Editing Steve Allen (section)

==Early life==
Allen was born in New York City, the only child of Billy Allen ({{ne}} '''Carroll Abler'''), of [[German Americans|German ancestry]], and [[Belle Montrose]] (born '''Isabelle Donohue'''), a husband-and-wife [[vaudeville]] comedy team.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Stephen-Allen.html |title=Stephen Allen Biography (1921–2000) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=2013-02-21}}</ref> His birth name was Stephen Valentine Allen, but he later acquired two additional names, Patrick and William, during his childhood.<ref name=ATAS>{{cite web |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/steve-allen?clip=20775 |title=Steve Allen – Television Academy Interviews |date=November 25, 1997 |website=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |first1=Steve |last1=Allen |first2=Henry |last2=Colman |access-date=March 17, 2025 }}</ref> His father died when he was an infant.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJMciK6xWrk&t=4m20s Steve Allen 1989 interview by David Hoffman] (posted to YouTube on June 17, 2019)</ref> Allen was raised on the [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]] of Chicago largely by his mother's [[Irish Catholics|Irish Catholic]] family. [[Milton Berle]] called Allen's mother "the funniest woman in [[vaudeville]]."{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Allen ran away from home at 16 and described in interviews the ease with which he took to begging.<ref>{{cite web |last1=David |first1=Hoffman |title=Famous Actor Regrets How He Raised His Baby Boomer Kids |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJMciK6xWrk |website=youtube.com |date=June 17, 2019 |access-date=July 13, 2021}}</ref>

Allen's first radio job was on station [[KFYI|KOY]], in [[Phoenix, Arizona]], after he left Arizona State Teachers College (now [[Arizona State University]]), in [[Tempe, Arizona|Tempe]], while a sophomore.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} He enlisted in the [[United States Army]] during [[World War II]] and was trained as an [[infantry]]man. He served his enlistment period at [[Camp Roberts, California]]. Afterward, he returned to Phoenix, before moving back to California.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}