Biography for
Mel Allen (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 February 1913, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Date of Death

16 June 1996, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Birth Name

Melvin Allen Israel

Nickname

The Voice of the Yankees

Mini Biography

Sixty years ago, Allen started out as an announcer for the New York Yankees. In 1977, he started "This Week in Baseball", a show comprised of the past weeks baseball highlights.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Eli Boorstein

Trivia

Elected to the broadcasters' wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. Was the voice of Fox Movietone Newsreels for many years.

His trademark home run calls, "Ballantine Blasts" and "White Owl Wallops," were advertisements for beer and cigars.

Earned a law degree, although he never worked as a lawyer.

Broadcast for the New York Yankees from 1939 to 1964, the Milwaukee Braves in 1965, the Cleveland Indians in 1968, and the Yankees again from 1976 to 1985.

Mel Allen was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

First recipient (with Red Barber) of the Ford C. Frick Award (presented to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball) in 1978.

While he was awarded the Ford Frick Award by the Hall of Fame, he (and all other recipients) is not considered a member of the Hall.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 7-8. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 1985, along with Jack Brickhouse, and Curt Gowdy.

Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.

Inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Never married or had any children.

Ranked #2 by the American Sportscasters Association in its list of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All-Time (January 2009).

Personal Quotes

How about that!

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