Dave Allen(1936-2005)
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Born of a prominent Irish journalist in Dublin, Ireland, Dave Allen
started out working and touring through English theatres and night
clubs. Only occasionally working on radio, he made his first TV
appearance on the BBC's "New Faces." He managed to tour with The Beatles
while they were still starting out and soon managed to get an
eight-month TV engagement called Tonight with Dave Allen (1967), which ended as still one of
the most successful shows in Australia. During 1969, he turned from
comedy to making documentaries, but then in 1971, he returned to BBC
television for Dave Allen at Large (1971), another top-rated show. In 1972, he lived out a
lifetime ambition to do plays, soon playing both Mr. Darling and
Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" for the London Coliseum. He followed up
with two more TV specials in Australia. Floating between stage,
television, and more documentaries, he premiered in America in 1981
with "An Evening With Dave Allen." He died suddenly in March
2005.
