Fred Allen

Birth Name:

John Florence Sullivan

Birth Date:

May 31, 1894

Birth Place:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Death Date:

March 17, 1956

Place of Death:

171 W. 57th Street, New York, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heart attack

Cemetery Name:

Gate of Heaven Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Show Business

Fred Allen was an American comedian with a talent for ad-lib. 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. After 30 years on the radio, Fred Allen, a 52-year-old comic known for wry jokes, bow ties, and baggy eyes, made the cover of Time magazine. Intellectuals loved Allen, as did his peers in comedy. Radio rival Edgar Bergen acknowledged him as “the greatest living comedian.” Some people would have given the nod to Jack Benny, and Allen might have agreed; the two had been friends for years and were professionally linked by a fake feud they waged on their respective radio shows. But for Allen even to have been in the running with the great Benny shows his high standing at the time. Even though Allen had built up a weekly audience of 20 million listeners, his decline from popularity was swift. By the late 1940s and early 50s, television was well on its way from novelty (172,000 sets in use in 1948) to necessity (17 million sets in 1952). Not just radio networks but movie theaters, nightclubs, and restaurants were losing business to the upstart. Second, there was a problem with Allen's appeal - even he admitted he had a face for radio. Allen spent his final years as a newspaper columnist/humorist and as a memoirist and rented a small New York office to work six hours a day without distractions. He was also a panelist on "What's My Line?" for two years when he suddenly died of a heart attack on streets of New York City.

Fun Fact

Good friends in real life, Fred Allen and Jack Benny inadvertently hatched a running gag in 1937 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. Allen often mentioned his show-business friends on the air and on the Canin broadcast Allen knew Benny would be listening. Benny, according to Allen biographer Taylor, burst out laughing, then responded in kind on his own program. The rivalry gag went on for a decade and convinced some fans that the two comedians really were blood enemies.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Gate of Heaven Cemetery

10 West Stevens Avenue

Hawthorne, New York, 10532

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York

Grave Location:

Section 47, Row 5, Grave 1

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery off Stevens Avenue, keep to the left and drive along the lake on your left. Continue on to the end of the cemetery in the “flats.” Park at the intersection of Sections 22, 44 and 47 on St. Mark Avenue. The grave of comedian Fred Allen is 13 spaces from the corner and 20 feet off the road.