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Steve Allen

Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 - October 30, 2000) was a musician, comedian and writer, who was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show.

After years in radio, Allen became the original host of The Tonight Show, from its first New York broadcast in 1953, up until 1957, when he was replaced by Jack Paar. It was as host of the Tonight Show that Allen pioneered the "man on the street" and audience-participation comedy bits that have become commonplace in late-night TV.

Allen went on to host a slew of television programs up until the 1980s, including the game show I've Got a Secret and The New Steve Allen Show in 1961. He was a regular on the extremely popular panel game show What's My Line?

Allen was also a composer who supposedly wrote over 7000 songs. In one famous stunt, Allen wrote 400 simple tunes in a single day. Allen's best known songs are "This Could Be The Start of Something Big" and "The Gravy Waltz", which won a Grammy Award in 1963 for best jazz composition. Allen was also an actor, appearing in such films as 1955's The Benny Goodman Story.

Allen was also an accomplished comedy writer, and author of over 50 books, including Dumbth, a commentary on the American educational system, and Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, and Morality. Allen was a secular humanist and Humanist Laureate for the Academy of Humanism, a member of CSICOP and the Council for Secular Humanism. Allen was also the producer of the award-winning PBS series Meeting of Minds, a "talk show" with notable historical figures, with Steve Allen serving as host. This series pitted Socrates, Marie Antoinette, Thomas Paine, Sir Thomas More, Attila the Hun, Karl Marx, Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, Galileo Galilei, and other historical figures in dialogue and argument. A proposed revival of this show was rejected as "too cerebral".

In spite of his liberal position on free speech, his later concerns about the smuttiness he observed on television caused him to make proposals restricting the content of programs.

Allen died of heart failure. He is interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Steve Allen has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: a TV star at 1720 Vine St. and a radio star at 1537 Vine St.

Shows

  • Songs for Sale (1950- 1952)
  • The Steve Allen Show (1950)
  • The Tonight Show (1954 - 1956, NBC)
  • The Steve Allen Show
  • Talent Patrol (1953 - 1955)
  • What's My Line (1953 - 1954)
  • I've Got a Secret (1964 -1967)
  • Meeting of Minds (1977 - 1981, PBS)
  • Steve Allen Comedy Hour (1980 - 1981)
  • The Start of Something Big (1985 - 1986)

Songs include:

  • "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"
  • "The Gravy Waltz"

Books

  • Bop Fables (1955)
  • Fourteen for Tonight (1955)
    • Short story collection
  • The Funny Men (1956)
  • Wry on the Rocks (1956)
    • Poetry
  • The Girls on the Tenth Floor and Other Stories (1958)
    • 1970 printing: ISBN 0836936086
  • The Question Man... (1959)
  • Mark It and Strike It: An Autobiography (1960)
  • Not All of Your Laughter, Not All of Your Tears (1962)
  • Dialogues in Americanism (1964)
    • with L. Brent Bozell, William F. Buckley, Jr., Robert M. Hutchins, James MacGregor Burns, and Willmoore Kendall
  • Letter to a Conservative (1965)
  • The Ground is Our Table (1966)
  • Bigger Than A Breadbox (1967)
  • The Flash of Swallows (1969)
  • The Wake (1972)
    • ISBN 0385076088
  • Princess Snip-Snip and the Puppy-Kittens (1973)
  • Curses! or...How Never to Be Foiled Again (1973)
    • ISBN 0874770084
  • What To Say When It Rains (1974)
    • ISBN 0843103574
  • Schmock-Schmock! (1975)
    • ISBN 038509664X
  • Meeting of Minds (1978)
    • ISBN 0517533839
    • 1989 printing: ISBN 0879755504
  • Chopped-Up Chinese (1978)
  • Ripoff: A Look at Corruption in America (1979)
    • With Roslyn Bernstein and Donald H. Dunn
    • ISBN 0818402490
  • Meeting of Minds, Second Series (1979)
    • ISBN 0517538946
    • 1989 printing: ISBN 0879755652
  • Explaining China (1980)
    • ISBN 0517540622
  • Funny People (1981)
    • ISBN 0812827643
  • Beloved Son: A Story of the Jesus Cults (1982)
    • ISBN 0672526786
  • More Funny People (1982)
    • ISBN 0812828844
  • How to Make a Speech (1986)
    • ISBN 0070011648
  • How to Be Funny: Discovering the Comic You (1987)
    • With Jane Wollman
    • ISBN 0070011990
    • 1992 printing: ISBN 0879757922
    • 1998 revised edition: ISBN 1573922064
  • The Passionate Nonsmoker's Bill of Rights: The First Guide to Enacting Nonsmoking Legislation (1989)
    • With Bill Adler, Jr.
    • ISBN 0688062954
  • "Dumbth": And 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter (1989)
    • ISBN 0879755393
    • 1998 revised edition: ISBN 1573922374
  • Meeting of Minds, Vol. III (1989)
    • ISBN 0879755660
  • Meeting of Minds, Vol. IV (1989)
    • ISBN 0879755679
  • The Public Hating: A Collection of Short Stories (1990)
    • ISBN 0942637224
  • Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion & Morality (1990)
    • ISBN 0879756381
  • Hi-Ho, Steverino: The Story of My Adventures in the Wonderful Wacky World of Television (1992)
    • ISBN 0942637550
    • large-print edition: ISBN 1560545216
  • More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion & Morality (1993)
    • ISBN 0879757361
  • Make 'em Laugh (1993)
    • ISBN 0879758376
  • Reflections (1994)
    • ISBN 0879759046
  • The Man Who Turned Back the Clock, and Other Short Stories (1995)
    • ISBN 1573920029
  • The Bug and the Slug in the Rug (1995)
    • ISBN 1880851172
  • But Seriously...: Steve Allen Speaks His Mind (1996)
    • ISBN 1573920908
  • Steve Allen's Songs: 100 Lyrics with Commentary (1999)
    • ISBN 0786407360
  • Steve Allen's Private Joke File (2000)
    • ISBN 0609806726
  • Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio--Raising the Standards of Popular Culture (2001)
    • ISBN 1573928747

Allen's series of mystery novels "starring" himself and wife Jayne Meadows was actually ghostwritten by Walter J. Sheldon, and later Robert Westbrook)

  • Murder in Manhattan (1990)
    • ISBN 0821730339
  • Murder in Vegas (1991)
    • ISBN 0821734628
  • The Murder Game (1993)
    • ISBN 0821741152
  • Murder on the Atlantic (1995)
    • ISBN 0821746472
  • Murder on the Glitter Box (1989)
    • ISBN 0821727524
  • The Talk Show Murders (1982)
    • ISBN 0440084717
  • Wake Up to Murder (1996)
    • ISBN 1575660903
  • Die Laughing (1998)
    • ISBN 1575662418
  • Murder in Hawaii (1999)
    • ISBN 1575663759

Quote

"How many humanists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Ten: one to screw in the lightbulb and nine to fight for the right to do so!"



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. 1996, CD, Bear Family Records BCD 15 984 AH (http://www.bear-family.de/mailorder/showoneproduct.html?lang=&p=BCD+15984)
(contains both single tracks and the singing-merits of Pierre Brice as well). "How many humanists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Ten: one to screw in the lightbulb and nine to fight for the right to do so!". 1965, Single, Decca D 19 725. Sheldon, and later Robert Westbrook). His son Christopher Barker also became an actor. Allen's series of mystery novels "starring" himself and wife Jayne Meadows was actually ghostwritten by Walter J. He died three days after his 54th birthday of a heart attack in New York City.

and a radio star at 1537 Vine St. Barker continued to work in films until his last appearance in 1967's Woman Times Seven. Steve Allen has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: a TV star at 1720 Vine St. He was engaged at the time of his death to actress Karen Kondazian. He is interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He married five times:. Allen died of heart failure. In 1966 Barker was awarded with the "Bambi Award" as "Best Foreign Actor" in Germany.

In spite of his liberal position on free speech, his later concerns about the smuttiness he observed on television caused him to make proposals restricting the content of programs. (The co-star in some of Barker's Karl-May-movies, French actor Pierre Brice, also recorded in German language and even managed to get some CDs of his own.). A proposed revival of this show was rejected as "too cerebral". The tracks are named " Ich bin morgen auf dem Weg zu dir" (I'll be on the way to you tomorrow) and "Mädchen in Samt und Seide" (Girls in Velvet and Silk), the last one is said to have been very much liked by elderly ladies at that time. This series pitted Socrates, Marie Antoinette, Thomas Paine, Sir Thomas More, Attila the Hun, Karl Marx, Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, Galileo Galilei, and other historical figures in dialogue and argument. He even recorded a single with the composer of some of the Karl-May-movie-soundtracks, Martin Boettcher, in German language. Allen was also the producer of the award-winning PBS series Meeting of Minds, a "talk show" with notable historical figures, with Steve Allen serving as host. There he was playing the characters of Old Shatterhand, Kara Ben Nemsi and Dr. Sternau.

Allen was a secular humanist and Humanist Laureate for the Academy of Humanism, a member of CSICOP and the Council for Secular Humanism. There he also starred in two movies based on the Doctor Mabuse-stories (formerly filmed by Fritz Lang) and in 13 movies based on novels by German author Karl May (1842-1912). Allen was also an accomplished comedy writer, and author of over 50 books, including Dumbth, a commentary on the American educational system, and Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, and Morality. In 1957, as he found it harder and harder to find work in American films, Lex moved to Europe and found popularity and starred in over forty European films, especially in Germany. Allen was also an actor, appearing in such films as 1955's The Benny Goodman Story. During this time he enlisted to fight in World War II and eventually rose to the rank of Major. Allen's best known songs are "This Could Be The Start of Something Big" and "The Gravy Waltz", which won a Grammy Award in 1963 for best jazz composition. He is best known as the tenth actor to play Tarzan in the movies, and starred in nearly thirty movies in the 1940s and 1950s.

In one famous stunt, Allen wrote 400 simple tunes in a single day. Lex Barker (May 8, 1919 - May 11, 1973) was born Alexander Crichlow Barker, Jr. in Rye, New York. Allen was also a composer who supposedly wrote over 7000 songs. Manfred Christ: Von Tarzan bis Old Shatterhand - Lex Barker und seine Filme, Günter Albert Ulmer Verlag, Tuningen, Germany, 1994, 288 pages - ISBN 3924191816. He was a regular on the extremely popular panel game show What's My Line?. ISBN 3-896-024-442. Allen went on to host a slew of television programs up until the 1980s, including the game show I've Got a Secret and The New Steve Allen Show in 1961. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag, Germany, 2003, 480 pages.

It was as host of the Tonight Show that Allen pioneered the "man on the street" and audience-participation comedy bits that have become commonplace in late-night TV. Reiner Boller, Christina Böhme: Lex Barker - Die Biografie. After years in radio, Allen became the original host of The Tonight Show, from its first New York broadcast in 1953, up until 1957, when he was replaced by Jack Paar. Winnetou du warst mein Freund
. Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 - October 30, 2000) was a musician, comedian and writer, who was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. Ich bin morgen auf dem Weg zu dir / Mädchen wie Samt und Seide
. ISBN 1575663759. Maria del Carmen Cervera (1965 - 1972) (divorce not valid, marriage ended with his death), who later became the fifth wife of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Murder in Hawaii (1999)

    . Irene Labhardt (1957 - 1962) (marriage ended at her death). ISBN 1575662418. Lana Turner (8 September 1953 - 22 July 1957) (divorced). Die Laughing (1998)
      . Arlene Dahl (1951 - 1952) (divorced). ISBN 1575660903. Constanze Thurlow (1942 - 1950) (divorced).

      Wake Up to Murder (1996)

        . ISBN 0440084717. The Talk Show Murders (1982)
          . ISBN 0821727524.

          Murder on the Glitter Box (1989)

            . ISBN 0821746472. Murder on the Atlantic (1995)
              . ISBN 0821741152.

              The Murder Game (1993)

                . ISBN 0821734628. Murder in Vegas (1991)
                  . ISBN 0821730339.

                  Murder in Manhattan (1990)

                    . ISBN 1573928747. Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio--Raising the Standards of Popular Culture (2001)
                      . ISBN 0609806726.

                      Steve Allen's Private Joke File (2000)

                        . ISBN 0786407360. Steve Allen's Songs: 100 Lyrics with Commentary (1999)
                          . ISBN 1573920908.

                          But Seriously...: Steve Allen Speaks His Mind (1996)

                            . ISBN 1880851172. The Bug and the Slug in the Rug (1995)
                              . ISBN 1573920029.

                              The Man Who Turned Back the Clock, and Other Short Stories (1995)

                                . ISBN 0879759046. Reflections (1994)
                                  . ISBN 0879758376.

                                  Make 'em Laugh (1993)

                                    . ISBN 0879757361. More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion & Morality (1993)
                                      . large-print edition: ISBN 1560545216.

                                      ISBN 0942637550. Hi-Ho, Steverino: The Story of My Adventures in the Wonderful Wacky World of Television (1992)

                                        . ISBN 0879756381. Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion & Morality (1990)
                                          .

                                          ISBN 0942637224. The Public Hating: A Collection of Short Stories (1990)

                                            . ISBN 0879755679. IV (1989)
                                              .

                                              Meeting of Minds, Vol. ISBN 0879755660. III (1989)

                                                . Meeting of Minds, Vol.

                                                1998 revised edition: ISBN 1573922374. ISBN 0879755393. "Dumbth": And 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter (1989)

                                                  . ISBN 0688062954.

                                                  With Bill Adler, Jr. The Passionate Nonsmoker's Bill of Rights: The First Guide to Enacting Nonsmoking Legislation (1989)

                                                    . 1998 revised edition: ISBN 1573922064. 1992 printing: ISBN 0879757922.

                                                    ISBN 0070011990. With Jane Wollman. How to Be Funny: Discovering the Comic You (1987)

                                                      . ISBN 0070011648.

                                                      How to Make a Speech (1986)

                                                        . ISBN 0812828844. More Funny People (1982)
                                                          . ISBN 0672526786.

                                                          Beloved Son: A Story of the Jesus Cults (1982)

                                                            . ISBN 0812827643. Funny People (1981)
                                                              . ISBN 0517540622.

                                                              Explaining China (1980)

                                                                . 1989 printing: ISBN 0879755652. ISBN 0517538946. Meeting of Minds, Second Series (1979)
                                                                  .

                                                                  ISBN 0818402490. Dunn. With Roslyn Bernstein and Donald H. Ripoff: A Look at Corruption in America (1979)

                                                                    .

                                                                    Chopped-Up Chinese (1978). 1989 printing: ISBN 0879755504. ISBN 0517533839. Meeting of Minds (1978)

                                                                      .

                                                                      ISBN 038509664X. Schmock-Schmock! (1975)

                                                                        . ISBN 0843103574. What To Say When It Rains (1974)
                                                                          .

                                                                          ISBN 0874770084. Curses! or...How Never to Be Foiled Again (1973)

                                                                            . Princess Snip-Snip and the Puppy-Kittens (1973). ISBN 0385076088.

                                                                            The Wake (1972)

                                                                              . The Flash of Swallows (1969). Bigger Than A Breadbox (1967). The Ground is Our Table (1966).

                                                                              Letter to a Conservative (1965). Hutchins, James MacGregor Burns, and Willmoore Kendall. Buckley, Jr., Robert M. Brent Bozell, William F.

                                                                              with L. Dialogues in Americanism (1964)

                                                                                . Not All of Your Laughter, Not All of Your Tears (1962). Mark It and Strike It: An Autobiography (1960).

                                                                                The Question Man... (1959). 1970 printing: ISBN 0836936086. The Girls on the Tenth Floor and Other Stories (1958)

                                                                                  . Poetry.

                                                                                  Wry on the Rocks (1956)

                                                                                    . The Funny Men (1956). Short story collection. Fourteen for Tonight (1955)
                                                                                      .

                                                                                      Bop Fables (1955). "The Gravy Waltz". "This Could Be the Start of Something Big". The Start of Something Big (1985 - 1986).

                                                                                      Steve Allen Comedy Hour (1980 - 1981). Meeting of Minds (1977 - 1981, PBS). I've Got a Secret (1964 -1967). What's My Line (1953 - 1954).

                                                                                      Talent Patrol (1953 - 1955). The Steve Allen Show. The Tonight Show (1954 - 1956, NBC). The Steve Allen Show (1950).

                                                                                      Songs for Sale (1950- 1952).