TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!
Classic TV on the Internet!
 
 
Flintstones on DVD Book About Greensboro The Goldbergs on DVD Mary Tyler Moore Show on DVD  Mr Peabody on DVD  Looney Tunes Golden Ed
Bionic Woman on DVD

YOUR GO-GO HOST:
Billy Ingram

Las Vegas Legends

Steve Allen on Being Dirt Poor and His Las Vegas Show

Steve Allen was born to a pair of Vaudeville performers. Recorded in 1989, in this clip Steve Allen, actor, comic, writer, musician, Las Vegas headliner, and creator of The Tonight Show talks about life during the Depression, on being so poor he had to beg for money and food.

“At one point, thank God only one point, I ran away from home. I was 16 at the time and I bummed around the country for a few weeks. I literally faced severe hunger. I had 7 dollars they lasted exactly 7 days. After that no money and pretty quickly that translated into no food. If you knew where there was a soup kitchen I guess you could go there but I was on the road, I didn’t know where I was much less where other things were.

“I would beg, very quickly you turn into a beggar. You think you would never do that but you’re wrong, all you have to do is be hungry enough and you beg your brains out.” Steve Allen goes on to say what the reaction to that was, “By and large you get ignored or you get contempt. The only people who ever treated me, well not the only people, but almost the only people that treated me kindly were the Mexican-Americans I ran into in the southwest states. One guy I remember opened his own pockets pockets to show me they were empty and he shrugged. I liked that, we had a nice moment together because he was saying, ‘I’m no better off that you are.’ Another man said, ‘Wait señor,’ and he went into a little hovel and came out with a tortilla filled with beans, I loved hi for that.”

Allen goes on to explain why he felt like he wasn’t a good father to his first 3 kids.

Of course, Steve Allen went on to be fabulously wealthy in show business. His first network TV show, The Steve Allen Show, premiered at 11 a.m. on Christmas Day in 1950, the program was later moved into a thirty-minute, early evening slot. In 1954, he achieved fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, the very first late night television talk show. He wrote more than 8,500 songs and won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition.

When Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows signed on to perform at the Flamingo in 1961 they had never been to Las Vegas. One night they took in a show to see what the Vegas experience was all about. “We just looked at each other,” wife Jayne Meadows remembered. “We both sat there horrified, me particularly. With Steve it didn’t matter, he was a brilliant comedian and all. But I thought, ‘What in the world am I going to do?’ when I saw all those girls, half-naked most of them!”

Both Allen and Meadows both had successful careers long before they appeared in Las Vegas. Headlining the Flamingo during Easter week 1961, they broke house records and were held over.

“It was my idea to use Steve’s mother at the Flamingo for that first show,” Meadows said. “Steve had been raised very poor, and his parents were never there. His mother sometimes acted jealous of his success. But there was no denying the fact that she was a brilliant comedienne. That woman was such a genius.” Steve Allen’s mother would wander on to the stage like a bag lady from the heartland that had gotten lost looking for the ladies’ room.

Steve Allen was killed in 2000 after being bumped by a car which broke three of his ribs and caused internal bleeding at 78 years old.

 

See a variation of the act that Steve Allen did with his mother, just as they performed it on the Vegas Strip:

 

 


 

 

Video on Demand Rent or Buy

Entertainment Collectables

Stuff you might not find at other web sites - Vegas Legends collects obscure stories about the greatest entertainers of all time! With rare performances from the casino showrooms and from the world of Television.

Frank Sinatra

Dean Martin

Sammy Davis Jr Story

Dean Martin Live in Las Vegas

Frank Sinatra
with Dean Martin

Playing with The Rat Pack 1960s & 70s
with Dean Martin

Las Vegas in 1977

John Oliver: Las Vegas Is the Worst Place on Earth!

Jerry Vale

More Jerry Vale

George Burns

Don Rickles' Last Carson Appearance

Joan Rivers vs Johnny Carson

Angie Dickinson

Remembering Bobby Darin

Who Killed Elvis?

Viva Las Vegas!

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Las Vegas1967

Elvis

Las Vegas in the 1950s

MORE Las Vegas in the 1950s

Lola Falana

Don Rickles

Don Rickles' Last Show

Don Rickles vs Merv Griffin

Sonny & Cher

The Supremes

Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows

Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy

Louis Prima

Pat Cooper

Johnny Carson

Mort Lindsey

Liberace

TV's The Las Vegas Show

Red Buttons

Ernest Borgnine on Frank & Dean

Harlan Ellison vs Frank Sinatra

Demond Wilson on The Dean Martin Roasts, Las Vegas, and Walking Out on Sanford & Son

Liberace, Frank Sinatra, and Jackie Gleason Attempted an Intervention on Elvis in Las Vegas

What Las Vegas Looked Like Under Lockdown

Sammy Davis Jr.'s Home Was Looted!

Very Revealing Interview with Sammy Davis Jr.

Las Vegas in the 1940s

Frank Sinatra's Last Major Interview

Portrait of Frank Sinatra in 1959
Frank Sinatra in
Monte Carlo 1959

Drummer Hal Blaine on Recording with The Rat Pack

Marty Allen Almost Cost Me My Foot!

Home Movies of Las Vegas During The Strip’s Golden Age

Donny & Marie Are Calling It Quits

Totie Fields

Sinatra's First Palm Springs Home

Phyllis Diller: An Appreciation

Steve Allen

Rich Little

Betty White on Don Rickles

Totie Fields

Sinatra's First Palm Springs Home

Phyllis Diller: An Appreciation

Steve Allen

Rich Little

Betty White on Don Rickles

Elvis' Background Singers

Wayne Newton

George Carlin

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme

Redd Foxx

Las Vegas & The Mob

Henny Youngman

Rodney Dangerfield

How Las Vegas Has Changed Since the 1970s

How Las Vegas Has Changed Since the 1960s

More on How Las Vegas Has Changed Over the Years

Vegas Fashion

Joan Rivers

Las Vegas Postcards

TV's The Magician and Las Vegas

BONUS: Garry Shandling in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Legends

Local Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!
Classic TV on the Internet!

TV's Embarrassing Moments / Action Shows of the Sixties / TVparty Mysteries and Scandals / Variety Shows of the 1970s / The Eighties / The Laugh Track / 1970's Hit Shows / Response to TVparty / Search the Site / Add Your Comments

Hit Shows of the Seventies: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Gene Roddenberry in the 1970s / 1977-1978 Superhero & Science Fiction TV Shows / Funniest SNL Skit Ever! / Prisoner: Cell Block H / Why John Amos Left Good Times / Orson Welles' Last Interview / Patrick Duffy of Dallas Interview/ Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / Bruce / Caitllyn Jenner? / Melissa McCarthy Almost Quit Acting Days Before Landing Gilmore Girls / Emmy Award Multiple Winners / Nathaniel Taylor aka Rollo Lawson / Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / That Girl & TV's Single Working Women / Can You Identify These Stars? / Star Trek Animated / Dark Shadows / Dark Shadows Movies / Dark Shadows Novels / The Night Stalker / Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson / Dawn Wells / Betty White : An Appreciation / Gavin McLeod / The Next Step Beyond / 1970 TV Shows / Mike Connors Remembered / Mike Wallace, Virginia Graham & Jim Longworth / Dick Clark / Carson Tonight Show / Alan Alda Interview / Jackie Gleason Show / 1973 TV Shows / Thriller / Post Modern Sitcoms / Remembering Dick Van Patten / TV Dating Shows / The Jacksons TV Show / Fall Previews of the 70s / Lance Link, Secret Chimp / Star Wars Holiday Special / Alias Smith and Jones / 1977 Year in Review / Top Ten 1970-76 / The Rockford Files / All in the Family / Sam Hall (Dark Shadows) Interview / Actor Ed Nelson / Death of Archie / Battlestar Galactica / Wonder Woman / Network Jingles / Class of '74 / Happy Days / Good Times / Mr. Bill / Dinah! / Maude / Doris Day Show / Pamelyn Ferdin Interview / The Bicentennial Minute / Jingles & Catch Phrases of the 1970s / Early Cable TV 1970s / TV commercials for Women / TV Moms / Country Music TV Shows of the 1960s & 1970s / Betty White Show / Ron Palillo / Shirley Jones Interview / Tom Bosley / Rodney Dangerfield / How Sanford & Son Ended / Sanford & Son Spin-Off Grady / Great Memoirs / Virginia Graham Show / The "N" Word on TV / 10 Classic Comedy Routines You Have To Laugh At Before You Die / Hollywood Squares / 1970's Teen Idols & The Hudson Brothers / TV Stars with 3 Hit Shows / The Rookies / Unsold Pilots / Jackie Cooper / The Good Guys / Match Game / Make Room For Granddaddy / Mannix & Gail Fisher / Bette Midler in the 1970s / Bonus 1970's Stuff: Silent Star Marion Mack / Biff Burger / 1970s Fast Food Chains / Latin Casino / Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire / 1970's Daytime Talk Shows / The Fess Parker Show / Brady Bunch Sex Dungeon? / Love, Loss & What I Watched

Classic TV Commercials / 1950's TV / 1960's TV / 1970's TV / Groucho vs William F Buckley / / TV Games / Honey Boo Boo / Lucy Shows / Classic Cars / John Wayne / Gene Roddenberry / Rockford Files / Sea Hunt / Superman on DVD / Toy Gun Ads / Flip Wilson Show / Big Blue Marble / Monty Hall / Carrascolendas / Mr. Dressup / Major Mudd / Chief Halftown / What's In Oprah's Purse? / Baby Daphne / Sheriff John / Winchell & Mahoney / Fireball X-L5 / Mr. Wizard / Captain Noah / Thanksgiving Day Specials / Disney's First Christmas Special / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Amahl & the Night Visitors / Holiday Toy Commercials / Lucy & Desi's Last Christmas Show / Joey Heatherton / Fat Albert / The Virginian / Bewitched / Death of John Wayne / 1974 Saturday Mornings / Chuck McCann / Rudolph Collectables / Shrimpenstein / Local Popeye Shows / New Treasure Hunt / 1966 ABC TV Shows / 1967 TV Shows / 1968 TV Shows / Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes & Baby Doll / Fridays / TV Moms / Red Skelton / Star Wars / KISS / Lancelot Link / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Wonder Woman / Classic Comic Books / Andy Griffith / Cher / TV Shows on DVD / Outtakes & Bloopers / 1967 TV Shows / Romper Room / ABC Movie of the Week / The Goldbergs / Daws Butler Commercials / Saturday Morning Commercials / Captain Kangaroo / Chicago Local Kiddie Shows / Boston Local TV / Philly Local TV / NYC Local Kid Shows / Amos 'n' Andy / Electric Company / Bette Davis / Judy Garland / Christmas Specials / Redd Foxx / Good Times / Sitcom Houses / What's Happening! / Winky Dink & You / Sonny & Cher / Smothers Brothers / Commercial Icons of the 1960s / Soupy Sales / TV Terrorists / Irwin Allen / The Untouchables / Carol Burnett Show / Batman TV Show / Green Hornet / Today Show History / Our Gang / Doris Day Show / 1970's Commercials For Women / Bill Cosby in the 1970s / The Golddiggers / Lola Falana / 1970s TV Shows / David Bowie on TV / Hudson Brothers / Jackie Gleason / Hollywood Squares / Match Game / Bob Keeshan / Gumby / The Flip Wilson Show / Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour / The Bobby Darin Show / The Richard Pryor Show / George Burns / Celebrity Commercials / Rudolph / Movie Posters & More! 
Match Game on DVD  Classic Commercials on DVD “The  You Bet Your Life DVD 

Book About Greensboro

Playboy After Dark DVD Bing Crosby Christmas Special / Holiday Shows on DVD
TV shows on DVD!
Looking for classic TV DVDs?/See below:
TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!
Contact Us
Other Cool TV Sites

TV Blog


Save money!