Person
Steve Allen
New York City, New York, USA
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, writer, and advocate of scientific skeptici…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2022
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Movie Self (voice) (archive sound)
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2021
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
Movie Self (archive footage)
- 2016
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2016
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2015
Tab Hunter Confidential
Movie Self (archive)
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2013
Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2010
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2007
Elvis: #1 Hit Performances
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2007
Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2007
Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2005
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2003
Elvis: Rare Moments with the King
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2002
The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2001
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2001
50 Years of NBC Late Night
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2000
On and Off the Res' with Charlie Hill
Movie Himself
More credits
- 1999
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1998
Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
Movie Self
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1997
No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1997
On the Road to Desolation
Movie Self
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1997
Behind the Music
TV show Self
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1997
Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast
Movie Self
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1996
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
TV show Fear
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1996
Nichols and May: Take Two
Movie Self
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1996
Abbott & Costello Meet Biography
Movie Self
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1995
Casino
Movie Steve Allen
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1995
James Dean: A Portrait
Movie Self
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1995
Pinky and the Brain
TV show Steve Allen (voice)
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1995
James Dean and Me
Movie Self (uncredited)
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1994
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
TV show
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1994
The Critic
TV show Steve Allen (voice)
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1993
Diagnosis: Murder
TV show Ray Masters
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1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV show Self - Guest
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1993
Homicide: Life on the Street
TV show Mr. Cochran
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1992
The Player
Movie Steve Allen
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1992
Laurel and Hardy: A Tribute to the Boys
Movie Self
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1991
Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show
Movie Self
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1990
WWE WrestleMania VI
Movie Self
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1989
The Simpsons
TV show Bart's Altered Voice (voice)
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1989
The People Next Door
TV show Self
