{{Short description|American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter}} {{infobox person |image= SheldonAllmanPic.jpg |resting_place = Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery |birth_date=June 8, 1924 |birth_place=Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|2002|1|22|1924|6|8}} |death_place=Culver City, California, U.S. |occupation= {{flatlist| * Actor * singer * songwriter}} |yearsactive=1958–1995 |alma_mater = Los Angeles Conservatory of Music }}
'''Sheldon Allman''' (June 8, 1924 – January 22, 2002) was an American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter.
==Early life and career== Allman was born in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/03/nyregion/sheldon-allman-77-the-voice-of-a-singing-mr-ed-on-television.html|title=Sheldon Allman, 77, the Voice Of a Singing Mr. Ed on Television|work=The New York Times|date=February 3, 2002|accessdate=May 9, 2019}}</ref> He began his singing career with the Royal National Guard<ref name=lat/> during his World War II service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.<ref name=opa/> He moved to Los Angeles in 1949, to attend the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music.<ref name=opa/> After it, he appeared in 12 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sheldon-allman-mn0000019685/biography|title=Sheldon Allman – Biography & History – AllMusic|website=AllMusic}}</ref>
On television, Allman provided the voice of Big H in ''CB Bears'' on CBS<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|author=Terrace, Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|year=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=170|edition=2nd}}</ref> and played Norm Miller in ''Harris Against the World'' on NBC.{{r|etvs|page1=436}} He provided music on the game show ''Three for the Money'' on NBC,{{r|etvs|page1=1077}} and 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".<ref name=lat/> Mr. Allman wrote longer versions of these songs, but never recorded the longer versions.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} He was the lyricist for the theme song to ''George of the Jungle''.<ref name=lat/> 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'',<ref name=lat/> ''Masquerade Party'' and ''It Pays to be Ignorant''.
In 1960, Allman released ''Folk Songs for the 21st Century'',<ref name=lat/> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conelrad.com/media/atomicmusic/sh_boom.php?platter=23|title=CONELRAD: Atomic Platters – Sheldon Allman: Folk Songs for the 21st Century [1960]|website=conelrad.com|access-date=2012-06-01|archive-date=2009-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120175436/http://conelrad.com/media/atomicmusic/sh_boom.php?platter=23|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Crawl Out Through The Fallout" is used in the video game ''Fallout 4'' and the 2024 TV adaptation Fallout during the closing credits of season 1 episode one.
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''<ref name=nyt/> and its sequel, ''Frankenstein Unbound'', the former of which was made into the 1995 film, ''Monster Mash''.<ref name=lat/>
==Death== On January 22, 2002, Allman died of heart failure<ref name=lat>{{cite news|author=Oliver, Myrna|title=Sheldon Allman, 77; Actor, Songwriter, Cartoon Voice|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23861709/sheldon_allman/|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=February 8, 2002|location=California, Los Angeles|page=B 12|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> at his home in Culver City, California, at age 77.<ref name=opa>{{cite book|last=Lentz III|first= Harris M.|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2002: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|year=2003|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780786452071|page=10}}</ref> His interment is in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.{{Citation needed |date=August 2021}}
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Year !Title !Role !class="unsortable" | Notes |- |1959||''Inside the Mafia''||Dyer||Uncredited |- |1959||''Gunsmoke''||Bill||"The Coward" (S4E26) |- |1960||data-sort-value="Twilight Zone, The" | ''The Twilight Zone''||First Alien||<ref name=nyt/> |- |1963||''Hud''||Mr. Thompson|| |- |1964||''Good Neighbor Sam''||Hotel Desk Clerk||Uncredited |- |1965||data-sort-value="Sons of Katie Elder, The" | ''The Sons of Katie Elder''||Harry Evers|| |- |1966||''Nevada Smith''||Sheriff|| |- |1967||''In Cold Blood''||Rev. Jim Post|| |- |1969||''Joniko and the Kush Ta Ka''||Narrator|| |- |1970||''I Dream of Jeannie''||||Uncredited<ref name=nyt/> |- |1971||''Dirty Harry''||||Uncredited<ref name=nyt/> |- |1974||''Little House on the Prairie''||||Uncredited<ref name=nyt/> |- |1976||''All the President's Men''||||Uncredited<ref name=nyt/> |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0021532}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allman, Sheldon}} Category:1924 births Category:2002 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:Singers from Chicago Category:Male actors from Culver City, California Category:Male actors from Chicago Category:Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Canadian male television actors Category:20th-century American male actors Category:20th-century Canadian male actors Category:20th-century Canadian male singers Category:Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Singer-songwriters from California Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Singer-songwriters from Illinois