Byron Allen
WHO: Honoree: Byron Allen
EMCEE: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Chair Nicole Mihalka
GUEST SPEAKERS: TBA
WHAT: Dedication of the 2,706th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Television
WHERE: 1749 Vine Street at the famous corner of Hollywood & Vine
WHEN: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 11:30 A.M. PDT.
The event will live-streamed exclusively on www.walkoffame.com
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored Byron Allen with the 2,706th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 11:30 A.M. PDT. The star was dedicated at 1749 Vine Street.
“Byron Allen has show business in his blood! His impressive career started as a young boy and just kept going. We are very proud to be able to pay tribute to Mr. Allen’s stellar career and add his name to our iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Joining Emcee Nicole Mihalka, Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, to unveil the star TBA.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the popular star ceremonies, encourages people who are unable to attend and fans around the world to watch the event exclusively on www.walkoffame.com.
Byron Allen is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios. He was born in Detroit, Michigan. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the urban civil unrest occurring in Detroit and other major U.S. cities that arose from that tragic event, Allen accompanied his mother, Carolyn Folks, on a vacation trip to Los Angeles that summer to visit with family and friends. They ended up staying in Los Angeles permanently.
Allen’s interest in show business began during his childhood, when he would accompany his mother to NBC studios in Burbank where she secured a network internship, a job as a tour guide, and later as a network publicist. Free to roam the NBC soundstages where his mother worked, Allen would sneak onto “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, sit behind Johnny Carson’s desk and play talk show host. After encouragement from Carson himself, Allen took it one step further, and at age 14, put together his first stand-up routine and began performing on amateur nights at comedy clubs throughout the Los Angeles area. After one performance, comedian and “Good Times” sitcom star Jimmie Walker received word of Allen’s act and decided to invite the budding 14-year-old comedian to join his comedy writing team alongside promising young unknown comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman. In 1979, at age 18, Allen made his national television debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” Allen holds the distinction of being the youngest standup comedian ever to have performed on the show. Watching Allen’s network television debut were the producers of NBC’s “Real People”. The producers were so taken with Allen’s comfortable, relaxed style that they made him an offer the very next day to co-host what would become the first reality-based program ever broadcast on television. He accepted, and “Real People” dominated the network’s Wednesday night prime-time for five years.
Allen’s experience hosting the show was his training ground for the business of television. He traveled the nation with a crew and shot segments profiling real people across America’s heartland. So while he was getting his feet wet as a television personality, he was also learning the ins and outs of television production. The experience also prepared him to take on the business of advertising and syndication, which he learned by personally calling station owners, programming directors and advertisers, one-by-one and market-by-market.
In 1993, Allen founded his television production and distribution company, Entertainment Studios (now called Allen Media Group). Headquartered in Los Angeles, Allen Media Group has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Allen Media Group owns 32 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 20 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks, including The Weather Channel, all serving nearly 180 million subscribers. Allen Media Group produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 68 television programs, making it one of the largest Independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations.
Charitable activities are also at the forefront of Allen’s endeavors. For many years, he was the annual host of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Annual “Dinner of Champions.” Most recently, Allen was presented with the Children’s Inspiration Award from the Los Angeles charitable organization A Place Called Home. The Children’s Inspiration Award is presented to an individual whose vision is large enough to embrace the “impossible” and whose tenacity is great enough to achieve things that “can’t be done.” The recipient has overcome hardships and obstacles, and transcended in ways that serve as an inspiration. In 2017, Byron Allen launched his company’s first annual Oscar Gala, an Academy Awards viewing party held on Oscar night – which raised over $1 million for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Allen continues the annual tradition, raising additional millions of dollars for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles ever since.
