Irwin Allen

Infobox actor
name = Irwin Allen
birthdate = June 12, 1916
birthplace = New York, New York, U.S.
deathdate = November 2, 1991
deathplace = Santa Monica, California U.S.
othername =
occupation = Film producer
yearsactive = 1950 - 1986

Irwin Allen (June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was a television and film producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.

Biography

Allen was born in New York City. In 1952, he won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for "The Sea Around Us", which was based on Rachel Carson's best-selling book of the same name. Carson was so disappointed with Allen's final version of the script that she never again sold film rights to her work. [Lear, 239-240]

Allen's film credits include the 3-D film "Dangerous Mission" (1954), "The Animal World" (1956), the critically-panned "The Story of Mankind" (1957), "The Big Circus" (1959), "The Lost World" (1960), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961), which later became the basis of his TV series of the same name, and "Five Weeks in a Balloon" (1962).

In the 1960s Allen moved into television as a producer and was responsible for series such as:
*"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964–1968),
*"Lost in Space" (1965–1968),
*"The Time Tunnel" (1966–1967),
*"Land of the Giants" (1967–1970) and
*"The Swiss Family Robinson" (1975–1976).
*"Code Red" (1981–1982).There is also a movie, "City Beneath the Sea" (1971), intended as a pilot for a new series, using many of the props from "Voyage". Allen's science-fiction series became notorious for their inclusion of absurd science and an emphasis on the juvenile 'sci-fi' element.Fact|date=August 2007

In the 1970s Allen returned to cinema screens and was the most popular name associated with the decade's fad for the disaster film genre. Allen produced the hugely successful "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) and "The Towering Inferno" (1974), which he also co-directed. He directed-produced "The Swarm" (1978), and produced/directed "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" (1979) and "When Time Ran Out" (1980).

In the late 1970s/1980s Allen sporadically returned to tv with mini-series like "The Return of Captain Nemo/The Amazing Captain Nemo" (1978) and a star-studded version of "Alice in Wonderland" (1985). He was planning on making a star studded musical version of Pinocchio, but a decline in health caused an early retirement in 1986 after his last film made.

Irwin died from a heart attack in 1991.

In popular culture

*Killdozer's 1989 song "Man vs. Nature" referred to Allen, calling him "the Master of Realism." The song's three verses mention three prominent disaster films of the 1970s, including "The Poseidon Adventure", "Earthquake" (which has nothing to do with Allen, in spite of the song's misattribution), and "The Towering Inferno".

*The "Irwin Allen rock-and-roll" is when the camera is rocked as the on-screen cast rushes from side to side on the set, simulating a ship being tossed around. It is employed in many episodes of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea".

*Allen received the third ever Worst Career Achievement Golden Raspberry Award in 1985.

*The "Irwin Allen con" featured in Ocean's Thirteen is to manipulate the mark using the threat of a large natural disaster.

*On January 3 2008 BBC Four showed a night of Allen's work which included a 1995 documentary called "The Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen" [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160266 The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995) (TV) ] ] along with episodes of Lost In Space, Land of the Giants and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/listings/programme.shtml?day=today&service_id=4544&filename=20080103/20080103_2110_4544_10545_90 BBC - BBC Four Listings - Programmes ] ]

References

*Lear, Linda. "Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature". New York: Henry Holt, 1997. ISBN 0-8050-3428-5

External links

*imdb name|id=0000740|name=Irwin Allen
* [http://www.iann.net/ The Irwin Allen News Network] (Website covering all the TV shows and movies of Irwin Allen)
* [http://irwinallenmemories.com/ Irwin Allen Memories]
* [http://www.irreverentirwinallen.com The Irreverent Guide to Irwin Allen Television] ("irreverent" episodic reviews from 1960's Irwin Allen television.)
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4038 Irwin Allen's Gravesite]
* [http://www.vttbots.com/page57.html Mike's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Zone-Irwin Allen]
* [http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/timetunnelfanforum/ THE TIME TUNNEL FAN FORUM]
* [http://www.uncleodiescollectibles.com/ Uncle Odie's Collectibles] (A website dedicated to all things Irwin Allen.)
* [http://www.iann.net/vaults/ The Irwin Allen Photo Vaults]
*

Persondata
NAME= Allen, Irwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film producer
DATE OF BIRTH= June 12, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York, New York USA
DATE OF DEATH= November 2, 1991
PLACE OF DEATH= Santa Monica, California USA