Dave Allen

With his incisive digs at politicians and the rituals of religion - Dave Allen was a controversial but influential comedian: providing the inspiration for a later wave of irreverent and alternative comedy.

He was born David O’Mahony in Dublin in 1936, and his mother moved the family to England when he was 14 after his father’s death. At first he wanted to follow his father into journalism - Mr O’Mahony senior had been managing editor of the Irish Times; but after a brief dabble in Fleet Wood..he realised his true calling was comedy and he became a Butlin’s redcoat in Skegness, doing stand-up in theatres and clubs in the winter.

He was also a compere of pop concerts in the swinging sixties and hosted Helen Shapiro’s 1963 UK tour, where her support act was an up-and-coming group called The Beatles.

He then tried his luck in Australia where he became a big name - touring in stand-up and presenting his own tv talk show and radio programmes.

Now a confident tv performer, he returned to the UK for ITV’s Tonight with Dave Allen before moving to the BBC, where his own shows ran for 11 years.

Cigarette in hand and sitting on a tall chair, brushing the ash - sometimes imaginary - from his suit - he’d tell drawn out stories - usually with an unexpected and hilarious punchline and occasionally referring to his missing left index finger,  interspersed with cutting-edge satirical sketches. The shows made him one of our biggest comedy names.

Aside from the comedy, he made tv documentaries featuring social issues and appeared in serious drama, including an Alan Bennett tv play.

In the late nineties, ten years before his death at the age of 68, he drifted into semi-retirement ..seen on our screens less and less often, and perfectly content to leave the comedy to a generation he’d influenced so much.

From him it was Goodnight, thank you and may your God go with you.