Who Is Byron Allen?
Born in Detroit, Allen has been making moves since elementary school. What was meant to be a two-week vacation in Los Angeles, turned into forever, when his mom Carolyn Folks landed a job as NBC’s first-ever intern.
Her gig meant Allen, now 64, spent his formative years on the network’s lot. “I fell in love with television,” he explained in a 2019 C-Suite Quarterley profile. “The art of making television, and the business of making television and being a comedian.”
He began doing standup at the Comedy Store in L.A. at 14—standing in the back between sets as as not to jeopardize their liquor license—where he was discovered by Good Times star Jimmie “J.J.” Walker.
Accepting an invite to Walker’s apartment, he detailed, “there was David Letterman, who had just driven out from Indianapolis in a red pickup truck; Jay Leno, who was sleeping in his car; and Marty Nadler, who went on to produce Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days.”
His big break came one week before his high school graduation when Allen became the youngest comedian to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A job hosting NBC’s Real People followed and soon Allen was balancing film school at the University of Southern California with opening for Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton.
