music
Even though Allen sometimes criticized rock and roll music, he often invited rock acts onto The Steve Allen Show. He featured artists like Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was one of the first to show Elvis Presley on network television.
When Elvis Presley appeared, Allen made sure he wouldn't offend anyone. Elvis sang "Hound Dog" while wearing a top hat and tuxedo. He sang it to an actual hound dog, who was also dressed up.
Personal Life
Steve Allen married Dorothy Goodman in 1943. They had three sons: Steve Jr., Brian, and David. Their marriage ended in 1952.
Allen's second wife was actress Jayne Meadows. They married in 1954 and had one son, Bill. They were married until Steve's death in 2000.
Allen was raised Roman Catholic. But he later became a secular humanist. He was a member of groups that promoted humanism and skepticism. He was also a supporter of free speech. However, he became concerned about rude content on radio and TV. He made suggestions to limit such content.
Steve Allen last guest-hosted The Tonight Show in 1982. He made his final appearance on the show for its 40th-anniversary broadcast in 1994.
Death and Legacy
On October 30, 2000, Steve Allen was in a minor car accident in Los Angeles. Another driver backed into his car. Allen seemed fine at first. But he had internal injuries, including a ruptured blood vessel. He went to his son's home, took a nap, and died in his sleep.
At first, people thought he had a heart attack. But an autopsy showed he died from injuries from the crash. His death was ruled accidental. His wife, Jayne Meadows, said that even after the accident, Steve joked with the other driver. He said, "What some people will do to get my autograph!"
Steve Allen is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One is for his work in television, and the other for radio. Jayne Meadows was buried next to him after she passed away in 2015.
Works
- Soulful Brass (1968)
Politics
Allen wrote about many issues. These included problems for migrant workers and capital punishment. He also wrote about nuclear weapons. He once thought about running for Congress. He called his political views "middle-of-the-road radicalism." He actively spoke out against bad language on television. He criticized comedians who used curse words in their acts.
See also
In Spanish: Steve Allen para niños
