Steve Allen
Steve Allen ( born December 26, 1921 in New York, USA; † 30 October 2000 in Encino, California ) was an American comedian, actor and musician.
From 1954 to 1957 he hosted the Tonight Show, one of the first comedy shows ever and the first late-night show in the world. He is considered one of the great pioneers of television. The show was continued after him by Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and other known presenters and is still today regularly on NBC. Under his name ran from 1956 to 1964, the Steve Allen show in which, among other things the young Frank Zappa his Concerto For Two Bicycles presented. Allen was also seen in several films. In 1955 he played the title role in the Benny Goodman Story. In 1962 he played in the unfinished film Something 's Got to Give in addition to Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin. In Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? 1968 with Doris Day, he was a radio announcer. On the side of Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder, he worked in the biopic Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis - A Life for the rock and roll from the year 1989. 1995 saw Allen in Casino with Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone.
Steve Allen was married to his first wife, from 1943 to 1952 with Dorothy Goodman. From the union three children were born. From 1954 until his death, Allen was married to the American actress Jayne Meadows, with whom he had a child. After a long successful career Allen died in 2000 following a traffic accident ( heart attack), due to a ruptured blood vessel ( cardiac tamponade ).