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Fred Allen Show Old Time Radio Program Fred Allen Show
The comedian Fred Allen was born as John Florence Sullivan in 1894. He lived a great American story of rags to riches. He started on amateur night in Boston (earning a whopping 50 cents for the night plus dinner.) Juggling was his forte, with a bit of humor thrown in. From this humble beginning he honed his punch lines, lost the juggling (he also did the ventriloquism circuit for awhile), went on vaudeville, went to Australia (the only gig he could get), then returned to America, went to New York vaudeville, met the love of his life (Portland Hoffa), married her, got bit parts in radio starting in 1932 in the Linit Bath Club Revue, followed by gigs on the Salad Bowl Revue, the Sal Hepatica Revue, Hour of Smiles, and he got his big break with the Town Hall Tonight program in 1936. In 1939 the show changed its name to simply the “Fred Allen Show.” His show was very similar to Jack Benny's, in fact the two had a 'rivalry' taking swipes at each for over a decade. The two actually had a 'battle of the century' and the two traded comedic insults on stage together – they then went out to the alley to finish each other off. The Fred Allen Show featured songs, a monologue on current affairs, a skit performed by the “Mighty Allen Art Players.” In the 1940s he created “Allen's Alley” in which he would visit oddball denizens of this alley, including Mrs. Nussbaum (a somewhat over-the-top Jewish tenement mother), the farmer, Titus Moody, and the instantly popular Senator Beauregard Claghorn. His spoofs of musicals were among some of the best Old Time Radio skits, especially his take on Gilbert and Sullivan, and Oklahoma. Rogers and Hammerstein appeared on the show and jokingly threatened to sue for copyright infringement. Although he made the transition from stand up comedian to full vaudeville, to radio, he did not make a successful transition to television. As tv took more and more audience, his ratings fell, and his show was canceled in 1949. In keeping with his fued with Jack Benny, Benny was the guest on the final show. Allen did some guest appearances on television, and was a panelist on “What's My Line?” until he died of a heart attack in 1956. It may have been his past work schedule finally caught up with him. Fred Allen was a workaholic, working 12 to 16 hours a day, he was constantly working on his script, reading nine newspapers a day to find interesting stories, working with his team of writers, rehearsing with the actors. He often complained about his schedule, but couldn't keep himself from doing it.
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Fred Allen Show CD 1 episode list FredAllen_1932-12-25__MammothDepartmentStore.mp3 Fred Allen Show CD 2 episode list FredAllen_1943-01-31.mp3 |
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