Ed Allen was a television host noted for his syndicated exercise programs.

Allen was an actor and singer in the United States during his early career, becoming a television program host in 1948. His program was broadcast on 43 American television stations, resulting in fan mail of 3000 letters a week. In 1963, television producer Randy Dandy Martin brought Allen into Canada, recording 65 half-hour episodes of the exercise show in five days. Shortly after his 2 September 1963 debut on CHCH-TV

CHCH-TV

CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...

 in Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, the station received 1131 letters in a nine-day span, raising expectations of syndication throughout Canada.

195 episodes of The Ed Allen Show were produced by the Canadian production team of Al Guest

Al Guest

Al Guest is a Canadian animation producer.He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and started his career there when he dropped out of the University of Manitoba to pursue a career in films. A writer and fine artist, he has exhibited his paintings at many galleries in Winnipeg and Toronto...

 and Jean Mathieson

Jean Mathieson

Jean Mathieson is listed in Colombo's Canadian References as Canada’s first independent, commercial, non National Film Board, woman animator. She switched from the University of Toronto to The Ontario College of Art where in four years she earned her A.O.C.A. After graduation she trained as an...

.

Ed Allen had a following of millions of viewers and fans, from all over the world. His exercise Show was still being distributed in the early 90’s. The format was usually set somewhere on a beach; in the late 1960s, the filming location was in Montego Bay

Montego Bay

Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...

, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 at the Half Moon Hotel, specifically the Kennedy Beach House. Barbie, Ed’s second wife was a regular providing various routines. Vinyl LP’s and videos were available. Ed wore a distinctive one-piece polyester jumpsuit while he did his calesthenics. In the late 1960s, he earned an estimated annual income of at least USD$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

100 000.