Irwin Allen

Birthday: 12 June 1916, New York City, New York, USA

A graduate of New York's Columbia School of Journalism, Irwin Allen was a magazine editor, the producer/director of a radio show and the owner of an advertising agency before entering film production in the 1950s. His documentary, The Sea Around Us (1953), won an Academy Award. A successful TV series producer (The Time Tunnel (1966), Lost in Space (1965)), Allen was nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" in the 1970s due to the tremendous success of his two special effects-laden epics, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). Show less «

I'm not going to run out of disasters. Pick up the daily newspaper -- which is my best source for cr...Show more »

I'm not going to run out of disasters. Pick up the daily newspaper -- which is my best source for crisis stories -- and you'll find 10 or 15 every day. People chase fire engines, flock to car crashes. They thrive on tragedy. It's unfortunate, but in my case it's fortunate. The bigger the tragedy, the bigger the audience. Show less «

Nightmares are my best source of entertainment.

[on catering to actors] I suffer along with them. We have many story conferences. As a writer/direct...Show more »

[on catering to actors] I suffer along with them. We have many story conferences. As a writer/director/producer, I have triple agonies. I'm bucking to be known as the most sympathetic producer in town. Show less «

Me, if I can blow up the world in the first ten seconds, the show is a flop.

Starting a picture, starts with a picture.

[on the budget for The Towering Inferno (1974)] Eleven million, one hundred and ten thousand dollars...Show more »

[on the budget for The Towering Inferno (1974)] Eleven million, one hundred and ten thousand dollars for miniatures? It's only money. Show less «

Irwin Allen

Irwin Allen's FILMOGRAPHY

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