Sheldon Allman
| Sheldon Allman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 8, 1924 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died |
January 22, 2002 (aged 77) Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1958–1995 |
| Spouse(s) | Lorraine Allman |
Sheldon Allman (June 8, 1924 – January 22, 2002) was an American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter.
He began his singing career with the Royal National Guard during his World War II service with the RCAF. Moving to Los Angeles, he appeared in twelve films, including such notable films as Nevada Smith, The Sons of Katie Elder, Hud and In Cold Blood. His co-stars included, respectively, Steve McQueen, John Wayne and Paul Newman. He also made appearances in numerous TV series during the 1960s and 1970s.[1]
He was the singing voice for TV's Mister Ed, for which he also wrote and recorded "The Pretty Little Filly with the Ponytail" and "The Empty Feedbag Blues". Mr. Allman wrote longer versions of these songs, but never recorded the longer versions. He was the lyricist for the theme song to George of the Jungle ("George, George, George of the Jungle, friend to you and me! Watch out for that tree!!"). Additionally, Allman worked with Stan Worth, co-writer of the "George of the Jungle" theme, to create music for a number of game shows by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions, including the 1970s versions of Let's Make a Deal, Masquerade Party and It Pays to be Ignorant.
In 1960, Allman released Folk Songs for the 21st Century, an album of novelty songs all revolving around science-fiction themes. The tongue-in-cheek material, which Allman wrote and arranged himself, included titles such as "Crawl Out Through The Fallout" and "Radioactive Mama." [2] "Crawl Out Through The Fallout" is used in the video game Fallout 4.
In addition, Allman co-wrote two comedy horror-themed stage musicals with Bobby Pickett, composer of the hit novelty song, "Monster Mash." The musicals were I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night and its sequel, Frankenstein Unbound (Another Monster Musical), the former of which was made into the 1995 film, Monster Mash.
He died at the age of 77 and is survived by his wife of many years, Lorraine Allman and his daughter, Anne Allman Huddleston. His interment is located in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.
References
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sheldon-allman-mn0000019685/biography
- ↑ http://conelrad.com/media/atomicmusic/sh_boom.php?platter=23