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IRWIN ALLEN FAN GRAPHIC ART GALLERY #09 |
Updated: July 17, 2022
Nicknamed the "Master of Disaster," producer-director Irwin Allen almost single-handedly
fueled the disaster movie craze during the 1970s with such classics as "The Poseidon Adventure"
(1972) and "The Towering Inferno" (1974). Allen cut his teeth on a number of adventure movies
during the 1950s and 1960s, including "The Lost World" (1960), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"
(1961) and "Five Weeks in a Balloon" (1962), while also creating notable television series like
"Lost in Space" (CBS, 1965-68). After directing "City Beneath the Sea" (NBC, 1971) for the small
screen, he donned his producer's hat for "The Poseidon Adventure," one of the biggest box office
hits of 1972.
Allen went on to direct the master of all disaster movies, "The Towering Inferno," which featured
an all-star cast of Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway and Paul Newman, and earned an Oscar nomination
for Best Picture. Allen retired in the mid-1980s due to poor health. Despite a quiet end to his
career, Allen's contributions to cinema were undeniable, while his influence on blockbuster
filmmaking was felt well into the next century.
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