This is about the baseball player. For the musical project of Travis McCoy called Bernie Allen, see Bernie Allen (band).Bernard Keith "Bernie" Allen (born April 16, 1939) was a Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and Montreal Expos. At 6' 0" and 185 lbs, Allen was a second-baseman for most of his career; playing over 900 games at the position. By the 1971 season, he was splitting his time between second and third base.
He had occasional roles in a number of movies and TV shows, usually playing either a mobster or a Vegas comedian. He played the latter in a quick scene in Raging Bull (1980).
2
He became notorious for showing up at events to which he was not invited and barging in, often as his shell-shocked German general character. He once crashed Martin & Lewis's Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Allen's German character got him a brief film role in the film The Producers (1967) in which he played the auditioning Hitler who tried to sing "The Little Wooden Boy."
3
A former diner owner ("Bernie's Luncheonette" in the Bronx) before his comic career started up, he lost the restaurant in part due to a gambling addiction.
4
Got his big break from prizefighter Rocky Graziano who promoted him and gave him his stage name, later introducing him to comedienne Martha Raye. He worked with Raye for over 10 years.
5
Chunky, bug-eyed veteran nightclub comic who counted among his comic pairings Redd Foxx and 'Steve Rossi (I)" of "Marty Allen & St4eve Rossi" fame. Known for his racy material, Bernie was with Rossi from 1972-1977) calling themselves "The Real Allen & Rossi," then went solo.
6
He was wounded in the legs by shrapnel in France during WWII, supposedly minutes after first going into battle.