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Morton David Alpern (March 23, 1922 – February 12, 2018), better known as Marty Allen, was an American comedian, actor, and philanthropist. He worked as a comedy headliner in , as a dramatic actor in television roles, and was once called "The Darling of Daytime TV". He also appeared in films, notably the 1966 spy comedy The Last of the Secret Agents?. During his comedy career, Allen also toured military hospitals, and performed for veterans and for active military personnel.
Allen was also a philanthropist. He contributed to the American Cancer Society, The Heart Fund, the March of Dimes, and the Fight for Sight, and he served on the board of the Epilepsy Foundation.
He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1940. He was inducted into their alumni Hall of Fame in 2009.
Allen joined the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was stationed in Italy, where he attained the rank of sergeant. He earned a Soldier's Medal for stopping a fire in a plane that was being refueled. He saved the lives of the men boarding the burning plane by driving the fuel truck away, returning on foot to the plane, and then putting out the fire by rolling over the flames with his body in uniform. His actions were later honored with a full-dress parade.
He then became part of the comedy team of Allen & Rossi with Steve Rossi, which resulted in a string of hit comedy albums, 44 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (including the famous appearance by The Beatles on February 16, 1964, during which Allen won over the Beatles fans in the audience by announcing "I'm Ringo's mother!"), and the film The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966). They worked together from 1957 to 1968, then parted ways amicably. Allen and Rossi reunited for shows from the 1970s through the 1990s.
He eventually began performing dramatic roles. His debut as a serious actor came on The Big Valley television series as the hapless Waldo Diefendorfer. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, he made hundreds of television appearances, becoming a regular on The Hollywood Squares. He appeared on Circus of the Stars, in a cameo on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, on game shows such as Password, and in ten made-for-television movies. He also appeared in theatrical films such as The Great Waltz (1972), Harrad Summer (1974) and A Whale of a Tale (1976).
From the 1980s, he and his second wife, singer-songwriter Karon Kate Blackwell, teamed up to perform their musical comedy act to audiences around the country. In 2007, the duo began performing at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and went on to perform at the Southpoint Casino, at Palace Station, and on cruise ships. In 2015, the couple continued to perform in venues around the country to overflow crowds, at the Rampart Casino and the Downtown Grand in Las Vegas. In 2016, they performed at the Metropolitan Room in New York City.
On Jun 30, 2014, Allen appeared on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. In February 2015, Allen was the guest on episode 574 of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron.
He was also involved in a number of charitable causes, including the American Cancer Society, The Heart Fund, March of Dimes, Fight for Sight, cerebral palsy, and was on the board of the Epilepsy Foundation.
In 1983, he met his second wife, Karon Kate Blackwell, at a Los Angeles restaurant she was managing. She had prior success as a piano player and songwriter, but had gotten out of show business. The two became friends, then started dating and performing together. They married on June 17, 1984, at the home of writer Sidney Sheldon in Beverly Hills, California. They settled in Las Vegas.
Allen was the father of Tura Satana's daughter Kalani, who learned of her paternity through DNA testing after Satana's death.
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