Typed Letter Signed
1981.
Typed, signed letter from Steve Allen to Washington Post columnist Tom Shales. Written on personal stationery, Allen thanks Shales "the day was brightened by reading your funny piece...based on your recent chat with Jayne and myself". Allen is likely referring to 1981 piece Shales published titled "Fun With Steve & Jayne". The feature highlighted Allen's humorous and playful everyday dynamic with his wife, actress Jayne Meadows. Shales affectionately detailed their lunches together, documenting the couple's banter, Allen's off-the-cuff remarks, and Meadows's playful exasperation with her husband's rascally "wiseacre" personality. The two were intertwined through Shales extensive writing on television history, which frequently celebrated Allen as a foundational pioneer of the talk show.
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. Though he got his start in radio, he is best known for his extensive network television career. Allen gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. In 1954, he achieved further national fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, which was the first late-night nationwide television talk show. He then went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, and The New Steve Allen Show. He was a regular panel member on CBS's What's My Line? and, from 1977 until 1981, he wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show Meeting of Minds, a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format.
This item is from the collection of Television critic Tom Shales (1944 - 2024). Shales was an incisively funny Washington Post columnist, he earned the nickname Terrible Tom and had the clout to make or break shows. Shales won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1988. During his three-decade career those in the industry considered him both a kingmaker and a high executioner in an era when network television's hold on American culture was at it's peak. Time magazine called him "brilliant, thoughtful, incisive and screamingly funny...also, vicious, infuriating, cruel and unfair". His thrice-weekly Washington Post TV column, 'On the Air,' syndicated in 59 other newspapers. The Tom Shales collection includes letters, cards and correspondence from celebrated television and entertainment legends, newscasters and politicians, including letters from Norman Lear, David Letterman, Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien, Garry Shandling, Fred Rogers, Carol Burnett, David Brinkley, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Edward Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and many more. Please inquire for more information. Binding: Unbound
Language: English
Price: $200.00
Item #337575