Byron Allen
Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is an American businessman, comedian, television producer, philanthropist, and the head of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios.
Contents
- 1 Early life and education
- 2 Career
- 3 Awards
- 4 Personal life
- 5 References
- 6 External links
Early life and education
Allen was born in Detroit, but grew up in Los Angeles. His interest in show business began during his childhood, when he would accompany his mother, Carolyn Folks, to NBC studios in Burbank where she worked as a publicist.
At age 14, Allen put together his first stand-up routine and began appearing on amateur night at comedy clubs throughout the Los Angeles area. Allen attended high school at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles and college at the University of Southern California.
Career
Comedian Jimmie Walker saw Allen's stand-up act and invited the 14-year-old comedian to join his comedy writing team alongside promising young comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman. At age 18, Allen made his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. One of his earliest roles was as a regular presenter on the NBC series Real People, joining the cast at the beginning of the second season.
His show Jammin' was picked up as Kickin' It with Byron Allen in 1992, and it ran for more than 21 seasons. Allen's foray into television production began in Los Angeles in 1993 when he founded Entertainment Studios with the launch of his first series — Entertainers with Byron Allen — a weekly, one-hour series profiling the current stars of film and television.
In 2018, Entertainment Studios acquired The Weather Channel from NBCUniversal, Bain Capital, and The Blackstone Group.
In 2019, he partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group in Diamond Holding Group to acquire Fox Sports Networks, which The Walt Disney Company agreed to sell as a condition of its purchase of 21st Century Fox.
In February 2022, Allen made a bid to buy the Denver Broncos.
Awards
In 2018, Allen was selected for the Bloomberg 50 as one of "the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and technology and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy". He was also selected for the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit 2018, and he was honored by the Salvation Army and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Advisory Board at the Salvation Army's 11th Annual Christmas Kettle Luncheon. In January 2019, Allen was a recipient of NATPE's 16th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards, presented during the annual NATPE Miami Marketplace & Conference. Allen received the 2019 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award at the 46th annual Los Angeles Urban League Awards dinner.
Personal life
Allen married TV producer Jennifer Lucas in 2007. The couple has three children: daughters Chloe, born in August 2008 and Olivia in April 2010, and a son, Lucas born in December 2012. Allen is on the Motion Picture & Television Fund Board of Governors.
References
External links
- Byron Allen at IMDb
- Entertainment Studios