Morton David Alpern, known as Marty Allen, was a frizzy-haired comedian and actor. His catchprase was "Hello dere". After splitting with his first comedy partner, Mitch DeWood, he became part of the comedy team of Allen & Rossi with Steve Rossi, with hit comedy albums and 44 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Allen appeared on Broadway in Let It Ride! and I Had a Ball. He eventually began performing in TV roles, starting with The Big Valley, The Hollywood Squares, Circus of the Stars, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and game shows. He had an annual tour at military hospitals, and contributed to the American Cancer Society, the Heart Fund, the March of Dimes, Fight for Sight, and served on the board of the Epilepsy Foundation.