Fred Allen

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia   Fred Allen May 31 1894 March 17 1956 was an American comedian whose absurdist topically pointed radio show 19321949 made him one of the most popular and forwardlooking humorists in the socalled classic era of American radio His bestremembered gag was his longrunning mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny but it was only part of his appeal radio historian John Dunning in On the Air The Encyclopedia of OldTime Radio wrote that Allen was radios most admired comedian and most frequently censored A master adlibber Allen often tangled with his networks executives and often barbed them on the air over the battles while developing routines the style and substance of which influenced contemporaries and futures among comic talents including Groucho Marx Stan Freberg Henry Morgan and Johnny Carson but his fans also included President Franklin D Roosevelt and novelists William Faulkner John Steinbeck and Herman Wouk who began his career writing for Allen Ironically in view of his often barbed observations of the medium Fred Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for contributions to television Description above from the Wikipedia article Fred Allen licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia