Fred Allen

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Fred Allen around 1916

Fred Allen , actually John Florence Sullivan (born May 31, 1894 in Cambridge , Massachusetts , † March 17, 1956 in New York City , New York ) was an American actor , comedian and radio host .

Life

Allen graduated from Boston University and was a successful boxer before starting to perform on Broadway and in vaudeville . In 1930 he took on his first film and television roles and appeared on the radio from 1932, first in The Linit Bath Club Revue on CBS and from 1934 in Town Hall Tonight on NBC, in which he satirically commented on current events, parodied films and musicals and unusual Guests interviewed. This format later became the model for numerous shows on radio and television in the USA (for example Saturday Night Live and the Johnny Carson Show) and made him a star on the radio. From 1933 he took piano lessons with Isidor Achron . From 1940 to 1944 he went back to CBS under the name of the new sponsor Texaco Star Theater . From 1942 he also developed his most successful comedy show there, Allen's Alley , in which characters such as the bombastic southern senator Beauregard Claghorn, the Jewish housewife Pansy Nussbaum from Brooklyn, the pompous poet Falstaff Openshaw or the stoic New England farmer Titus Moody occurred. After he had to take a break in 1944 because of his health, he had The Fred Allen Show on NBC from autumn 1945 to June 1949 . He also worked as a producer and author for the successful show. From 1950 to 1952 he appeared frequently on Tallulah Bankhead's The Big Show . In 1953/54 he had his own TV show Judge for Yourself on NBC, in which the audience rated amateur artists using an applause meter . From 1954 until his death in 1956 he appeared in the television show What´s my line? on.

Allen made frequent comments on the radio about fellow comedians as well as sponsors and radio managers, which often got him into trouble. His comedian duel with Jack Benny , with whom he was a private friend, was known for many years from 1937 . He was not only considered one of the most popular, but also one of the most censored radio hosts.

Fred Allen published two autobiographies titled Treadmill to Oblivion (1954) and Much Ado About Me (1956). In 1956 he died of a heart attack. From 1928 until his death he was married to the radio presenter Portland Hoffa (1905-1990), who was often heard on his radio broadcasts.

Awards

He received two stars on the Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fred Allen . In: Covina Argus . Covina, California August 10, 1934, p. 3 (English, newspapers.com ).
  2. ↑ John Dunning On the air. The Encyclopedia of Old-time radio , Oxford University Press 1998
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sullivan, John Florence (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, comedian, and radio host
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1956
Place of death New York City , New York