Who Would You Take to Dinner?
If you could dine alone with anyone from any period of history, who would it be? My choice will make a lot of people scratch their heads, and a few people laugh, because you don’t hear much about Steve Allen anymore, yet he was an accomplished writer, musician, composer, lyricist, actor and comedian. He wrote more than 50 books, including 9 co-authored murder mysteries, and more than 8,500 songs. He recorded more than 75 albums/CDs.
On a wall in my office I keep an autographed photo of Allen to remind me that nothing in life works unless we do.
Steve Allen is perhaps best remembered as the first host and co-creator of “The Tonight Show” (1954), the longest running entertainment series on late night television. After three years as host, Allen went on to other things, turning it over to Jack Paar, who was followed by Johnny Carson, and Jay Leno.
What I admired most, possibly because it happened during a turning point in my life, was an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning PBS program Allen originated, titled “Meeting of the Minds.” Presented in what has become typical “table talk” format, Allen hosted notable historical figures played by notable actors. Guests included Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, Marie Antoinette, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Paine, Francis Bacon, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire and Charles Darwin. Watching the interactions of these interesting, and often brilliant, people, scripted with actual quotes, was informative and fun.
A few things you may not know:
He scooped Ed Sullivan by having Elvis Presley appear first on The Steve Allen Show.
His songs have been performed by at least 77 vocalists, including Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Betty Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, The McGuire Sisters, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole.
At the age of 79, he wrote his last bestselling book, Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio.
Despite the fact that he was constantly thinking, doing and creating, Allen often said his favorite role in life was Grandpa. He had 12 grandchildren.
Steve Allen was born on the day after Christmas in 1921 and died the day before my birthday in 2000. I would love to have had the chance to ask him, “Jeez, Steve, how did you do all that? Do you have a secret clone?”
During Allen’s years in local radio, he discovered he could “write and deliver funny material, and that funny things seemed to occur to him unbidden and unexpectedly” (steveallen.com). His attitude of “keep it clean, keep it fun” served him well throughout a long, successful career.
