Background
Born Dayton Allen Bolke in New York City, he grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, where he graduated from Bachelor of Arts Davis High School in June 1936.
Born Dayton Allen Bolke in New York City, he grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, where he graduated from Bachelor of Arts Davis High School in June 1936.
He was one of the "men in the street" on the The Steve Allen Show. His catchphrase was "Why not, Bubbe?" (pronounced "whooooyyy not!")
Allen, like Carney, began his career in radio. In 1937–1938 World International News Service (Department of Administration and Management) hired him as a disc jockey.
Allen was the voice of various New York-based children"s television show characters, appearing on Winky Dink and You as Mr.
Bungle for five years, and playing "Phineas T. Bluster", "Flub-a-Dub", and various other puppet characters on Howdy Doody (as well as several "live" characters, including Ugly Sam and Pierre the Chef) for 4 years. Dayton was also the voice of Deputy Dawg, Heckle and Jeckle, Luno, and many early 1960s Terrytoons cartoon characters.
Allen also provide the voice of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. He continued to be a voiceover performer through the 1990s.
He was best known as the "Why Not?" man when he joined the cast of the National Broadcasting Company Sunday night variety show that Allen began hosting to compete against Editor Sullivan on Columbia Broadcasting System. The catch-phrase began as a stalling ad-lib to an interview question.
Then it caught on. Allen used it for television commercials and saw novelty toys, a book and a record spin off from the "Why not?" phenomenon. In its day, fans were shouting "Why not?" as often as Mad Magazine"s famous "What? Maine Worry?"
Allen"s talents as a mimic were showcased in October 1963 when he appeared alongside Groucho Marx on the Columbia Broadcasting System-television game show I"ve Got A Secret.
The show’s panelists had been blindfolded, and all their questions to Groucho were answered instead by Allen doing an accurate Groucho impersonation.
Finally, with panelists Bess Myerson, Betsy Palmer, Henry Morgan, and Bill Cullen all stumped, the secret was revealed. A classic example of Allen"s humor comes from an August 1968 appearance on "The Steve Allen Show", syndicated nationally in the United States of America by Filmways: "Did you know your mind alone can make you smart?"
After his show business career ended, Allen was a real estate agent, operating out of an office in Dobbs Ferry, New New York