Last Fred Allen Episode--What's My Line (3/3)

[BARNEYFATSWALT]

If you want to hear Fred Allen's old Radio shows! You can download them free on I Tunes! A lot of old radio shows are on I Tunes!--They are so funny!

[RelVleDy]

Now she can buy Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PC when it comes out :P.

[dogshy61]

I had never heard of Fred Allen until i watched these WML clips. He comes across as a really nice and funny guy. Does anyone know if his radio shows have been preserved ?

[xander7ful]

@dogshy61 Oh yes. Fred's shows are played on a regular basis on Old Time radio programs. And you can buy sets of them on tape/CD.

[BeatleJim55]

Listen to the Fred Allen radio shows from the mid-late 1940's with this wife Portland and then taking a stroll down"Allen's Alley"asking the question of the day.

..the man was brilliant...

[TomDegan]

That was six days before he died. He collapsed of a massive heart attack while he was taking his evening walk on West 57th Street - right across the street from Carnegie Hall. The date was March 17, 1956.

The man was a hoot-and-a-half!

Tom Degan

[MerleOberon]

$50, bet she could have a fun time on the town

[taosimplicity]

Such a brilliant man, I realize now why he is not a more recognized figure. He had a face for radio.

[Tre404]

@taosimplicity ...a face for radio... very well put. ;) Fred was among the 5 greatest of the radio era, certainly. Nobody could ever dispute that fact, I don't think.

[tomkes100]

They had more class then. no need to brush the hair out of your eyes.This grandaddy of all panal shows in the ultimate in entertertainment. the wit wa sophisticated.this last of Fred Allens appearence is so sad..they dont make em like this anymore. tomkes tv film historian

[tomkes100]

this tv film historian has 500 episodes of this greatest tv panal shows.I have 1000 autographs letters photos from 1964 on of greats from radio tvv&films.I have a website dedicated to great films&stars of yesteyear. lets see some feedback here. I knew most of the panal frok WMY ,what class glamour. we dont see today. truly golden Age of tv. Thanks FRED ALLEN rest your soul, thanks panal&John Daly. They dont get better than this. This is among the best in tv ever. its an honor to say hello.TOMK

[jkfan2005]

Back when women on TV didn't have to brush their hair out of their eyes every three seconds...

[owenatkins]

Bennett's joke at the end is a fitting end to the Allen shows-they had fun to the very end!

Notice John's laughter after Bennett said it....

WML posts are great alternatives to today's unhappy stuff.

[daveplomin]

Fred Allen was a quick wit and allways enjoyable to watch. I know this was a B&W show, but he seemed to be so pale and not as well looking. But MAN, did these veterans of Radio and Vaudeville give WAY more than most performers do today. Thank you for posting. More than you know appreciate it!

[ACcountryFan]

Fred suffered from hypertension and this was his last appearance on television...this episode was taped/filmed on March 11, 1956 and he died several days later, on March 17 of a heart attack brought on by his hypertension. He was a few months shy of his 62nd birthday. He and Jack Benny were born the same year, 1894, and both started in radio at the same time, 1932.

Fred died six days after appearing on this episode. He died of a heart attack while out walking on West 57th Street in New York.

[HAZIDEAD]

This guest was gorgeous......

[spectrum10]

I find it unusual that in spite of the mystery guest segment being missing, they have the end of the show available. In other words how can you have the very end but not the middle?

[BTlover3]

Well, actually, the mystery guest is usually the 3/4 or 4/4 of a show. So it makes sense that it's missing. Though, another possiblity could be that the show was already as long as it was, therefore needing a proper closing such as that. Many game shows of this type swapped around their guests and arranging them in different orders and so forth.

[martinimerlin]

R.I.P Mr. Fred Allen - the WITTIEST panel member ever.

[mickeymantle7777]

Does anyone know how he died, was he ill??

Thanks

[TracyBeakerFan2]

he died of a heart attack during one of his evening walks

[ACcountryFan]

he took a year off during his radio show because of high blood pressure/hypertension and so this was probably an underlying cause for his heart attack...censors, network executives, and advertisers and the business end of radio/TV was too stressful which isn't helpful for those with hypertension.

[knifecut]

thanks for posting......who was mystery guest this week?

[PatinPDXOR]

One of the great ironies of Fred Allen's career was that he was forced off radio because of a Goodson-Todman show ("Stop the Music"), and he was finally successful on a TV show by Goodson-Todman.  A marvelous and quick wit that the four letter word favoring comics of today could take a lesson from. You don't have to be blue to be funny. I loved his radio shows that I've heard, and thank you for all who have posted WMLs with Fred Allen. A treasure, very much missed by all who love humor.

[Xmchord]

"you don't have to be blue to be funny" is common knowledge to those who appreciate classic comedy. But today, it seems that if four letter words are not used, it is not funny.

Groucho said that he thought dirty humour was on the way out. It didn't happen in his lifetime, but hopefully he was right and true comedy will take its place.

In the meantime, I'll be watching Fred Allen.

[Fenhalls]

I'm not in the least bit religious, so it's quite possible that no-one will be listening (given there's someone there of course), but I'm definitely going to offer up a prayer for Fred. He was a very funny man, and, more importantly, an exceedingly nice man. And that's about as good an epitaph as any of us could wish for.

[ClassicFilmFan]

Same feeling here & this part really made me feel quite sad. Fred Allen was indeed a very funny man!

[soulierinvestments]

A major mystery of the WML kinescope collection is that Fred Allen's last TV ever is not complete. Dinah Shore's mystery guest appearance has disappeared into the ether. I would think the producers would be extra careful in preserving this episode of all episodes.