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I'm tired of being
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I'm tired of being
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| "I'm tired
of being know as a 'nice guy.' That is, if you use the term to mean someone
who's pleasantly blah or overly agreeable. Actually, I'm a opinionated
cuss with a fair streak of stubbornness about many things."
At first glance, this seems a surprising statement to come from smiling, easy-going Bernie Allen. Bernie, who holds down a key spot in the WLS mid-day lineup, is one of the most popular personalities on the Channel 89 staff. A longtime (18 years) favorite of Midwest listeners, he's liked by all his fellow disc jockies and announcers. In fact, he's popular with everyone at the station from the mailroom boys to the top executives. Lest he be suspected of swigging Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde potions, Bernie hastens to explain: "What I'm really saying is that I have strong likes and dislikes - about people, books, art, music etcetera - as everyone else does. But I make it a point not to let my peeves or prejudices show too much, particularly on the job." Apparently Bernie has nothing to worry about on that score, for his show is deftly diversified and has an all around appeal. The show's music, for example spans the pop music spectrum from big beat numbers to ballads. Such a smooth balance is a tribute to Bernie's keen musical ear. Bernie began developing that ear and his other talents at a truly tender age. At four, he was dancing in school shows staged by his mother, a noted dance instructor in Chicago. The family then moved to Hollywood, and Bernie turned pro at seven by signing on as an actor in the famed Our gang comedy films. A publicity photo of that era shows him as a tow-haired little boy with an angelic face, but Bernie vows he was far from a "heavenly" child: "I was properly cast as an Our Gang-er. I got into puhlenty of mischief around the old homestead." After outgrowing the Our Gang series, Bernie set his sights on radio. He became a youthful regular on the Screen Guild Theater and the Jack Armstrong series. "Parents will remember the Jack Armstrong Show as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. of it's day," Bernie quips. Bernie came back to his birthplace when a promising radio job with the Chicago Board of Education outlet, WBEZ, popped up. He stayed on here, too even turning down a Paramount screen test offer in the late 40's. Bernie served on two major Chicago stations in the ensuing years and built up a big fan following before joining WLS in the summer of 1963. Live performances are still a big part of Bernie's life. As a self-described "baritone crooner," he's sung at several posh Chicagoland supper clubs, one of the most recent being the Sheraton-O'hare. And a while back at a local summer theatre he turned in a fine job as a supporting actor in a comedy that starred Morey Amsterdam of "Dick Van Dyke Show" fame. Bernie isn't the only member of the Allen household with a show business background. His wife, Tommie, was an active professional singer before her marriage. The Allens have two adopted children: a 1-year-old daughter, Ann-Kay, and a 2-year-old son, Christian. With typical parental pride, Bernie claims even Christian can already sing - "not well but loudly." Entertainment in his blood, Bernie is high on the record hops he hosts regularly. "I find I work off more pounds and frustrations at these teen shindigs than I ever do out on the golf course or in a bowling alley," Bernie says. "Golf and bowling are my sports, but record hops can be just as much fun." Baseball great Leo Durocher, the manager of the Chicago Cubs, is famous for a remark he once made to the effect that "nice guys finish last." But Bernie Allen in spite of being leery of the "nice guy" tag, is a fellow who's proved that friendliness - when backed by talent and energy - does pay off. |
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