Dave Allen (comedian)
| Dave Allen | |
|---|---|
Allen as the host of the CBS programme Showtime in 1968.
|
|
| Born |
David Tynan O'Mahony 6 July 1936 Firhouse, Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 10 March 2005 (aged 68) Kensington, London, England |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Comedian, Actor, Interviewer |
| Television | The Dave Allen Show, Dave Allen at Large |
| Spouse(s) |
Judith Stott (m. 1964–83) divorced Karin Stark (2003-2005) |
| Children | Jane Tynan O'Mahony (born 1965) Edward James Tynan O'Mahony (born 1968) Cullum Eden Tynan O'Mahony (born 2005) |
David Tynan O'Mahony (6 July 1936 – 10 March 2005), better known as Dave Allen, was an Irish observational comedian and satirist.
Initially becoming known in Australia during 1963–64, Allen made regular television appearances in the United Kingdom from the later 1960s and until the mid 1980s. BBC aired his "Dave Allen Show" 1972-1986, which also was exported to several other European countries. His career had a major resurgence during the late 1980s and early 1990s. At the height of his career he was Britain's most controversial comedian, regularly provoking indignation at his frequent highlighting of political hypocrisy and his disregard for religious authority. He also became known in the United States and Canada through broadcasts of his shows on television there.
Allen's act was typified by a relaxed, rueful and intimate style. He sat on a high bar stool facing his audience, smoking and occasionally sipping from a glass of what he always allowed people to assume was whiskey, but in fact was merely ginger ale with ice. Literally and metaphorically, he was a sober-minded man who, though sometimes appearing deliberately crotchety and irritable on stage, always gave off an air of charm and serene melancholy both in his act and in real life. Each day, he pored over newspapers, scribbling notes and ideas for his routines.
Along with his seated stand-up routines, his television shows were interspersed with filmed sketch comedy.
He was a religious sceptic (according to Allen, "what you might call a practising atheist", and often joked, "I'm an atheist, thank God") as a result of his deeply held objections to the rigidity of his strict Catholic schooling. Consequently, religion became an important subject for his humour, especially the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, generally mocking church customs and rituals rather than beliefs. In 1998 he explained:
...
Wikipedia