Leslie Nielsen
Canadian-American actor (1926-2010)
Steve Allen was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. He is best known for being the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, the first late-night television talk show. Allen was a prolific composer, having written over 8,500 songs, and he won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition.
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About the Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allenwas an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. 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, he 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. Allen won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition for “Gravy Waltz,” for which he wrote the lyrics. 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 (2001).
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.
11 Quotes by Steve Allen
- 1.
I used to be a heavy gambler. But now I just make mental bets. That’s how I lost my mind.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 2.
Humor is a social lubricant that helps us get over some of the bad spots.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 3.
In a rational society we would want our presidents to be teachers. In our actual society we insist they be cheerleaders.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 4.
Totalitarianism is patriotism institutionalized.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 5.
Ours is a government of checks and balances. The Mafia and crooked businessmen make out checks, and the politicians and other compromised officials improve their bank balances.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 6.
One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imaginations.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 7.
If there is a God, the phrase that must disgust him is – holy war.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 8.
The hair is real – it’s the head that’s a fake.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 9.
If the Old Testament were a reliable guide in the matter of capital punishment, half the people in the United States would have to be killed tomorrow.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 10.
Asthma doesn’t seem to bother me any more unless I’m around cigars or dogs. The thing that would bother me most would be a dog smoking a cigar.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)
- 11.
Dark energy is perhaps the biggest mystery in physics.
Steve AllenAmerican comedian, actor, musician and presenter (1921-2000)