Jeffrey Allen Mishler (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Jeff Allen, is an American comedian best known for his film ''Happy Wife, Happy Life, Revisited''. He is also known for his starring roles in several full-length comedy films, including: ''Bananas'', ''Thou Shalt Laugh'', ''Apostles of Comedy'', and ''Apostles of Comedy: Onwards and Upwards''.

Early life

He was born in

Sauk Village, Illinois Sauk Village (locally known as "The Village") is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. The population was 9,921 at the 2020 census. Geography Sauk Village is located at (41.488535, -87.565658). ...

. Allen's father, Jack Mishler, aspired to be a painter but could only support his family as a construction worker. His mother, Arlene Mishler, worked for 30 years at Stauffer Chemical Company.

Early career

Allen began his career in 1978 in the comedy clubs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Humiliated by the low pay and lack of respect, Allen, then a self-declared

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, turned to drugs and alcohol. In 1987 he got sober and in 1997 he became a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

. As he worked clean, in the style of

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

and

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

, churches became a significant venue for his act.

Personal life

He resides in

Fairview, Tennessee Fairview is a city located in Williamson County, Tennessee. It is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. The population was 9,357 at the 2020 census, . In the communities just outside Fairview, there are an additional 4,100 people, for a total ...

with his wife Tami and two children (his wife has one additional child from a previous marriage). His oldest son served with the 101st Airborne in Iraq.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jeff 1956 births Living people American male comedians 21st-century American comedians Film directors from Illinois American male film actors Christians from Illinois Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism Comedians from Illinois Comedians from Tennessee