That's the proprietor of this website, surrounded by two heroes: Steve Allen and Stan Freberg. This photo, which I'm titling, "Me and the first two people I ever plagiarized" was taken by Leonard Maltin, last July when a star was dedicated for June Foray on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Leonard, by the way, could have a respectable career ahead of him if he'd just ditch that silly "film historian" nonsense and become a full-time paparazzi. (Tech note: His camera had a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, during which Steve Allen wrote eight songs and three books.)
Steverino is, sadly, no longer with us…but Stan is hale and healthy (and about to get married again) and he was the first of the speakers or performers at last night's tribute to Steve Allen at the Alex Theater in Glendale. Freberg was followed — in roughly this order — by Sid Caesar, George Bugatti, Pete Barbutti, Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Don Knotts, Rich Little, Mickey Rooney, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Norm Crosby and Jonathan Winters, all introduced by m.c. Art Linkletter. There were also clips of Mr. Allen's work, as well as music by "The Steve Allen Big Band," an assemblage of musicians who played with Steve. As an evening of entertainment, it was a smash. I thought Barbutti stole the show but everyone was terrific, and no one minded that what was announced as an intermissionless 90 minute show ran an hour over.
As a tribute…well, maybe it's just me but I would have liked certain performers to talk a little less about their own careers and a little more about Steve Allen's. I kept thinking of Jayne Meadows, seated with her family down in the front row, enduring some pretty long stretches where her late husband seemed irrelevant to the proceedings. And Mr. Linkletter — though a surprisingly-amusing host — kept trying to top the deceased, reminding folks of his own achievements in the world of television.
This has become a matter that bothers me a lot more than it seems to bother others. I've attended a number of Hollywood funerals in the last few years where someone would be speaking and I'd want to hold up a big cue card that said, "This event is not about you! Talk about the dead guy!" Stan and a few others did speak long and lovingly about the dead guy…but otherwise, it was just a helluva good show. Since Steve Allen was a helluva good showman, I suppose that alone is tribute in a way.
P.S. Mr. Freberg recently invited me to his upcoming, June wedding. I told him I'd love to be there but, alas, I have tickets to see The Producers in New York that week. He said that if he had tickets to see The Producers that week, he wouldn't be at the wedding, either.