A jack-of-all-entertainment-trades, from TV host in the 1950s and 60s to composer of more than 4,000 pop songs and author of over 30 books, Steve Allen is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific composer of modern times. Tall, full-shouldered and wearing thick glasses, he might have seemed unlikely for TV stardom, but he had a quick wit, a good voice, and his inventiveness was perfect for early television. Allen actually began in radio, working at KOY in Phoenix in 1943 as an announcer. He then went to the Mutual Network in Los Angeles doing comedy and hosted a radio
