Steve Allen, 78, the zany, cerebral and vastly prolific comedian, actor and writer who hosted television's original "Tonight" show, composed an estimated 4,000 songs and wrote 40 books on topics ...

The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, with some of the Tonight regulars, ran on CBS during the summer of 1967, and Allen was host of a similar variety show on NBC in 1980 and 1981.

In his reaction to my Nov. 3 appreciation of Steve Allen, reader Dan Anzel (Saturday Letters, Nov. 11) proves that memories--mine and his--do grow shaky after half a century.

Steve Allen, the zany comedian and witty social commentator whose career zipped at warp speed from one occupation to the next—from hosting the original "Tonight" show to lecturing about morality ...