Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen
12 min read
Reading time
2,326
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Published
112
Film credits
16
Books
3
Awards
Steve Allen hosted NBC’s The Tonight Show from 1953 to 1957. He wrote over 50 books and 7,400 songs, including the jazz standard ‘This Could Be the Start of Something Big’. He coined the question ‘Is it bigger than a breadbox? on What’s My Line? Allen died in 2000 at age 78 from hemopericardium after a car accident.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Steve Allen — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Steve Allen by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Steve Allen — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Steve Allen’s mother, Belle Montrose, was called the funniest woman in vaudeville by Milton Berle. Allen was born on December 26, 1921 in New York City to vaudeville stars Carroll Allen and Belle Montrose. He attended several high schools including Hyde Park Academy in Chicago and Union High School in Phoenix. Allen briefly studied at Drake University and Arizona State University before dropping out to work as a disc jockey at KOY radio in Phoenix in 1942.
From 1953 to 1957, Steve Allen hosted The Tonight Show on NBC, establishing the late-night talk show format. On his own The Steve Allen Show in 1956, he had Elvis Presley sing Hound Dog to a basset hound. He appeared in films such as The Benny Goodman Story 1956, Casino 1995, and The Player 1992. Allen wrote the jazz standard This Could Be the Start of Something Big and won a Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition for Gravy Waltz. He also wrote over 50 books and 7,400 songs.
Steve Allen married actress Jayne Meadows in 1954. They stayed married until his death in 2000. He had previously been married to Dorothy Goodman from 1943 to 1952. Allen had four sons: Steve Jr., David, Brian, and Billy. His brother-in-law was actress Audrey Meadows. Allen’s father was Jewish and his mother was of Irish descent. His close friends included Danny Thomas and Julie London.
Steve Allen was named to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2009, the US Postal Service issued a 44-cent stamp honoring The Tonight Show, featuring Allen. His song This Could Be the Start of Something Big continues as a jazz standard. Allen is recognized as the original host of The Tonight Show, having established the late-night talk show format.
The complete filmography of Steve Allen — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Steve Allen — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Steve Allen's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Steve Allen — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Hosting a Talk Show Is the Easiest Job Anybody Ever Had.
Beware of Assuming That Credentials Establish Intelligence.
We Pride Ourselves on the High Moral Standards of Our Programmes and I Mean That Sincerely. We Don’t Resort to Sex or Crime or Violence or Drinking…on the Programmes.
If My Mind Ever Listened to What My Mouth Said, I’d Have a Lot of Accounting to Do.
Nothing Is Quite as Funny as the Unintended Humor of Reality.
Humor Is a Social Lubricant That Helps Us Get Over Some of the Bad Spots.
Radio Is the Theater of the Mind; Television Is the Theater of the Mindless.
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.
In a Rational Society We Would Want Our Presidents to Be Teachers. in Our Actual Society We Insist They Be Cheerleaders.
I Used to Be a Heavy Gambler. but Now I Just Make Mental Bets. That’s How I Lost My Mind.
The Best Scene of All Really Is Family Life. Why Our Society Insists on Making Heroes, Men or Women, Out of People That Can’t Stay Married and Have Had 19 Women, God Is That a Stupid Reversion of Values! Having One Wife, Staying Married to Her, That’s What We’re Supposed to Do! It Works Out Better with the Kids. but the American Home Began to Fall Apart Seriously I Think Partly Because of the Effects of World War II in the 1950S, That’s When the Divorce Explosion, as It’s Called, Began.
You Probably Have Noticed That Either in the 60’S or 1000 Years from Now or Last Night, the Sons of Public Figures, Sons and Daughters of Public Figures Have a Decided Disadvantage, Whether Those Public Figures Are Presidents, or Senators, or Movie Actors or Rock Stars, and the Reason Is Very Simple: Daddy Is on the Road a Lot. He’s Out Campaigning for Office, He’s Doing a Concert in Nashville, and Suddenly He Looks Over His Shoulder and ‘Oh, Junior’s on Dope. Well Maybe the Fact That I Didn’t See Him That Much from Two to 14 Had Something to Do with That’. You Bet It Did!
Our Culture and Society Is Very Good at Training People, We Train Them to Pull Teeth, to Repair Automobiles, to Paint Fences, to Do Brain Surgery, We Give Them No Training Literally, in the Two Most Important Roles They’ll Ever Be Called Upon to Play, Marriage Partner and Parent. and That You’re Just Thrown into the Water, ‘Hope You Can Swim!’, ‘Oh I’m Sorry, You’re Getting Divorced, Well Your Kids Are Sick’, and It’s Happening Now in Probably Half the Cases of Marriage in This Country, It’s a Tragedy.
Little-known facts about Steve Allen — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
More than 50 books and 7,400 songs were written by Steve Allen.
During his broadcasting career, Steve Allen served as a commentator for professional wrestling. He later admitted to making up the names of wrestling holds to juice up his commentary, and apparently nobody ever questioned him about it.
Steve Allen was a prolific composer and lyricist of some 2000+ songs, best known for This Could Be the Start of Something his theme song, Pretend You Don’t See Her a top-ten hit for Jerry Vale, Impossible, and Gravy Waltz a top-40 instrumental hit for Allen in 1962 and a jazz standard today.
Milton Berle always called Steve’s mother, Belle Montrose, the funniest woman in vaudeville.
The question Is it bigger than a breadbox? was first coined by Steve Allen during his appearance as a panelist on What’s My Line? on January 18, 1953.
Steve Allen appears on a 44-cent USA commemorative postage stamp issued August 11, 2009, in the Early TV Memories issue honoring The Tonight Show. He hosted the first incarnation of the program, simply called The Tonight Show 1953.
Steve Allen was named to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1986.
On July 1, 1956, just his second episode of The Steve Allen Show, both Elvis Presley and Andy Griffith appeared. Elvis sang Hound Dog to a basset hound wearing a top hat, and the dual appearance skyrocketed the show’s ratings.
During the 1940-1941 school year, Steve Allen transferred to Phoenix Union High School from Hyde Park in Chicago. Despite a late start, he received credit in the yearbook for the Annual Staff, Journal Staff, Mor Follies, Entertainment Committee, Scribble and Blot. His trademark glasses are missing from his senior picture. After high school, he attended Arizona State University Tempe in 1942, but dropped out within months to work as a disc jockey at KOY radio in Phoenix.
Considered by many as the father of late night television comedy, Steve Allen was the original host of NBC’s The Tonight Show from 1953 to 1957. During the 1963-1964 season, he returned to live late night TV with a syndicated variety show from Los Angeles, which used videotape and multiple cameras. According to TV Guide, the show fared well against Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, especially with college-age crowds, but was canceled after one year due to limited market coverage.
Steve Allen was the son of vaudeville stars Carroll Allen and Belle Montrose, and the brother-in-law of actress Audrey Meadows.
Allen was spontaneous on live TV. He would go to the Akron store market across the street and just talk with people on camera, making it funny. Some nights, he would take a phone number from an audience member and call it, or take a help wanted or roommate wanted post from the bulletin board and call the number cold.
The melody for his biggest hit, This Could Be the Start of Something Big, came to Steve Allen in a dream.
Steve Allen was a longtime friend of Danny Thomas and Julie London.
Steve Allen was the father of Steve Jr., David, Brian, and Billy Allen.
A biography of Steve Allen appears in Who’s Who in Comedy by Ronald L. Smith, pages 12-13 Facts on File, 1992, ISBN 0816023387.
Steve Allen attended Drake University in 1941 and Arizona State Teacher’s College in 1942.
Steve Allen’s father was Jewish and his mother was of Irish descent.
Steve Allen was married to celebrated actress Jayne Meadows for 46 years until his death.
Steve Allen was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California, in an unmarked grave. His wife Jayne Meadows, who died in 2015, is also buried next to him.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Steve Allen.
Celebrities similar to Steve Allen — same craft, ranked by reach.
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