Name
Steve Allen
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1921-12-26
Deathday
2000-10-30 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Biography
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, writer, and advocate of scientific skepticism. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, which was the first late night television talk show.
Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his extensive network television career. He gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After he hosted The Tonight Show, he went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, and The New Steve Allen Show. He was a regular panel member on CBS's What's My Line?, and from 1977 until 1981 wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show Meeting of Minds, a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format.
Allen was a pianist and a prolific composer. By his own estimate, he wrote more than 8,500 songs, some of which were recorded by numerous leading singers. Working as a lyricist, Allen won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition. He also wrote more than 50 books, including novels, children's books, and books of opinions, including his final book, Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio.
In 1996 Allen was presented with the Martin Gardner Lifetime Achievement Award from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP). He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Hollywood theater named in his honor.
Known For
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Centered on a television station which features a 1950s-style sci-fi movie interspersed wi...
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Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsre...
7.271
Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But th...
6.272
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest music...
5.712
A New Jersey trucker creates a hit TV show with help from his girlfriend in the ratings bu...
6.1
The team of smart-talkin' toddlers known as Everything Is Terrible! have once again emerge...
6.563
A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the effo...
6.891
Lewis and Clark, aka The Sunshine Boys, were famous comedians during the vaudeville era, b...
- 1975 Mitzi & 100 Guys as Self
- 1968 The Movie Orgy as Self (archive footage)
- 1992 The Player as Steve Allen
- 1955 Allen in Movieland as Self
- 1968 Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? as Radio Announcer
- 1956 The Benny Goodman Story as Benny Goodman
- 1992 Laurel and Hardy: A Tribute to the Boys as Self
- 1966 Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title as Bookstore Customer with Little Boy (uncredited)
- 1991 Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show as Self
- 1972 Lenny Bruce: Without Tears as Self / DJ (archive footage)
- 1960 College Confidential as Steve MacInter
- 1967 Warning Shot as Steve Allen
- 1998 Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth as Self
- 2005 The Adventures of Errol Flynn as Self (archive footage)
- 1988 Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC as Self
- 1959 The Big Circus as Self
- 1995 Casino as Steve Allen
- 1997 No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg as Self (archive footage)
- 1950 I'll Get By as Peter Pepper
- 1980 The Power of the Market
- 1975 The Sunshine Boys as Self
- 2002 The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years as Self (archive footage)
- 1979 Stone as Steve Allen
- 1997 Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast as Self
- 1976 On Location: Myron Cohen as Self - Host
- 1999 Let Me In, I Hear Laughter: A Salute to the Friars Club as Self
- 2007 Elvis: #1 Hit Performances as Self (archive footage)
- 1984 The Making of the Stooges as Self - Host
- 1977 Lucy Calls the President as Steve Allen
- 1989 Great Balls of Fire! as Steve Allen
- 1984 Don't Ask Me, Ask God as Self
- 2022 Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues as Self (voice) (archive sound)
- 1986 TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines as Self
- 1969 The Comic as Steve Allen
- 1975 The Sunshine Boys as Narrator of Fictional TV Program (uncredited)
- 1996 Abbott & Costello Meet Biography as Self
- 2010 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift as Self (archive footage)
- 2016 Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words as Self (archive footage)
- 1966 The Universal Mind of Bill Evans
- 1980 Heart Beat as Steve Allen
- 1995 James Dean and Me as Self (uncredited)
- 1976 Joys as Self
- 1980 The Gossip Columnist as Steve Allen
- 2007 Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn as Self (archive footage)
- 1984 The Ratings Game as Steve Allen
- 2007 Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll as Self (archive footage)
- 1974 James Dean Remembered as Self
- 1983 The Funny Farm as Self
- 2013 Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read as Self (archive footage)
- 2001 Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot as Self (archive footage)
- 1984 Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer
- 1968 Now You See It, Now You Don't as Herschel Lucas
- 1977 Have I Got a Christmas for You as Martin Kaplan
- 1979 The Muppets Go Hollywood as Self
- 1988 Richard Lewis: I'm Exhausted as Self
- 1990 WWE WrestleMania VI as Self
- 1996 Nichols and May: Take Two as Self
- 2021 Boulevard! A Hollywood Story as Self (archive footage)
- 1949 Down Memory Lane as Steve Allen
- 1982 Night of 100 Stars as Self
- 1987 Amazon Women on the Moon as Steve Allen (segment "Roast Your Loved One")
- 2003 Elvis: Rare Moments with the King as Self (archive footage)
- 1997 On the Road to Desolation as Self
- 2000 On and Off the Res' with Charlie Hill as Himself
- 1995 James Dean: A Portrait as Self
- 1978 The Vent Event
- 1986 Classic Comedy Teams as Host
- 1983 Starfest: The Stars Salute Public Television 1983
- 1976 Bob Hope's World of Comedy as Self (archive footage)
- 2015 Tab Hunter Confidential as Self (archive)
- 1982 Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius as Self
- 2001 50 Years of NBC Late Night as Self (archive footage)
- 1982 St. Elsewhere ( 3 episodes ) as Lech Oseransky
- 1977 The Love Boat ( 1 episode ) as Durwood Moss
- 1994 The Critic ( 1 episode ) as Steve Allen (voice)
- 1966 Batman ( 2 episodes ) as Allen Stevens
- 1959 The David Susskind Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1982 Hotel ( 1 episode )
- 1980 Solid Gold ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1954 Tonight Starring Steve Allen ( 27 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1969 Medical Center ( 1 episode )
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Andy Fletcher
- 1993 Homicide: Life on the Street ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Cochran
- 1952 I've Got a Secret ( 115 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Martin Kaplan
- 1993 Late Night with Conan O'Brien ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1986 American Masters ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1968 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1957 The Thin Man ( 1 episode )
- 1977 Meeting of Minds ( 24 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1956 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1976 Rich Man, Poor Man ( 1 episode )
- 1956 The Steve Allen Show ( 163 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1953 The Oscars ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Ben Ellison
- 1981 Nurse ( 1 episode ) as Barney Ambler
- 1949 The Emmy Awards ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1977 What Really Happened to the Class of '65? ( 1 episode )
- 1985 Alice in Wonderland ( 1 episode ) as Gentleman in Paper Suit
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 5 episodes ) as Self - Guest Host
- 1989 The Simpsons ( 1 episode ) as Bart's Altered Voice (voice)
- 1989 The Simpsons ( 1 episode ) as Steve Allen (voice)
- 1993 Diagnosis: Murder ( 1 episode ) as Ray Masters
- 1983 Life's Most Embarrassing Moments ( 10 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1995 Pinky and the Brain ( 1 episode ) as Steve Allen (voice)
- 1996 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ( 1 episode ) as Fear
- 1997 Behind the Music ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1963 The Judy Garland Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 1972 I've Got a Secret ( 1 episode ) as Self - Host
- 1986 WWF Wrestling Challenge ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1961 The New Steve Allen Show ( 14 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1994 Space Ghost Coast to Coast ( 1 episode )
- 1979 Hart to Hart ( 1 episode ) as Himself
- 1980 The Steve Allen Comedy Hour ( 4 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1950 What's My Line? ( 111 episodes ) as Self
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 11 episodes ) as Self
- 1987 The Wil Shriner Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1973 The Snoop Sisters ( 1 episode ) as Steve Allen
- 1958 Kraft Music Hall ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1958 Kraft Music Hall ( 1 episode ) as Self - Host
- 1969 Love, American Style ( 1 episode ) as Johny
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1970 McCloud ( 1 episode ) as Doug King
- 1965 Get Smart ( 1 episode ) as Prime Minister's Aide (uncredited)
- 1989 The People Next Door ( 1 episode ) as Self
