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Fred Allen — The ad was produced by Ford Motor Company. · Public domain · Source

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Fred Allen

John Florence Sullivan, known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program The Fred Allen Show (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio.

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culture · American comedian (1894–1956) · comedian · radio personality · screenwriter · journalist · actor · also Fred Allen, John Florence Sullivan, Allen

Born 31 May 1894 · Died 17 March 1956 · Q967454

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Jun 1960Award
Awarded star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960).
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Jan 1956Quote
A conference is a gathering of people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done
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1963· 1 entry

1963Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

The New York Times announced that Allen's wife Portland Hoffa and newspaper columnist Joe McCarthy were gathering Allen's letters for publication

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1960· 1 entry

Jun 15, 1960Documented record84% confidence

Awarded star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960).

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1959· 1 entry

1959Source gives the year onlyDocumented record66% confidence

And celebrated a second silver wedding anniversary well before her own death of natural causes in Los Angeles on Christmas Day, 1990

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1956· 7 entries

Mar 17, 1956Documented record86% confidence

Died 1956-03-17.

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“What does Sullivan do? He points at people. Rub meat on actors and dogs will do the same thing.”

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“Imitation is the sincerest form of television.”

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“A conference is a gathering of people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done”

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“If I could get my membership fee back, I'd resign from the human race”

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“A good comedian can say things funny and other guys just say funny things.”

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c. 1956Exact date was not recorded in the sourceDirect quote68% confidence

“Sullivan will be successful as long as other people have talent.”

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1952· 1 entry

1952Source gives the year onlyDocumented record66% confidence

For two final films: We're Not Married and O

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1950· 1 entry

1950Source gives the year onlyDocumented record66% confidence

NBC launched the live comedy-variety series The Colgate Comedy Hour by using rotating hosts instead of a regular master of ceremonies

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1949· 1 entry

1949Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

At the end of his show's regular season, as much under his doctor's orders (for Allen's continued hypertension) as because of his slipping ratings

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1948· 1 entry

1948Source gives the year onlyDocumented record66% confidence

On radio, and more successfully on television, making an American icon out of star Milton Berle)

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1945· 1 entry

1945Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

The Fred Allen Show returned to NBC, Sunday nights at 8:30 p

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1940· 3 entries

1940Source gives the year onlyDocumented record66% confidence

Love Thy Neighbor played off the comic feud with Jack Benny

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1940Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel had been the subject of a humorous interview on the Fred Allen Show

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1940Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

Allen moved back to CBS Radio with a new sponsor and show name, Texaco Star Theater, airing every Wednesday at 9:00 pm ET on CBS, then Sundays at 9:00 pm in the fall of 1941

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1937· 1 entry

1937Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

When a child prodigy, the violinist Stuart Canin, gave a very credible performance on the Allen show and inspired an Allen wisecrack about "a certain alleged violinist" who should hide in shame over his poor playing

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1922· 1 entry

1922Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

Allen commissioned comic-strip artist Martin Branner to cover a theater curtain with an elaborate mural painting depicting a cemetery with a punchline on each gravestone

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1921· 1 entry

1921Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

Fred Allen and Nora Bayes toured with the company of Lew Fields

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1917· 1 entry

1917Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

Returning to the New York circuit, his stage name was changed to Fred Allen so that he would not be offered the same low salary that theater owners had been accustomed to paying him in his early career

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1914· 1 entry

1914Source gives the year onlyDocumented record70% confidence

At the age of 20, Allen took a job with a local piano company, in addition to his library work

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1894· 1 entry

May 31, 1894Documented record86% confidence

Born 1894-05-31.

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