When he played Reed in the Broadway play Stalag 17 Allans' comedic talents had come to the attention of none other than, Phil Silvers. The great Vaudeville comic made a mental note of the performances given by Mr Melvin, especially the different voices he had managed to hone to perfection.
1955: Phil and master comedy creator, Nat Hiken cast Allan as Corporal Steve Henshaw in their new comedy show You'll Never Get Rich (later to become known as The Phil Silvers Show and informally Bilko).
Henshaw, was one of the devoted right-hand men, alongside Corporal Rocco Barbella, to the scheming Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko.
While Ernie Bilko, head of the motor pool at the fictional Fort Baxter US Army camp in Kansas, was pursuing his scams and get-rich-quick schemes, Henshaw and Corporal Rocco Barbella (Harvey Lembeck) would loyally help him with his ruses. One, in the show called Operation Love,
famously involved Henshaw impersonating the Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Cary Grant and James Stewart on the telephone.
James Stewart Download voice Here (829kb)
In another memorable show, Where There's a Will, his talents could be heard doing a superb parody of Humphrey Bogart.
Humphrey Bogart - Download voice Here (691kb) Maltese Falcon parody
If any voice was needed Allan was the man for the job, be it as a public announcer, race commentator or any Hollywood icon.
"Bilko was a wonderful experience........we kibitzed around a lot and had a lot of fun. One thing that pops into my mind is the show that we used the monkey on (The Court-Martial). We were having lunch that afternoon before we went up to rehearsal, Phil and Harvey and I, and we went up to the hall and there was Nat (Hiken) sitting there and the monkey was skating around on little roller skates and there was no one else in the hall. Phil and Harvey and I walked in and we stood there for a minute and Phil looked and he said, "Say, Nat, I don't want to interrupt anything, but who is that?" And Nat says, "Oh, hi Phil, that's your co-star for this week." He says, "No kidding?" Then he says, "Come on fellas," and we turned around and we walked right out, back down to Lindy's again. And he says, "I'm not going up and work with any monkey!" But it turned out to be one of the funniest shows we did. The show brought us instant fame; we were the talk of the town there for the next four or five years. It was a lot of fun and you felt that you had arrived when the people did recognize you, and it was sort of euphoric in that sense. And then out of that you felt that, well, you're on your way now and that bigger and better things will evolve, which they ultimately did.....well, not bigger and better, maybe, but there was a lot of work that ensued after that." Allan Melvin
Allan very wisely saw the bigger picture and he knew that in order to survive in the world of show biz he would have to move his family to the hub of television, Los Angeles. So Allan, Amalia and their two daughters Amalia and Jennifer made the move to the west coast of the United States.
1961: One of his first acting roles was as Rob Petrie's Army friend Sol Pomeratz on The Dick Van Dyke Show. A part he would continue to play for quite a number of years up until 1966. Allan later said this about his experiences on this show, "Oh, it was marvellous, exhilarating. It was so well written and conceived and the working conditions were so great, working with Carl Reiner and Dick and Mary and the whole
crowd. And it was just a joy because it was a very creative show. It was an early kind of a watershed
ensemble comedy show and I was very fortunate to get involved with it through Aaron Ruben, who
directed a lot of the Phil Silvers stuff. When he came out here, he had me come out and then I did
Andy Griffith’s and Bill Dana’s show, and there was a whole flock of them on one little lot."
He also appeared as hard guy, Orlov on Route 66 in the episode called Incident on a Bridge.
Of this show Allan said, "I did Route 66 in Cleveland. I played a Russian worker in a gravel pit and was
in love with this young girl and it was a big dramatic thing. I had a fight with another actor and we fell off the
big high rig up there. It was a novelty for me to do something like this, I found it much more difficult to do
than comedy, because you don’t really loosen up in the role. It’s hard to explain but maybe it’s counter
to my whole personality. So I found that I needed a little more humour and a little more relaxation in the
role. It seemed kind of constricting to work that way – not as much fun, I guess is what it really boils down
to. After this I didn’t want to do any more dramatic roles. I think it probably is one of the most difficult roles
I’ve played, because it was really something I had to work hard at, it was more demanding for me."
Then came Allan's Alec Guinness moment.
Between 1962 and 1967, he would play eight different parts, a la the great Mr Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets, on The Andy Griffith Show.
These were as Clarence ( Doc ) Malloy in Jailbreak as Detective Bardoli Andy And Barney In
The Big City as Neal in Lawman Barney as Jake in Barney's First Car as the recruiting sergeant
in Ernest T. Bass Joins The Army as the escaped prisoner in Andy's Vacation as Fred Plummer
in Barney's Uniform and as Clyde Plaunt in Howard's Main Event.
Allan recalled his time on this show: "I didn't really play that many heavies in my career, but I was always
a heavy on Andy. It seemed like I was on it more than I was. As far as any specific memories about
working on The Andy Griffith Show, I don't really have any favourite anecdotes. I say the words, take
the money and pop off home. I always enjoyed doing that show. We had a lot of fun doing it. They were a
great bunch. Andy and I hit it off right away, and between Aaron and Andy, I never for a moment felt like a
new kid on the block."
The Aaron quoted by Allan was Aaron Ruben, the man who staged the Bilko show after Nat Hiken had
departed. Aaron was in charge of The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 to 1965, he produced and also
wrote and directed some of the episodes of this CBS smash hit.
1962 (continued):
Allan was the voices of the tyrannical Sergeant Snorkle and the timid GI, Zero in a series of five animated cartoons based around the, Mort Walker created, comic strip Beetle Bailey - these were called Home Sweet Swampy, Hero’s Reward, Pyschological Testing, A Tree is a Tree? and Et Tu Otto.
1963: Beetle Bailey (voiced by Howard Morris) gets top billing with his own cartoon series Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey – taking Allan as Sergeant Snorkle with him. Allan even co-wrote some of the shows himself; including Bye Bye Young Lovers and Tatoo-Tootsie Goodbye.
For more than 50 years the laziest private in the Army had won the daily attention of millions of faithful comic strip readers and kept them in stitches. Beetle Bailey the Private who'd rather drop and nap than drop and do twenty is the wise-cracking joker of the most famous Army camp, Camp Swampy. Where befuddled General Halftrack still hasn t heard from the Pentagon, grumbling Sergeant Snorkle (Allan) has never had a date, Beetle hasn't washed his socks and Cooke still makes those high-bouncing meatballs.
Including the five from 1962, Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey ran for 50 shows from until August 9, 1964.
These were:
Beetle's High Horps
Labor Shortage
Don't Fiddle with The Brass
The Sergeant's Master
The Bull Of The Ball
60 - Count 'em - 60!
Grab Your Socks
The Blue Ribbon
Go Yeast, Young Man
We Love You Sergeant Snorkle
Is This Drip Necessary
A Christmas Tale
For Officers Only
Bye Bye Young Lovers
A Pass Is A Pass Is A Pass
Leap No More My Lady
Tatoo-Tootsie Goodbye
Welsh Rabbit
Cosmo's Naught
Camp Invisible
'V' For Visitors
Shutterbugged
Little Pooch Lost
Halftrack's Navy
Don't Give Up The Swamp
Hoss Laffs
The Red Carpet Treatment
Lucky Beetle
Sweet Sunday
Operation Butler
Bridge On The River "Y"
The Secret Weapon
The Diet
The Heir
Breaking The Leash
The Spy
The Jinx
Courage Encourager
Sgt. Snorkle's Longest Day
Everything's Ducky
The Play's The Thing
Geronimo
Son Of A Gun Of A Gun
Zero's Dizzy Double Date
Dr. Jekyll And Beetle Bailey Download the theme tune Here (201kb)
Also in 1963, Allan made these appearances: As Dr Benjamin Wells in an episode of Empire
called The Loner - On Dr Kildare as Linko in an episode called Jail Ward - Then he met up with
his old Bilko show friend, Billy Sands......when making an appearance on the hit comedy,
McHales Navy....this time playing the role of Brad Devery in A Wreath for McHale.
Allan then turned up in the offbeat comedy show, Grindl as Dr. Millbank. His performance was
in the show entitled Grindl, Impractical Nurse.
The Flintstones came calling for Allan on thirteen occasions between 1963 and 1966. He made his
Flintstones debut on the small screen in Glue for Two which was first broadcast on Halloween Night,
1963.
The episodes were:
Season 4, Episode 7: Glue for Two aired 31 October 1963
Voices: H. Quartz / Jane / Cop / Cat / Bird / Doc
Season 4, Episode 9: Old Lady Betty aired 14 November 1963
Voices: Stony / Sergeant / Elephant
Season 4, Episode 14: Peek-a-Boo Camera aired 19 December 1963
Voices: H. Quartz / Owner / Sportscaster / Sleuth / Doorman / 1st Buffalo
Season 5, Episode 2: Monster Fred aired 24 September 1964
Voice: Dr Len Frankenstone
Season 5, Episode 5: Bedrock Rodeo Round-Up aired 15 October 1964
Voice: Bony Hurdle
Season 5, Episode 21: Sheriff for a Day aired 5 February 1965
Voices: Mr. Nate Slate / Hoss Cartrock / Sheriff Craig
Season 5, Episode 23: The Rolls Rock Caper aired 19 February 1965
Voices: Boudler / First Thug / Pig
Season 5, Episode 24: Superstone aired 26 February 1965
Voices: Superstone / Bugsy / Bartender / Sergeant
Season 6, Episode 5: Circus Business aired 15 October 1965
Voices: Mailman / Head #1 / Tom / Thin Man / Prospector
Season 6, Episode 11: The Masquerade Party aired 26 November 1965
Voices: Additional voices
Season 6, Episode 12: Shinrock-A-Go-Go aired 3 December 1965
Voices: Additional voices
Season 6, Episode 13: Royal Rubble aired 10 December 1965
Voices: Additional voices
Season 6, Episode 21: Boss for a Day aired 25 February 1966
Voices: Additional voices
As Brad Devery in A Wreath for McHale
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Throughout the four-year run of the Bilko show, Allan was a formidable supporting
actor to the former burlesque comedian Phil Silvers. In America, the programme
knocked the legendary Milton Berle Show off its top spot in the ratings, won eight
Emmy Awards and, to the surprise of many, ended when it was still getting great ratings
in 1959. After over 140 episodes, the CBS network saw the potential in continuing to syndicate the show profitably without having to pay out the salaries to the large cast
Left: Corporal Steve Henshaw (Allan) salutes Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko (Phil Silvers).
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As Fred Plummer in Barney's Uniform
Sergeant Snorkle
An excerpt from Sheriff for a Day
Dr Len Frankenstone in Monster Fred
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