Remembering Fred Allen on his birthday
A great shot by George Silk for Life, 1950
Allen is one of my heroes. He seems terribly sad, resting backstage during a TV rehearsal. The great radio comedian didn't enjoy television much; he said he didn't like furniture that talked.
I'm reading Fred Allen's 1954 book Treadmill to Oblivion. Love the Hirschfeld illustrations! You can borrow the book from archive.org:
archive.org/details/treadm…
Another Hirschfeld illustration from Fred Allen's Treadmill to Oblivion. Today we're celebrating the great radio comedian's birthday.
Allen's Alley by Hirschfeld
"A human being is nothing but a story with skin around it."
Happy birthday, Fred Allen 🎂🎉
Remembering the great Fred Allen, whose birthday is today 🎂🎉
Mary Livingstone & Portland Hoffa try to separate feuding Jack Benny & Fred. The two were, of course, the best of friends.
March 14, 1937
Fred Allen breaks up Jack Benny on The Jello Program, 1937
Fred Allen gets a haircut, for some reason, in Life magazine
Photo: Peter Stackpole, 1944
"I have just returned from Boston. It is the only thing to do if you find yourself up there."
- Fred Allen, in a letter to Groucho Marx
Photo: Cornell Capa for Life Magazine, 1946
Fred Allen first job was as a page at @BPLBoston, where he began his lifelong love of reading.
"I had a face for radio."
Fred Allen said it first
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