Editing Irwin Allen

{{short description|American filmmaker (1916–1991)}}
{{distinguish|Irving Allen}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Irwin Allen
| image              = 
| birth_name         = Irwin O. Cohen
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1916|6|12}}
| birth_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1991|11|2|1916|6|12}}
| death_place        = [[Santa Monica, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery]]
| othername          = 
| occupation         = {{hlist|[[Film producer]]|[[film director]]|[[television producer]]|[[screenwriter]]}}
| yearsactive        = 1950–1986
| known_for          = Science fiction movies and television series
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Sheila Mathews Allen|Sheila Mathews]]|1974}}
| mother             = Eva Davis
| father             = Joseph Cohen
}}
'''Irwin Allen''' (born '''Irwin O. Cohen'''; June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991)<ref name=master/> was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in [[science fiction]], then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the [[disaster film]] genre.<ref name="master">{{cite book |last=Law |first=John William |title=Master of Disaster: Irwin Allen – The Disaster Years |date=April 2, 2008 |publisher=aplomb publishing |isbn=978-0-9665676-6-3 |edition=1st |location=San Francisco, California |at=Preface |language=en-us |quote=Much like Alfred Hitchcock earned the title Master of Suspense, Irwin Allen earned the title Master of Disaster.}}</ref> His most successful productions were ''[[The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)|The Poseidon Adventure]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Towering Inferno]]'' (1974). He also created and produced the popular 1960s [[science fiction on television|science-fiction television]] series ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)|Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'', ''[[Lost in Space]]'', ''[[The Time Tunnel]]'', and ''[[Land of the Giants]]''.

== Biography ==
===Early life===
Irwin Allen was born in New York City, the son of poor [[Russian Jews|Jewish]] immigrants (Joseph Cohen and Eva Davis) from Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Cushman|first1=Marc|last2=Alfred|first2=Mark|title=Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea|publisher=Jacobs Brown Press|url=http://www.jacobsbrownmediagroup.com/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea.html|quote=Still, it all began with Allen, the son of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants, and his series called Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.|access-date=January 21, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072118/http://www.jacobsbrownmediagroup.com/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He majored in journalism and advertising at [[Columbia University]] after attending [[City College of New York]] for a year. He left college because of financial difficulties caused by the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].

===Radio and journalism===
Allen moved to Hollywood in 1938, where he edited ''Key'' magazine followed by an 11-year stint producing his own program at radio station [[KLAC]]. The success of the radio show led to him being offered his own [[gossip column]], "Hollywood Merry-Go-Round", which was [[Print syndication|syndicated]] to 73 newspapers.<ref>Irwin Allen; 'Towering Inferno' Producer Los Angeles Times 3 November 1991: VCA29.</ref>

He produced his first TV program, a celebrity panel show also called ''Hollywood Merry-Go-Round'' with announcer, and later ''[[Tonight Show]]'' host, [[Steve Allen]] (no relation), before moving into film production.<ref name="Fischer2011">{{cite book |author=Fischer |first=Dennis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7msrAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |title=Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895&ndash;1998 |date=17 June 2011 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8505-5 |pages=31–41 |language=en-us}}</ref>

===RKO===
Allen became involved in film production at a time when power was beginning to shift from [[Film studio|studios]] to [[Talent agent|talent agencies]]. He put together packages consisting of directors, actors, and a script, and sold them to film studios.

Allen's first film as producer was ''[[Where Danger Lives]]'' (1950) with [[Robert Mitchum]], directed by [[John Farrow]] and written by [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]]. Allen produced it with [[Irving Cummings Jr.|Irving Cummings, Jr]]. The two men made two more films for RKO: ''[[Double Dynamite]]'' (1951) with [[Jane Russell]], [[Groucho Marx]], and [[Frank Sinatra]], and ''[[A Girl in Every Port (1952 film)|A Girl in Every Port]]'' (1952), again with Marx and [[William Bendix]].

Allen made his directorial debut with the documentary, ''[[The Sea Around Us (film)|The Sea Around Us]]'' (1953).<ref name="Fischer2011"/> This was based on [[Rachel Carson]]'s best-selling [[The Sea Around Us|book of the same name]]. It largely used [[stock footage]] and won the 1952 [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].<ref name="Webber2004">{{cite book |author=Webber |first=Roy P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=le9QoR0JyEYC&pg=PA96 |title=The Dinosaur Films of Ray Harryhausen: Features, Early 16mm Experiments and Unrealized Projects |publisher=McFarland |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7864-1666-0 |pages=96– |language=en-us}}</ref>{{rp|87}} Carson was so disappointed with Allen's final version of the script that she never again sold film rights to her work.<ref>Lear, 239–240</ref> The film includes gory images of whales being killed. It was a success, making a profit over $2 million.<ref>Two-Hour Nature Picture To Cover Two Billion Years: Hollywood Letter By Richard Dyer MacCann. The Christian Science Monitor 30 Sep 1955: 5</ref>

Allen returned to producing with the [[3-D film|three-dimensional film]] ''[[Dangerous Mission]]'' (1954), his final film for RKO. It starred [[Victor Mature]], Bendix, [[Piper Laurie]], and [[Vincent Price]].

===Warner Brothers===
Allen directed a semidocumentary about the evolution of life, ''[[The Animal World (film)|The Animal World]]'' (1956). Again, making use of stock footage, but he also included a 9-minute [[stop-motion]] dinosaur sequence by [[Ray Harryhausen]]. Before release, he toned down the gore from both the live action and the animation.

The film was released by Warner Bros. So was Allen's next film, ''[[The Story of Mankind (1957 film)|The Story of Mankind]]'' (1957), a very loose adaptation of the [[Hendrik Willem van Loon]] book of [[The Story of Mankind|the same name]]. It featured cameos from the [[Marx Brothers]], [[Ronald Colman]], [[Hedy Lamarr]], Vincent Price, and [[Dennis Hopper]]. The actors were each paid $2,500 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|2500|1957|fmt=c}} today) for a single day's work with Allen relying on stock footage for the rest of the film.<ref>{{cite news|title='Story of Mankind' Put on Full-Scale Footing|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 21, 1956|page=27}}</ref>

Allen co-wrote (with Bennett) and produced ''[[The Big Circus]]'' (1959) for [[Allied Artists Pictures]] with Mature, [[Red Buttons]], [[Peter Lorre]], and Price. Allen was interested in making "an exciting, colorful show – something the public can't see on television."<ref>{{cite news|last=Pryor|first=Thomas M.|title='Big Circus' Troupe Works to Equal Big Top's Authenticity and Color|work=New York Times|date=January 11, 1959|page=X7}}</ref> Allen was fascinated by circuses as a child and briefly worked as a carnival barker at age 16. In addition to ''The Big Circus'', he worked circus-themed episodes into his TV programs ''Lost in Space'' and ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' and would try for years to get a widescreen, 3-D project called ''Circus, Circus, Circus'' into theaters.<ref>{{Cite web|last1= Bond |first1=Jeff |title= The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen, First Edition May, 2019 ISBN 978-0-9839175-7-1  |publisher=Creature Features|url=http://www.creaturefeatures.com  |quote=Another summer job that Irwin took on, reportedly at age 16, was as a barker for a Skee-Ball alley at a carnival—a gig that initiated a lifelong fascination with circuses.}}</ref>

===20th Century Fox===
====Films as director====
Allen then went to [[20th Century Fox]], where he co-wrote (with Bennett), produced, and directed three films: ''[[The Lost World (1960 film)|The Lost World]]'' (1960), from the novel by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'' (1961), and ''[[Five Weeks in a Balloon (film)|Five Weeks in a Balloon]]'' (1962).

[[Willis O'Brien]], who had also worked on the pioneering special effects of the original ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|Lost World]]'' (1925) and ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'' (1933) films, was disappointed when Allen opted to save time by using live alligators and lizards instead of stop-motion animation for the film's dinosaurs. ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' was a scientifically dubious, [[Jules Verne]]-style adventure to save the world from a burning [[Van Allen belt]]. It was the basis for his later television series of the same name. The family film, ''Five Weeks in a Balloon'', was a loose adaptation of [[Five Weeks in a Balloon|the Verne novel]].<ref name="Fischer2011"/> ''Lost World'' was a moderate hit and ''Voyage'' was very successful. ''Five Weeks'' was a box-office disappointment.

====Television series====
With 20th Century Fox scaling back their film productions due to their huge expenditure on films such as ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963), in the mid-1960s, Allen concentrated on television, producing several overlapping science-fiction series for [[20th Century Fox Television]]. They featured special effects by [[L. B. Abbott]], who won three [[Emmy]]s for his work.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|204}} Allen used many of the same craftsmen on his TV shows as he did on his films, including composer [[John Williams]] and [[costume designer]] and general assistant [[Paul Zastupnevich]].<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|6}}

''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' ([[American Broadcasting Company|ABC TV]], 1964–1968) established Allen's reputation as a television producer. The financial viability of the series was assisted by the reuse of many of the sets from the film; the cost of the ''[[USOS Seaview|Seaview]]'' submarine sets alone exceeded the budget of a typical pilot show of the era.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|11}} The series also benefited from Allen's by-now notorious use of stock film footage, particularly from ''[[Hell and High Water (1954 film)|Hell and High Water]]'' (1954), ''[[The Enemy Below]]'' (1957), and Allen's ''The Lost World''.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|16}}

Allen had originally intended ''Lost in Space'' ([[CBS|CBS TV]], 1965–1968) to be a family show, a science-fiction version of ''[[The Swiss Family Robinson]]''.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|116}} It quickly developed into a children's show with episodes concentrating on the young Will Robinson, the robot, and especially, the comic villain, Dr. Smith.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|36–7}} The show used several science-fiction elements that have since become common, such as the comic robot (e.g. ''[[Silent Running]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'') or android (''[[Logan's Run (film)|Logan's Run]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''), the heroic child ([[Meeno Peluce]] in ''[[Voyagers!]]'', [[Wesley Crusher]]), and the wacky, lovable alien (Albert in ''[[Alien Nation]]'', [[Vir Cotto|Vir]] in ''[[Babylon 5]]'').<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|124}}

''The Time Tunnel'' (ABC TV, 1966–1967), with each episode set in a different historical time period, was an ideal vehicle for Allen's talent for smoothly mixing live action with stock footage from films set in the same period. A change in network management led to the show being cancelled after just one season.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|204}} Allen cited ''The Time Tunnel'' as his favorite of all of his television productions and he would attempt to revamp and relaunch the concept numerous times including a filmed pilot in 1976 called ''The Time Travelers'' and unfilmed concepts that included one called ''Time Travel Agency'' and another called ''The Time Project'' that went through several incarnations.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bond |first1=Jeff |title=The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen |url=http://www.creaturefeatures.com |publisher=Creature Features |pages=556–568}}</ref>

''Land of the Giants'' (ABC TV, 1968–1970) was the most expensive show of its day at roughly $250,000 per episode.<ref name="Lisanti2001">{{cite book |author=Lisanti |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_E6M3LEGP4C&pg=PA239 |title=Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7864-0868-9 |pages=239– |language=en-us}}</ref> As another [[castaway]]-themed show, Allen incorporated some of the successful elements from ''Lost in Space'', although this time he did not allow the treacherous character to dominate the series.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|273}}

====Television films ====
Allen also produced several television films, such as ''[[City Beneath the Sea (1971 film)|City Beneath the Sea]]'', which recycled many props and models from ''Voyage'', ''Lost in Space,'' and ''[[The Man from the 25th Century]]''. Though intended as a pilot for a new TV series project, his small-screen success from the 1960s largely eluded him in the 1970s.

''Lost in Space''{{'}}s [[Bill Mumy]] said of Allen that, while he was very good at writing television pilots that sold, his unwillingness to spend money hurt his shows' quality once on the air. A monster costume that appeared on one of his shows, for example, would appear on another a few weeks later with new paint.<ref name="pioneersoftv">"Science Fiction". ''Pioneers of Television'', January 18, 2011.</ref> Writer Jon Abbott described Allen as paradoxical. "Here was a man who, when told the cost of a spaceship for a ''Lost in Space'' alien, snapped, 'Let him walk!' ... and then let the show be cancelled rather than take a cut in the budget".<ref name="Abbott2006">{{cite book |author=Abbott |first=Jon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gq-uf3wB-TcC&pg=PA6 |title=Irwin Allen Television Productions, 1964–1970: A Critical History of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants |date=3 October 2006 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8662-5 |pages=6– |language=en-us}}</ref>

In 1969, Allen signed a three-picture deal with [[Avco Embassy]] to make ''The Poseidon Adventure'', ''No Man's World'', and ''Almost Midnight'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Avco, Irwin Allen Make 3-Film Deal|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 23, 1969|page=C20}}</ref> but the deal did not lead to any films there.

====''The Poseidon Adventure'' and ''The Towering Inferno''====
In the 1970s, Allen produced the most successful films of his career: ''[[The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)|The Poseidon Adventure]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Towering Inferno]]'' (1974), directing the action scenes for both. Their showmanship was compared to that of [[P. T. Barnum]] and [[Cecil B. DeMille]], and they prompted scholarly analysis of the subsequent popularity of the [[Disaster film|disaster genre]].<ref name=variety>{{cite web| url=https://variety.com/1991/more/news/irwin-allen-99126714/| title=Irwin Allen| work=Variety| date=November 10, 1991| access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref>

''The Poseidon Adventure'' was based on the [[Paul Gallico]] novel [[The Poseidon Adventure (novel)|of the same name]] and directed by [[Ronald Neame]]. Unable to find a studio to fully back the venture, Allen raised half the $5 million budget, with 20th Century-Fox putting up the rest; the film eventually grossed over $100 million. L.&nbsp;B.&nbsp;Abbott and [[A. D. Flowers]] won a [[Special Achievement Academy Award]] for the film's optical and physical effects.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|38}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|title='Poseidon's' Unsinkable Irwin Allen|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 25, 1972|page=C1}}</ref>

Allen hoped to follow up on the success of ''The Poseidon Adventure'' with a film based on the novel ''[[The Tower (Stern novel)|The Tower]]'', but the film rights had already been taken by [[Warner Bros.]] He looked for an alternative and found a similar story in ''[[The Glass Inferno]]''. Rather than produce competing movies, 20th Century-Fox and Warner Bros. agreed to coproduce ''The Towering Inferno'' with a script based on both novels and a $14 million budget. It was the first time two major studios made a film together, splitting the costs. Despite its nearly three-hour run time, the film, directed by [[John Guillermin]], was a hit and won three Academy Awards.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|39}}

====Final television films for Fox====
The success of the films led to Allen receiving an offer to make three television films. "I missed television", said Allen. "There's a hysteria and an excitement in television that exists nowhere else in business."<ref name="los"/>

Each was made for Fox television at a budget of $1 million with a view to possibly going to series. They screened on different networks: ''[[Adventures of the Queen]]'' (1975), ''[[The Swiss Family Robinson (1975 film)|The Swiss Family Robinson]]'' (1975), and ''[[Time Travelers (1976 film)|Time Travelers]]'' (1976). Only ''Swiss Family'' was picked up for a series, running for 20 episodes.<ref name="los">{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Cecil|title=Disaster Master Launches Grand Slam|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 14, 1975|page=G1}}</ref>

===Return to Warner Bros.===
Allen left 20th Century Fox when a change in management in 1976 cancelled the remaining three planned disaster films, with incoming studio chief [[Alan Ladd, Jr.]] feeling that the disaster genre had run its course. Allen was offered a deal at Warner Bros. by Jon Calley, who built an office building for Allen. Allen continued to work there for the remainder of his career.<ref>{{cite news|title=Irwin Allen, Warners Sign Production Deal|work=Los Angeles Times|date=21 July 1975|page=E13}}</ref>

The rise of new filmmakers such as [[George Lucas]] reportedly caught him off guard. According to one book, the success of ''[[Star Wars: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' (1977) bewildered him; he could not understand how a film with apparently no stars or love story could enrapture audiences so fervently.<ref>Jenkins, Gerry, ''Empire Building'', [[Simon & Schuster]] Ltd., 1997, pp. 180–181.</ref>

Allen produced three made-for-TV disaster movies: ''[[Flood!]]'' (1976), ''[[Fire! (1977 film)|Fire!]]'' (1977), and ''[[Hanging by a Thread (1979 film)|Hanging by a Thread]]'' (1979). He also made ''[[Viva Knievel!]]'' (1977), ''[[The Amazing Captain Nemo]]'' (1978), and ''[[The Memory of Eva Ryker]]'' (1980).

For theatrical release, he produced and directed the big-budgeted ''[[The Swarm (1978 film)|The Swarm]]'' (1978) and ''[[Beyond the Poseidon Adventure]]'' (1979), and produced ''[[When Time Ran Out]]'' (1980). These three films were back-to-back-to-back box office disappointments, with the final failure of ''When Time Ran Out...'' effectively ending his theatrical film career.

Allen also purchased the rights to several [[Marvel Comics]] characters including Daredevil, Black Widow and others for television adaptation in the 1980s; he commissioned a script for a ''Daredevil'' pilot from writer [[Stirling Silliphant]], but the project never went before cameras.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Bond|first1=Jeff|title=The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen|publisher=Creature Features|url=http://www.creaturefeatures.com.html|page=561}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

"No, I'm not going to run out of disasters", he said in a 1977 interview. "Pick up the daily newspaper, which is my best source for crisis stories, and you'll find 10 or 15 every day ... People chase fire engines, flock to car crashes. People thrive on tragedy. It's unfortunate, but in my case, it's fortunate. The bigger the tragedy, the bigger the audience."<ref>Irwin Allen, Producer Of Disaster Films, Dies ''The Washington Post'' 4 November 1991: b06.</ref>

===Final films===
Allen later went to Columbia to make a short-lived TV series, ''[[Code Red (U.S. TV series)|Code Red]]'' (1981–1982). His last films for Warner Bros. were ''[[The Night the Bridge Fell Down]]'' (1983) and ''[[Cave-In!]]'' (1979, though not released until 1983). Shortly before ''Cave-In!'' made its TV debut, Allen was awarded a Worst Career Achievement [[Golden Raspberry Award]].

While at Columbia, Allen made a $14&nbsp;million TV version of ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1985 TV film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite news|title=Irwin Allen Filming 'Alice' for TV|work=New York Times|date=April 8, 1985|page=C26}}</ref> His last credit was the TV movie ''[[Outrage! (1986 film)|Outrage!]]'' (1986).

Allen planned to make a star-studded musical of ''[[Pinocchio]]'', but his declining health forced his retirement in 1986. He died in [[Los Angeles]] from a [[heart attack]] on November 2, 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/227/000173705/|title=Irwin Allen|work=nndb.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Hugo|title=Irwin Allen; 'Towering Inferno' Producer|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-03-mn-1485-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=November 3, 1991}}</ref> He is buried in the Garden of Heritage 5, upper-level wall crypt 39J in [[Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery]] in Los Angeles.<ref>Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons (entry 190) by Scott Wilson</ref>

==Legacy==
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.<ref name="SFML II">{{cite book |last1=Taraldsvik |first1=Morten Schive |title=A Sci-Fi Movie Lexicon II |date=January 5, 2010 |publisher=[[Lulu (company)|Lulu Publishers]] |isbn=9781445262871 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fr8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA22}}</ref> It is employed in many episodes of ''Lost in Space'' and ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea''. This camera technique was employed in the ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode "[[First Spaceship on Venus]]". Here, the camera tilts to simulate the spacecraft being hit. During this scene, Joel shouts out, "Irwin Allen presents...".

Allen's career in film and TV was the subject of a 1995 documentary, ''The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen'', produced and directed by [[Kevin Burns]], co-founder of [[Foxstar Productions]], originally set up as the production unit responsible for creating a series of ''[[Alien Nation]]'' movies for television. Numerous cast members and associates from various Irwin Allen projects appeared in the film, lending recollections of their time working with him.

In 1994, while senior VP of Foxstar, Burns founded Van Ness Films, a nonfiction and documentary production unit. That same year, he met Jon Jashni, a Fox film executive who shared Burns' interest in Allen's works. In 1998, the two collaborated on a TV retrospective special, ''Lost in Space Forever''. Hosted by [[John Laroquette]], it chronicled the series' creation and run on TV in the 1960s and beyond, and featured appearances by Bill Mumy, [[Jonathan Harris]], [[June Lockhart]], [[Angela Cartwright]], [[Mark Goddard]], and [[Marta Kristen]], as well as film footage of vintage interviews with [[Guy Williams (actor)|Guy Williams]]. Also appearing were [[Bob May (actor)|Bob May]], who donned the robot suit, and [[Dick Tufeld]], who supplied the character's voice. The flight deck set of the ''[[Jupiter 2]]'' spacecraft from the series was recreated as the backdrop for parts of the special.

It also was used as a vehicle to promote the 1998 [[Lost in Space (film)|''Lost in Space'']] film version of the original television series, starring [[William Hurt]], [[Matt LeBlanc]], [[Gary Oldman]], [[Lacey Chabert]], [[Mimi Rogers]], and [[Heather Graham]].

Burns and Jashni later formed Synthesis Entertainment, and began developing and producing remakes of, and sequels to, several Allen properties, including a 2002 [[Fox Television]] pilot for an updated version of ''The Time Tunnel'', which did not sell, and remakes of films including ''Poseidon'' (2006) and ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea''. The 2002 TV pilot was included as a bonus feature on Volume 2 of Fox's 2006 DVD release of the 30-episode ''Time Tunnel'' (1966–1967) TV series.

==Partial filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Producer
! Writer
! Notes
|-
|1950
|''[[Where Danger Lives]]''
|
|{{yes}}
|
|
|-
|1954
|''[[Dangerous Mission]]''
|
|{{yes}}
|
|
|-
|1957
|''[[The Story of Mankind (film)|The Story of Mankind]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1960
|''[[The Big Circus]]''
|
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|''[[The Lost World (1960 film)|The Lost World]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|1961
|''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|1962
|''[[Five Weeks in a Balloon (film)|Five Weeks in a Balloon]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|1972
|''[[The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)|The Poseidon Adventure]]''
|
|{{yes}}
|
|Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
|-
|1974
|''[[The Towering Inferno]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|Directed action sequences<br>Nominated—[[Academy Award for Best Picture]]
|-
|1978
|''[[The Swarm (1978 film)|The Swarm]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|
|-
|1979
|''[[Beyond the Poseidon Adventure]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|
|-
|1980
|''[[When Time Ran Out]]''
|
|{{yes}}
|
|
|-
|}

'''Documentary films'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Producer
! Writer
! Notes
|-
|1953
|''[[The Sea Around Us (film)|The Sea Around Us]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|[[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]]
|-
|1956
|''[[The Animal World (film)|The Animal World]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
||-
|}

==In popular culture==
On January 3, 2008, [[BBC Four]] showed a night of Allen's work which included the 1995 documentary ''The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen''{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} along with episodes of ''[[Lost in Space]]'', ''[[Land of the Giants]]'' and ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)|Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]''.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title=BBC Four – The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008l40d}}</ref>

Episode 57 of the Disney TV series ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]'', broadcast on December 8, 1987 and titled "[[List of DuckTales (1987 TV series) episodes|The Uncrashable Hindentanic]]", features a character called "Irwin Mallard" who films the destruction of [[Scrooge McDuck]]'s airship called the ''Hindentanic'' in the disaster movie style of Irwin Allen.<ref name="BBC"/>

"The Irwin Allen Show" was a skit on ''[[Second City Television|SCTV]]''. The Irwin Allen Show was a [[Johnny Carson]]–style talk show with Allen as the host. The guests were stars in Allen's movies, and they were each individually victims of an Irwin Allen–style disaster while a guest on the talk show (e.g. Red Buttons was attacked by a swarm of bees).<ref>{{YouTube|j0Gfl-Rzsn0|The Irwin Allen Show (A skit on SCTV)}}</ref>

In the film ''[[Ocean's Thirteen]]'' (2007) Linus Caldwell (played by [[Matt Damon]]) announces aloud to a catatonic Reuben Tishkoff that Rusty Ryan is doing an 'Irwin Allen' which is a reference to the fake earthquake they stage later in the story.

American noise rock band [[Killdozer (band)|Killdozer]] released a song about Irwin Allen's work called "Man vs. Nature".<ref>{{YouTube|o3R0mVqVpyE|Killdozer – Man Vs. Nature}}</ref>

The second half of "[[Marge vs. the Monorail]]," often considered the best episode of the long-running animated comedy ''[[The Simpsons]]'', is a parody of Irwin Allen's disaster films.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zinoman |first1=Jason |title=Conan O'Brien Doesn't Matter* |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/21/arts/television/conan-obrien.html |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=21 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Conan O'Brien on Writing "Marge vs. the Monorail" for "The Simpsons" | work=[[The Howard Stern Show]] | date=November 9, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x46kEaOvXsM|via=YouTube |access-date=April 15, 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Lear |first= Linda |title= Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature |location= New York |publisher= Henry Holt |date= 1997 |isbn= 0805034285 }}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0000740|Irwin Allen}}
* {{find a Grave|grid=4038|name=Irwin Allen}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.iann.net/irwinallen/profile.htm |title= Irwin Allen |publisher= Irwin Allen News Network }} ([https://iann.net/about IANN])
* {{discogs artist|Irwin Allen}}
* {{discogs master|1306114|name=The Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen}}

{{Irwin Allen}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Irwin}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Film directors from New York City]]
[[Category:Film producers from New York City]]
[[Category:Jewish American screenwriters]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Television producers from New York City]]
[[Category:Television show creators]]