Steve Allen is a comedian, musician, actor and director. He managed to create one of the most popular shows worldwide, The Tonight Show. He also developed and hosted one of the most prestigious TV shows, Meeting of Minds. He became the first late-night host when he launched The Tonight Show in 1954. His innovative approach, characterized by witty humor and interactive segments, captivated audiences and started the development of the late-night talk show format. Over the years, when he found opportunities for creative realizations on television, he gravitated to literary expression, establishing himself as a novelist and poet. Read more on los-angeles.pro.
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Life path
Steve was born on December 26, 1921 in New York. His parents, Carroll Ebler and Isabelle Allen, were members of a vaudeville comedy team. His father died when he was an infant. He was raised on the South Side of Chicago in his mother’s Irish Catholic family. Milton Berle called Allen’s mother ‘the funniest woman in vaudeville’.
His first job was at a radio station KOY in Phoenix. He left Arizona State Teachers College in his second year. He enlisted in the US Army as an infantryman during World War II.
Allen married Dorothy Goodman in 1943 and had three children, Steve Jr., Brian and David Allen. The couple divorced in 1952. Allen’s second wife was actress Jayne Meadows, sister of actress Audrey Meadows. They had a son, Bill Allen, named after Steve’s father. They were married in Waterford, Connecticut on July 31, 1954 and remained together until his death in 2000. He was a Democrat in political views and his second wife was a Republican.
He died on October 30, 2000 being 78 years old. It was initially suspected that he suffered a fatal heart attack while sleeping at his son’s house in Los Angeles. However, the star’s representative said that the results of the autopsy showed that the real cause of death was a ruptured blood vessel caused by chest injuries that he did not suspect. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – a television star at 1720 Vine Street and a radio star at 1537 Vine Street. His second wife was buried next to him after her death in 2015.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Steve Allen among the hundreds of artists whose works were destroyed in the 2008 fire.
Work on television
Steve created America’s longest running and the most successful late night TV show. Thus, he paved the way for many other American icons, such as Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno. This approach didn’t exist before Steve Allen.
A desk, a monologue at the beginning of the program, light-hearted conversations with celebrities, bizarre stunts, comedy sketches, cameras roaming the corridors and outside the studio and interviews with passers-by represent a unique format created by Allen. From an early career in radio, the young talent developed many elements that would soon appear in a new evening show on television. Many of Allen’s innovations that made the show so appealing and enduring included one-guest shows and a separate topic.
Allen, who last hosted The Tonight Show in 1982, made his last appearance on it on September 27, 1994, for his 40th anniversary on the air. Jay Leno was full of praise and knelt down during the program to kiss Allen’s ring.
Unique show formats
The first episode of Tonight Starring Steve Allen aired on September 27, 1954. Are you aware of how it was different from other attempts? It was distinguished by its success. NBC won weekday evenings. Allen’s show was reminiscent of Jimmy Fallon in the 50s of the 20th century. The presenter played comedy skits with stars, interviewed them, showed the audience new and already popular music groups, invited circus artists and especially liked to invite his friends, stand-up comedians. If you watched the second season of the series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, then you saw one of the episodes of this program. For the final scene, a real monologue of the comedian Lenny Bruce was specially filmed.
Steve debuted his show on NBC in the summer of 1956. At that time, the comedian shortened the show and it aired from Wednesday to Friday. On January 25, 1957, he left the show to create a new comedy program. Steve Allen’s new show featured talented comedians. The show’s most popular feature was the Man in the Street interview, which allowed the program’s regular comedians to showcase their talents.
In 1957, the presenter got tired of having to work on the air every day and left the project. For almost a year, NBC did not know what to do with the show. Then, they found Jack Paar. The new host decided to bet on the interview and the replacement became commonplace for the show’s format. Paar subtly caught the demands of society. The war began in Vietnam and Americans gradually turned their faces to the social problems that were hidden behind the economic prosperity of the 1950s. Interesting and meaningful conversations with the guests completed the formation of the late night show format. Now, it was not only an entertainment show but also a socio-political one.
In 1977, he launched a new televised art form in Meeting of Minds, a highly acclaimed PBS series. The show’s four seasons introduced Steve Allen to television as a writer, witty student of history and fellow broadcaster. The show won an Emmy.
Since then, Steve has hosted a series of NBC comedy specials, as well as an ABC special called Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments. Steve Allen invented the evening show formula. It revolutionized American television viewing habits and managed to establish high ratings in evening and nighttime television viewing.
Songwriter and writer
He was a regular cast member on CBS’s What’s My Line. Between 1977 and 1981, Allen created and hosted the Meeting of the Minds. The program presented historical dramas in a talk format. He was also a pianist and composer. He has written more than 8,500 songs, some of which have been recorded by leading singers. As a songwriter, he won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1964. He is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific composer of our time. His music remains relevant even after decades and has many fans.
He has also written over 50 books, including novels and children’s books. In 1996, he received the Martin Gardner Lifetime Achievement Award from CSICOP. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a theater named after him.