LAS VEGAS 鈥� Marty Allen, the baby-faced, bug-eyed comedian with wild black hair who was a staple of TV variety shows, game shows and talk shows for decades, died Monday night. He was 95.
Allen died in Las Vegas of complications from pneumonia with his wife and performing partner of the last three decades Karon Kate Blackwell by his side, Allen鈥檚 spokeswoman Candi Cazau told the Associated Press.
Allen, known for his greeting and catchphrase 鈥渉ello dere,鈥� was a living link late in life to a generation of long-dead superstars with whom he shared a stage, including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and Elvis Presley
He first found fame as half of the duo Allen & Rossi with partner Steve Rossi, who died in 2014. Allen & Rossi appeared 44 times on The Ed Sullivan Show, including the episodes where the Beatles performed.
鈥淓veryone remembers those shows with the Beatles, and they were great, but we appeared on all the shows,鈥� Allen said in 2014. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a talk show on TV that didn鈥檛 want Allen & Rossi.鈥�
The duo appeared regularly on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson and The Merv Griffin Show. They also toured comedy clubs nationwide, headlined shows at major Las Vegas casinos and released a series of hit albums until their amicable breakup in 1968.
Allen then took on a series of serious roles on daytime television and made-for-TV movies, and was a regular on The Hollywood Squares and other celebrity-themed game shows.
He was a regular entertainer on the Las Vegas Strip for much of his life, and tributes from there poured in Monday night.
鈥淲e have lost another iconic Las Vegas entertainer, Marty Allen,鈥� Las Vegas magician Lance Burton tweeted. 鈥淲hat a funny man who brought joy to millions of people for 95 years.鈥�
Ventriloquist and Strip luminary Terry Fator tweeted that 鈥淟as Vegas and show business lost a legend tonight 鈥� . and I lost a friend.鈥�
Allen was born in Pittsburgh and served in Italy in the Second World War, earning a Soldier鈥檚 medal for valour.
He was married to Lorraine 鈥楩renchy鈥� Allen from 1960 until she died in 1976.
Then in 1984, he married Blackwell, a singer-songwriter who became his performing partner in his last decades and acted as the goofy Allen鈥檚 鈥渟traight man鈥� just as Rossi did half a century earlier.
He kept making crowds laugh into his mid-90s.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable to be 94 years old,鈥� Marty Allen told a New York audience in 2016. 鈥淢y wife says: 鈥榃hat do you want for your birthday?鈥� I told her: 鈥楢n antique.鈥� So she framed my birth certificate.鈥�
