Steve Allen
Acting • Born 1921-12-26 – Died 2000-10-30
Biography
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
124 credits
Mitzi & 100 Guys
Movie • 1975
Self
The Movie Orgy
Movie • 1968
Self (archive footage)
The Player
Movie • 1992
Steve Allen
Allen in Movieland
Movie • 1955
Self
Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
Movie • 1968
Radio Announcer
The Benny Goodman Story
Movie • 1956
Benny Goodman
Laurel and Hardy: A Tribute to the Boys
Movie • 1992
Self
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
Movie • 1966
Bookstore Customer with Little Boy (uncredited)
Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show
Movie • 1991
Self
Lenny Bruce: Without Tears
Movie • 1972
Self / DJ (archive footage)
College Confidential
Movie • 1960
Steve MacInter
Warning Shot
Movie • 1967
Steve Allen
Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
Movie • 1998
Self
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Movie • 1988
Self
The Big Circus
Movie • 1959
Self
Casino
Movie • 1995
Steve Allen
No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
I'll Get By
Movie • 1950
Peter Pepper
The Power of the Market
Movie • 1980
The Sunshine Boys
Movie • 1975
Self
The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Stone
Movie • 1979
Steve Allen
Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast
Movie • 1997
Self
On Location: Myron Cohen
Movie • 1976
Self - Host
Let Me In, I Hear Laughter: A Salute to the Friars Club
Movie • 1999
Self
Elvis: #1 Hit Performances
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
The Making of the Stooges
Movie • 1984
Self - Host
Lucy Calls the President
Movie • 1977
Steve Allen
Great Balls of Fire!
Movie • 1989
Steve Allen
Don't Ask Me, Ask God
Movie • 1984
Self
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Movie • 2022
Self (voice) (archive sound)
TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines
Movie • 1986
Self
The Comic
Movie • 1969
Steve Allen
The Sunshine Boys
Movie • 1975
Narrator of Fictional TV Program (uncredited)
Abbott & Costello Meet Biography
Movie • 1996
Self
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
The Universal Mind of Bill Evans
Movie • 1966
Heart Beat
Movie • 1980
Steve Allen
James Dean and Me
Movie • 1995
Self (uncredited)
Joys
Movie • 1976
Self
The Gossip Columnist
Movie • 1980
Steve Allen
Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
The Ratings Game
Movie • 1984
Steve Allen
Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
James Dean Remembered
Movie • 1974
Self
The Funny Farm
Movie • 1983
Self
Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read
Movie • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer
Movie • 1984
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Movie • 1968
Herschel Lucas
Have I Got a Christmas for You
Movie • 1977
Martin Kaplan
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Movie • 1979
Self
Richard Lewis: I'm Exhausted
Movie • 1988
Self
WWE WrestleMania VI
Movie • 1990
Self
Nichols and May: Take Two
Movie • 1996
Self
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Down Memory Lane
Movie • 1949
Self
Night of 100 Stars
Movie • 1982
Self
Something's Got to Give
Movie • 1962
Psychiatrist
Amazon Women on the Moon
Movie • 1987
Steve Allen (segment "Roast Your Loved One")
Elvis: Rare Moments with the King
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
On the Road to Desolation
Movie • 1997
Self
On and Off the Res' with Charlie Hill
Movie • 2000
Himself
James Dean: A Portrait
Movie • 1995
Self
The Vent Event
Movie • 1978
Classic Comedy Teams
Movie • 1986
Host
Starfest: The Stars Salute Public Television 1983
Movie • 1983
St. Elsewhere
TV • 1982
Lech Oseransky
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Durwood Moss
The Critic
TV • 1994
Steve Allen (voice)
Batman
TV • 1966
Allen Stevens
The David Susskind Show
TV • 1959
Self
Hotel
TV • 1982
Solid Gold
TV • 1980
Self
Tonight Starring Steve Allen
TV • 1954
Self - Host
Medical Center
TV • 1969
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Andy Fletcher
Homicide: Life on the Street
TV • 1993
Mr. Cochran
I've Got a Secret
TV • 1952
Self - Host
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV • 1993
Self - Guest
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Martin Kaplan
American Masters
TV • 1986
Self
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self
The Thin Man
TV • 1957
Meeting of Minds
TV • 1977
Self - Host
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
Rich Man, Poor Man
TV • 1976
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Host
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV • 1959
Dr. Ben Ellison
Nurse
TV • 1981
Barney Ambler
The Emmy Awards
TV • 1949
Self
What Really Happened to the Class of '65?
TV • 1977
Alice in Wonderland
TV • 1985
Gentleman in Paper Suit
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self - Guest Host
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Steve Allen (voice)
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Bart's Altered Voice (voice)
Diagnosis: Murder
TV • 1993
Ray Masters
Life's Most Embarrassing Moments
TV • 1983
Self - Host
Pinky and the Brain
TV • 1995
Steve Allen (voice)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
TV • 1996
Fear
Behind the Music
TV • 1997
Self
The Judy Garland Show
TV • 1963
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self - Guest
I've Got a Secret
TV • 1972
Self - Host
WWF Wrestling Challenge
TV • 1986
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
The New Steve Allen Show
TV • 1961
Self - Host
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
TV • 1994
Hart to Hart
TV • 1979
Himself
The Steve Allen Comedy Hour
TV • 1980
Self - Host
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Wil Shriner Show
TV • 1987
Self
The Snoop Sisters
TV • 1973
Steve Allen
Kraft Music Hall
TV • 1958
Self
Kraft Music Hall
TV • 1958
Self - Host
Love, American Style
TV • 1969
Johny
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
McCloud
TV • 1970
Doug King
Get Smart
TV • 1965
Prime Minister's Aide (uncredited)
The People Next Door
TV • 1989
Self