I know that some of my younger blog readers will be wondering right about now, ‘who the hell is Ed Allen anyways’ ….Well let me tell you and here’s hoping I’m not the only one in Blogland who remembers this long-time TV exercise super-guru.
To backtrack a few days….Joe and I were discussing (and not for the first time) the marvels of the Internet and how, no matter what time, how weird, how obscure the topic, or how dated….somewhere on the Internet, it or they will be found.
Ok, so back to my question…Whatever happened to Ed Allen?
This was a man who had a following of millions of viewers and fans, from all over the world. This was during the ( if memory serves ) 1970’s…..all the way up to the early 90’s I believe.
I can fondly remember my dear mom Helen, sweating it out in front of our little TV, doing Ed’s endless aerobic routines. And I mean faithfully, Monday to Friday, to miss was to be remiss. Ed was king when it came to exercise.
Then along came Barbie, Ed’s second wife and again, more routines, with LP’s (remember those???) and videos to follow. Barbie was the epitome of PERKY….you just couldn’t help but smile when she showed up on the set. And the set was usually somewhere on the beach in the beautiful, sunny Bahamas…wow, my kind of exercise site. Enough to get anyone doing jumping-jacks (yeah, Ed did lots of those)!
Ed even paid a visit to our city and of course my mom was there to meet the man. She was not disappointed!!!. In person he was even taller and better-looking than anticipated, or so she reported that evening. Sigh….more sweating!!! I certainly hope my dad didn’t hear those particular comments. He tended to be an (unnecessarily but nevertheless) jealous guy.
So, with all this history, what I really want to know is: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ED ALLEN and why is he no where to be found online?
I couldn’t even provide a photo to go with this post. I’ve tried Google and Yahoo and various celebrity and even ‘dead or alive’ sites…. nothing, nada, no Exercise Ed….where can he be? And if he has left this world, should that not also be recorded somewhere ?
So if you know, let me know. My inquiring mind wants to know. Don’t you? 
Greetings! Thanks for visiting Arboreality – I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I admit that I’ve never heard of Ed Allen, and my googles were equally fruitless. Still, here is what I did find:
WGNTV Historical Timeline – 1961
http://wgntv.trb.com/about/station/wgntv-timeline-1961,0,5156729.story?coll=wgntv-home-nav
January WGN adds a new exercise program “Ed Allen Time.”
Ed Allen Time – Image
http://www.flickr.com/photos/twistedpoodleart/77827323/
I guess those don’t really tell you his fate. Good luck in the search!
JLB
Nope, you have stumped me! Whether it is my age…30 something, or geography…New England. All I remember is Jack La Lanne – who is hocking juicers now. But you have triggered many a memory of TV shows past (one in particular is the old sea captain learn to draw show that was on at 6 in the morning when I was growing up)
Good luck with your search!
BTW, to your “what makes a good blog” post a while back, there is a GREAT webspell checker (which I used on this post) at http://iespell.com/ unfortunately it only works in IE…(but they make that kind of clear…)
Hello JLB and thanks for stopping by…I loved your beautiful garden blog btw….Also, thanks for the links, you found more than I did. Ed was around for even longer than I thought, or so it appears.
Hello readers….If you need a hahaha…be sure to click on the link to Ed Allen Time image that JLB has so kindly provided above. Yikes!!! The caption was certainly correct, cover art gone BAD!!!
Hello Heather, Nice problem to have, being too young to remember an old TV program LOL, thanks for trying to dig up some info. though. Slim pickins’ indeed. Also for the info. re: the spell check. I do try to check mine, either in Word or WP but sometimes I don’t. Spelling is so important though, as is grammer. Adds polish, doesn’t it?
Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully more of the Ed mystery will be revealed….
Cheers, G
It is a sad testimony to my poor history of excercise that I know nothing of Mr. Ed. I just knew that attention to this matter only in middle age would come back to haunt me. ::sigh:: Good luck in your search!
I can’t say I’ve heard of him but that doesn’t surprise me. I rarely know the names of people. I think I have a mental block. Heh.
Hi, Ed is a great friend of mine.
He is very private person.
Very healthy.
Exercises every day.
Great shape
He will be 80 soon.
Hey Dave
As an x-employee of the Barbie and Ed Allen show in Canada, you do not know how happy it makes me to know that Ed is healthy and in great shape. Every time I think of those days, it puts a smile on my face and still inspires me to grapevine across the office.
i WOULD LOVE TO GET COPIES OF THE OLD EXERCISE TAPES THEY WERE THE BEST EXERICES AND i COULD DO THEM. I HAVE SOME TAPES OF THE SHOW FROM THE 1980S BUT THEY ARE I N BETA AND HENCE UNPLAYABLE. IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET COPIES OF THE SHOW. i’M SURE MANY OLD FANS WOULD LOVE THEM. iF THEY BELONG TO cbc OR WHATEVER MAYBE THEY COULD BE PERSUADED TO RESISSUE THEM.
Laura, How long were you with Ed and Barbie?
Would you be comfortable leaving your last name?
Is “Grapevine” a word Ed used?
Dave
Dave, grapevine is a little dance move that Barbie liked to use in her exercise routines. I worked in the Ontario, Evans Ave. office for about 6 years. Barbie and Ed know my last name they were at my wedding.
So, did anyone find out if you can get the viedos anywhere? I want to get them for my mother in law for christmas.
Cheryl
I can remember my mother exercising along to Ed Allen all through my childhood. The only thing that she requested for Xmas was a few tapes of the program if I could find them online. I thought that given all of the info out there this should be easy! If anyone should find some to order please let me know.
Carrie
I recall Ed Allen during the 50’s and early 60’s in the Detroit, Michigan area. He was on a one hour program about 9:00 or 10:00 AM weekdays along with Carol Duvall (demonstrating crafts) and Lorene Babcock (the decorating guru). I believe these programs were of local origination(to Detroit)and were either on the NBC affiliate (WWJ-TV channel 4 back then) which is now WDIV, or the ABC affiliate WXYZ channel 7. Possibly you could contact Carol Duvall through her web-site and get more current information about Ed Allen from her…Good Luck, and thanks for bringing back some great memories…Ken
I used to exercise to Ed’s show many years ago and wondered what happened to him. I am so glad to hear that he is still with us and in good health. I remember one exercise where you were on your hands and knees, then stretched your leg backward and went “Woof, woof”. It was always fun to follow his show.
As Ed Allen’s nephew I was lucky enough to be one of the Ed
Allen “Exercise Kids” . We performed excercises dressed in our little white uniforms for various televised events. We thought Ed was great. That was prior to his dumping his devoted wife Kay, an acclomplished actress and painter who had her own show years ago “The Kathy and Salty Show”. Kay was a driving force in producing the exercise shows and building Ed’s success. Ed took up with his assistant, Barbie, and left his wife and children broke. He moved to unpublished addresses in Canada, where where he took up citizenship to avoid the U.S. courts who had awarded his family financial settlements, both privately and in the business. They never saw a dime. We then learned of the years of physical and mental abuse Ed had heaped upon his family, (such as making his small son lick the basement floor from one end to the other when the child hadn’t swept it properly).He never saw his wife and children again. His wife, Kay, went through untold hardship raising and supporting their kids on her own. She began life all over, middle-aged as a public highschool teacher in the roughest ghetto school in Chicago, Englewood. My father and his siblings were left to help pay Ed’s kids tuitions and support. Kay was physically frail. Stress and terrible illness took her life way to soon. With their mother’s caring the children went on to become admirable adults who, gratefully, show none of the dispicable traits of their conceited worthless father. Ed now lives somewhere in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Send your fan mail there.
Wow, that’s some comment. I have always wondered why there is nothing much on the Internet re: Ed Allen, past and present. Perhaps this comment explains why. I am deeply saddened to think that what you write about is all true. (And I am NOT saying it isn’t!) If it is, I certainly am glad that my mom never found out that one of her ‘heroes’ was actually so badly tarnished. I am glad you stopped in Rick, to explain this from your viewpoint. Any other comments on this??
Geraldine
I was sure I heard Ed allen died of a heart attack some years ago???
Wow Rick, I didn’t enjoy reading your post.
Sounds sad. That doesn’t sound like the ed i know.
To not help your own kids..thats harsh…many people have a bad and bitter divorce .I’m sorry to hear your story. dave
Anyone out there that can find Eds exercise tapes please e-mail me @ butterflychick@sympatico.ca, or just send me a line about Ed.It has been awesome reading all the info, and I am happy I finally found this site. I will look forward to hearing from anyone interested.Thanks. Kath.
I’m from the UK and some of my earliest TV memories were of Ed Allen dressed in a blue outfit doing star jumps on a mat and, of course, me trying to imitate what he was doing. (I was younger than 3 and so my star jumps were pretty bad!)
Can anyone tell me where those episodes might have been filmed? All I can remember was that there was a coastline backdrop.. lots of (palm?) trees.. he was on a veranda somewhere high up.. it always looked gorgeous and exotic (compared to rainy Britain anyway). Was it Hawaii? Wherever it was, I would like to go there on holiday! Thanks, Don.
Are you kidding me?
My mom just asked me if I could transfer a surviving Barbie Allen Dance/Exercise LP to a tape. So I listened to it and I realized that I’m not actually that old, I only know these songs cause I kept hearing them over and over again at a very young and impressionable age. Blimey.
I actually came here looking for Barbie, since I didn’t know anything about Ed. Does anyone know if they updated their hairstyles?
Oh yeah, the LP I’ve got has:
Side A
Arthur’s Theme
I Can’t Go for That
Rise
Ladies Night
You’ll Never Find a Love Like Mine
Side B:
Night Fever
Fame
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Just the Two of Us
Was barbie the one with jet black “Farrah” hair that always wore red shorts?? I’m trying to figure out if I’m thinking of the same people.
Hi,
I was a great fan of Ed’s . In 1965 when still in the air force and being well feed. I went from 155lbs to 195lbs. TV with Ed Allen trimed me right back to 155. I sure have missed him. Wish him well and do wish we could purchase his exercise programes.
Don Harris
Don Cool, Ed talked about filming in the Bahamas quite a bit.
Persei, Eds big hair is the same..lol..just grey.
Ed will be 80 soon.
Very healthy.
Still in shape.Built like a Truck.
He hates all the new excercise machines these days.
People selling snake oil.
Jumping jacks,sit-ups,squats,pull-ups ect..is all you need says Ed…no need to spend hundreds on the next invention
Thats what i like about him…..Keep it simple.
Dave
I am also interested in acquiring copies of Ed Allen’s programs (vgateman@yahoo.com). My grandmother died @ 92 this past weekend. One of the fond memories I have was rising and exercising with her to Ed Allen as the sun rose.
I agree, if my memory serves me well, I remember his show as functional and achievable…but i was between 5-8 years of age at the time.
I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to remember the name of the man in the spiffy jump suit who used to come on in the mornings when I was a wee child. Ed Allen! Of course! And now that I read these posts, of course! His lovely assistant in the red shorts! Bummer if that stuff about running away with her : (
How I love the internet. I’m pleased to learn that I’m not the only one who remembers. And I’m surprised to learn that Mr. Allen worked out of Ontario (in a greenhouse, maybe?).
Cheers for the blog!
Hi all,
I was asking in a fitness class the other day about ed allen. Years ago, I worked for Ed and Barbie Allen, as a Dancerise instructor and than worked in their head office in Mississauga, On. That was when dancerize was all the rage, and yes, I remember teaching routines with the ‘grapevine’ in it.
I also was working for them when that Album came out, and the routines on it, I remember those too. Also, on the back of the album cover was a shot of dancerize girls.
They were interesting people to work for, and I never trusted them.
It makes me sad to read Rick’s account. Ed was a great man to work for. Janfromthebruce, if you were in the office at the same time I was, how could you not trust such good people. They were ahead of their time when it came to healthy living. Getting paid, keeping healthy, learning a life style, teaching others this skill; is a pretty good way to make a living. We took our dancersie girls on the road to malls and the CNE to promote the Album. I have a few photos, everyone’s hair was big in the 80’s. Dave here I have added my last name.
I exercised every day with Ed Allen. I would love to get copies of his tapes. He made exercising fun and a good workout. Perhaps they could put his tapes back on T.V.
I used to call the T.V. station to put ED ALLEN’S EXCERCISE shows …. I remember I was only 8 yrs of age to excerise always with Ed Allen, this was during the summer time at 8:am in the morning and then when I got older I did the excercises faithfully every single day from Mon-Fri, I stayed pretty slim, I would love to see his excersice shows again, or if there is a way to order the excersie shows of Ed Allen, he was the BEST, was very easy to follow his programs. If some one knows how to order, please let me know, tks!!!! HI ED ALLEN I am so Happy that you are alive & well, I miss your T.V. Shows alot……..I hope they are aired on T.V. once again.
I know there are a lot of people who would benefit from exercising with The Ed Allan Exercise Show reruns If they can make copies of other older shows, I think this one would be one that would sell just as well. Someone in the ‘know’ of this type of venture should look into this for us. This way we would all win. And please let me know if anyone has a video or dvd of this show, perhaps they taped it while it was still runn on TV. Thanks. w.d.i@sasktel.net
Ed Allen and his get rich quick schemes….I did work for him in the late 80’s in Mississauga and was never paid. He took and used the product, but was unreachable when payment was due. Some of my business contacts in the area will tell you the same story as he left a trail of unpaid bills. His “head office” in Mississauga was nothing more than a false address.
Ed Allen was just on a TV commercial, for Target stores or something
I know I would benefit from Ed Allen”s reruns. I enjoyed exercising with him. I always thought Barbie was his daughter. I could never understand why he just disappeared off the air one day and I’m sorry to hear all the negative stories about him. I saw the commercial and I also presumed that it was him or Jack Lalane.
I also worked for Ed & Barbie Allen during the early 80’s. I travelled from Hamilton to Toronto & Calgary doing demos for them and was treated with a great deal of class & respect. So where are they now? I’ve often wondered. Marie
I also worked for Ed & Barbie Allan in the early 80’s. I found them to be wonderful people. I have travelled from Hamilton to Toronto & Calgary to demo for them and was always treated with a great deal of class & respect.
I was just wondering the same thing…who was that guy who inspired me to get off the couch on a regular basis and made it fun…Ed something? What does he look like now?Found this site and although he was older when I saw him on TV here in NZ, the program was good .
The history sounds sadly typical of celebrities, as they lose the plot so often . I would still be interested in purchasing the tapes if available.
Hello. I too have been wondering what had happened to him. I remember when i was begining in high school 1979 and seeing hin do his stuff and following along and feeling great. I also would like to know if there are any videos being made. So if there is any please email me.
Hello. This is for the person that has the beta tapes. Here is a web site that does the conversions of all formats. http://www.videoforyou.com
Hi there – I have been searching all day for video footage (particularly of the opening of The Ed Allen Show) as, for me, it was the one indicative thing of growing up in the 1980s here in New Zealand. None of my friends or family even recall this TV show, amazing to me as I remember it so vividly. People exercising in the Bahamas, can-can girls and bright lights – classic! So weird yet so….memorable. I’m 27 years old, come on people, how can you not remember The Ed Allen Show??? Pity about the news he’s been instigating dubious business dealings since then, and in Mississauga of all places. I have family there too, nice place! Anyhoo…any links to video of this show would be greatly appreciated.
“Step and lunge and back and straight”.
I have many fond memories of exercising along with Ed in the late 70’s and early 80’s, probably between the ages of 10 and 15. Unfortunately I was in my living room in Toronto and not on Grand Bahama Island.
I believe the show was broadcast on Channel 3, CKVR Barrie. I still have an Ed Allen exercise book – plenty of pictures of Ed and Barbie doing their thing. The “Ooh Ah” face exercise, “The Killer”. I also remember those sit-ups he’d do with the extra arm motions on the way back down. And of course, the arm curls with the soup cans.
I was wondering today “whatever happened to Ed Allen?”, Googled the name and this site came up. I am sure I remember my mom watching it in the morning in the sixties (could it have been the early seventies?? I don’t know) …. I do remember how he would call out different names as he exercised which must have made the at-home exercising ladies squeal with delight. The locations looked so exotic to my young eyes. It was a loooooooooonnng time ago. Sad that he may have been a bad guy.
hello,
barbie allen is living in mississauga and married to my cousin for the past 14 years.. her and ed’s daughter lives in the US and have a one year old baby boy..
barbie never talks of ed but does have her gold and platnum framed albums on a wall in her study
she helps her husband run his shell gas station near eglinton and winston churchill blvd..
walk in , recognize her and say hey arent you…
Don’t know what triggered his memory for me or why I decided to google Ed Allen, but this has been very interesting reading. When my kids were pre-schoolers I worked from home as a dressmaker and Ed & Barbie were clients. I made the gold-coloured jumpsuits he wore for the series that was made in the Bahamas circa 1977/78 as well as a few outfits for Barbie. I’ve wondered what became of them (Ed & Barbie – not the jumpsuits). I confess I was not a fan of the show but our 5 yr. old was fascinated by seeing someone he knew on TV and watched it every day while I sewed in the next room. One day he became very alarmed while watching the show, saying that Mrs. Allen should take some driving lessons and drive slower. She had left our house just a few minutes before the show came on. I had a difficult time trying to explain that she hadn’t actually driven from west of Toronto to the channel 9 location east of the city in a few minutes. My husband had spoken to Ed numerous times by phone but they had never actually met face to face. Once we had a VERY early flight to Chicago and while we were sitting in the lounge and I was still half asleep, my husband asked “Isn’t that Ed over there?” Opening one eye I peered in the direction he was pointing, said “yeh” and went back to sleep. I was horrified when my husband strode over to greet him like an old friend. Ed thought he was being accosted by a crazed, over zealous fan – my husband had forgotten that he recognized Ed from TV but Ed didn’t have a clue what he looked like. As for the more personal comments that others have written – none of them really surprise me – they both impressed me as multi-facetted people.
It’s fun to read the posts.
Ed is still doing great.
He is a good man.
I don’t like to hear the bad stuff.
I can see people googling Ed to remember his fitness show ect. but
Why would someone google him after 25yrs if they have bad memories or things to say,it seems strange. Oh well.
I agree with Dave. I don’t want to hear the bad stuff either. I would love to have some of his tapes to exercise with.
Good or bad, this has certainly been an interesting discussion and I appreciate all the comments and the many(daily) clicks on this post.
As I mentioned before, my mom was a huge Ed Allen fan, she would have been saddened to think that any of the ‘bad’ stuff was true.
I am still curious as to why Ed Allen has no presence on the internet, except for this post/comments,it really is a mystery.
Everyone who was anyone is on the internet, I can’t remember one other example when I had searched for a famous person and found nothing.
Perhaps Ed Allen himself would find this commentary interesting and want to give his side of the story. What do you think Dave? He would be welcome to do so.
Geraldine
PS: Same goes for Barbie Allen. According to Natasha (comment #43)apparently, she (Barbie) is now remarried and living in Ontario, Canada.
What do you think Natasha, would Barbie like to add a comment?
Veggie,
I asked him about the internet also.
Ed is very private.
He said his past is his past.
Knowing Ed as well as I do i imagine working for him would have been tough for many.
He Is a perfectionist. Very high standards kinda guy.
He doesn’t let much slide.
Business was not a game to him.
It was probably his way or the highway.
I think He knew what he wanted to create and he created it.
People that were not the company first type probably did didn’t get along with him well.
I would want Ed on my team any day.
I like him.
Does anyone know that Ed is a great artist?.
Dave
The Patel brothers do not have a cousin by the name of Natasha, so you are not who you say you are. I have been in the Patel family for the last 25 years and never had the priviledge of meeting “you, cousin Natasha”. So why are you pretending to be who you are not unless you have dishonest ulterior motives.
What is more, although it would seem you have to be someone who has been in Barbie’s home, some of the provided information is way off. So how do you explain to be close enough to know the house and accept the hospitality and then write such a far off story. Shame on you for disclosing what is truly private matters, and for being such a coward and hiding behind a fake ID. Does your brain compute : Whatever happened to Ed Allen – NOT whatever happened to Barbie Allen.
So cousin Natasha, please get lost.
I’m watching it all
Hey, It’s really easy to come on here as anyone and pretend you’re someone else — wow — I can use anyone’s email address that I know — and say whatever I want — that’s why you used this site to cause trouble Natasha — now I get it
I would REALLY appreciate everyone who is leaving comments here to act like adults and not get into playing games.
I don’t know who is telling the truth and who is making up stories…sad to think there are people who don’t have anything better to do, than post lies.
I really was enjoying reading the comments on this post up until the last couple of weeks. I don’t want to delete this post and comments entirely, but I will if the sniping continues.
I also don’t appreciate people sending me emails/attachments…trying to lure me into their own personal ‘intrigues’.
That’s not what I want blogging to be, for me or for anyone else.
All I can say to anyone who is posting lies, on anyone’s blog: GET A LIFE!!!!
hello, can you please delete post #43 which gives too much personal information, I think once that post is gone, the sniping will go with it and the discussion can get back to the friendly banter that we were all enjoying, I don’t think anyone will be offended if you remove that posting.
– yes, I agree with the last post, it’s that post which started it all — and getting rid of it just might end it all
Zermina
I agree with you Geraldine….
Life is too short and many people are suffering in this world;Especially at this time of the year. I am floored to read such crap. What is important to know is Ed and Barbie have accomplished great things in this life time and they were huge in Canada. To many, they are still considered celebraties. They brought people new found hope through fitness and helped people ( like me )realize how important it was to take care of yourself. Having not known them personally, only through dancercise and TV, I can tell you they influenced my fitness life….Who cares about what they are doing in their personal life…what matters is …they gave back to others. For those of you that don’t have a life I suggest you find a charity to support during this holiday season.
– so does anyone know of any music exercise cds with more modern music that they’ve really found good — I’m looking for something with both fast and slow — a good workout with a slowdown at the end
dancercise is not dead you know!
Zermina
Ever hear of Paige Palmer? She was my guru from WEWS Cleveland. I lived half way between there and Detroit and was an Ed Allen fan, too.
My youth was privileged to be able to work with Barbie and Ed Allen in the early 80’s. They gave me life skills and the ability to make fitness a part of my life style. I do know that Ed is a great artist. He was meticulous in his work and used to create the drawings from scratch which were used in fitness fliers to advertise Dancersize across Canada. The charm behind Ed Allen is the fact that he created the exercise show in the 80’s and it is was enriched with the music and fashion at the time.
I was one of Barbie Allen’s instructors — reminiscing brought me to this site.
It was the best time in my life teaching those classes, learning new routines and demo-ing in the malls. It was the era of no pain no gain, but I was in the best shape of my life and Barbie Allen Dancercise was fun.
Are there any other B.A. girls out there still?
I too would love to get my hands on copies of the shows. They made excercising fun. Whoever has the rights to these is sitting on a pile of money … cause I and obviously many others would pay to excercise with Ed again.
Please let me know if anyone has any info.
Looking for Ed’s tapes was what brought me to this
site. He got me to excercise every morning before
going to work, something that NO-ONE was able
to get me to do. I belong to a gym since 1991 I
pay my dues regularly and you can count the times
I have attended in one hand, yet Ed was able to get
me to excercise every morning. I miss the show
very much and today I actually need it to get moving and feel better about myself.
It was great to hear that I’m not alone looking for
his tapes.
I personally don’t care about his private life, I only
know what he gave me. A fit body.
Please, Please if anybody has any tapes of his show
or knows where to get them please let me know.
Thanks Very Much, Sandy
P.S. This is my first time writing a blog, it feels strange.
Hi, I have to say when I was about eleven or twelve in the 70’s Ed’s program helped me to lose weight I was gaining for whatever reason….I sure could use him now in my forties..lol I always wondered what happened to him as well. I donot like that one negative comment about his child in the basement . It is not necessary to post that. Even if it was true as horrible as it is protrayed that is going to be between him and God to answer for.
I would love to see those videos again…although I don’t think I can reach my toes anymore due to back problems….
Am still searching .. if anybody has managed to track down copies of the show, would you please email me at vera_murphy@sympatico.ca
thanks
this site is CENSORED
ms veggie does not want me to post here because she doesnt like my name
nor did she believe me when I said I had original footage of ed allen
sending her the opening frame of that show only annoyed her, so now she can’t bring herself to say”sorry”
blogs are not meant to be censored…..
Dear Ms. Me,
Perhaps you should try getting a life! If someone is writing stupid or crude comments (which yours have been) yes, I will remove them from my site, as does every other blogger I know.
Writing to ask READERS how to download photos on to my blog, is not something that I appreciate.
Yes, your choice of names is silly, but’s that isn’t the only reason that your comments were removed. Why not leave this post for people who genuinely have an interest in the topic, not just to be annoying, which you are.
If you want to waste your time posting comments, go right ahead, I don’t think anyone is too impressed.
I used to see Ed Allen on TV when I was kid in the 60s. I suppose some people got some benefit out of his routines, but my sisters and I just thought it was good for a laugh.
Sorry to hear the shameful story about his abandonment of his first family. If this is true, Ed Allen has a lot to answer for.
Hi Geraldine
I also would love to find any exercise videos from the Ed Allen shows. I used to watch the show everyday and do the exercises and it kept me in shape. I watched the show in 1977,78,79, and 80. It was on at 9am mon- to fri. in b.c. I dont remember when it went off the air but sure wish the network would show reruns , it was a lot better than some of the exercise shows now. If you find out anything let me know.
Thanks Margaret
I do recall seeing his show on for years back when I was a kid. Ed would never stand a chance at getting his show on now. He generally used things found around the house to exercise with and that wouldn’t go over well with sponsors trying to sell you $120 wrist and ankle weights and $250 designer work out suits and all the rest
Well, well, well. What a surprise to see this site! I too wonder what’s happened to Ed. I also remember his TV programs with fondness and enjoyed the locations, letters he read to viewers and exercise tips. I’m a former Dancercise Instructor/Area Director living in beautiful British Columbia who loved the product and loved both Ed & Barbie. To my shagrin, Barbie turned out to be a big disappointment! Being very loyal and dedicated to the company at its inception in Hamilton Ontario, assisting with Calgary’s opening, participating in various non paid demos at the CNE, PNE, malls, on T.V., benefits and then promoted to open up locations on the west coast, was one of the, if not the greatest career experience of my life! I thank them for that but I must confess, it was quite hurtful to be treated without respect and trust by Barbie during the west coast opening. Her catlike (sneaky) tactics and creating competition between her managers, instead of “teamwork” contributed greatly to the demise of the company – all across Canada. That was a terrible shame! It was a great and fun 8-week dance/exercise program geared toward women which should have been a continued success if she had instilled a ‘team spirit” attitude and listened to my feedback for this part of the country. I really feel sorry for Ed. Am very glad to know he’s alive, healthy and doing well. He deserves it. I still have 2 Dancercise albums (one autographed by Ed & Barbie) and a couple of Dancercise cassette tapes. Will keep them as positive momentos of the fabulous times I had during that phase of my life. For those of you who may be friends, relatives or former employees, I hope you only have good memories of your times with Mr. Fitness himself.
Hullo from a Downunder Ed Allen Fan!! Even as far away from the Bahamas as Melbourne Australia, some of us still pine away for what was one of the best workout shows ever produced. I used to enjoy Ed’s show and Barbie’s little doggie-style exercise(!!) back around 1978-1982. Nobody ever came close to the humour and spontaneity and the backdrop- I have heaps of workout dvd’s in the cupboard, but either they or their backdrops/studio sets are all a little like cardboard cut-outs compared with Mr.Personality Ed Allen. I would trade everyone of them for an Ed Allen!!
Happy to have stumbled on your blog about him, if dated, and see that others too miss him.
Cheers to all at this blog theme…and I live in hope someone will dust down his old tapes and re-release them while we are all still around!
I remember ed allen’s excercise show from the 70s, my mam watched it, he maybe available on utube.
what brought me to this site ?
Well i was watching the A-team and started wondering about what happened to some of them and remembered for some odd reason the Ed Allen show from when I was a child ( I am almost 41 now ) I always wanted to go to where ever it was he was being filmed at …i thought it was a paradise of some kind lol …
If i remember correctly there was an airplane in the opening credits flying by and the voice that anounced …”its the ed allen show”
Please,if you know where to get Ed Allen exercise taps, let me know. I lost over 100lbs in 1986 by exercising with Ed.
I did find reference to him in Wikipedia. They want info to.
I have been going to google Ed Allen for the longest time, and WOW what a blog. Thanks for the interesting read. I remember watching Ed as a child (39yrs now) with my brother and our cousin during the Australian summer school holidays. He was on around 9-10am we’d watch whilst waiting for mum to finish the housework and take us to the beach ! I don’t recall exercising, I think we ate Anchovette fish spread on toast and honed our sense of humour, laughing non stop at his antics. Remember he always seemed to speak of a lady called MaryLou ? (“MaryLou , I can see you eating that cookie”) we thought that was hilarious, and Barbie … I suspected, even as a young child that there was something more going on ! I always loved the cheesy heavy american accent opening ” Its the Ed Allen show … with … Ed Allen, in the beautiful Bahamas” Loved the orange zoot suit, just loved the american-ness of it all, gave me the same vibe as the Brady Bunch !Hooray for the Ed Allen show, loved it !!!
Hi there Janfromthebruce and Angela Z. We all started in Hamilton around the same time back in the early 80’s. The demos and traveling were fun and we were all in good shape – ( I still am – thanks to my fitness background and Ed & Barbie) I just turned 60!!! I know that some of you have lots of negative things to report – but I choose to remember only the positive ones about Ed & Barbie – especially their generosity and friendship during my own difficult divorce.
Marie
About 5 years ago I worked with Ed & got a chance to know him.
I’m sure he’s a nice guy but I honestly grew a little tired hearing him brag about how much he had accomplished in his life… it’s not that I have any jealousy but have you ever met someone that constantly talks about how great they are? He actually carries around in his car a brag book with photos and such that he showed some of us. I’ve learned that truly successful individuals don’t have to brag about how great they are because their reputation speaks.
Nobody’s perfect. He is a nice guy but he comes across as being very self centered and egotistical at times. Ed worked or still works for Dave (the guy on here that talks about how Ed is doing well so on and so forth). Dave is a whole other story… quite sad actually.
It is true that Ed is a private person but I always did find it strange how he would not want people to know who he is. It’s almost like he was hiding from something. Especially for a person who thrives on others recognition. Who knows, maybe he owes someone money?
I must have watched Ed Allen during the early 60s because I was away from home by 1967. I’ve been thinking of “Ed…Ed…(who?) Oh yes, Ed ALLEN! and decided to Google, hoping to locate his old TV show tapes, to purchase. Very interesting to find that others are also thinking about him. We just want the old motivating, fit & fun Ed, so we can keep ourselves healthy & feeling great as we age. Pls. let me know if tapes show up somewhere. fourfunsons@hotmail.com
Hi, I was googling and found this site as I was looking for Ed’s Daughter Dawn. If Dave or even Christina still have any contact with Ed or Barbie, please give them my email addy.
I met Dawn through summer school one year back in the early 80’s when they lived in Oakville at the condo’s off Trafalgar. We dated for most of the summer and stayed friends for about another year and then they moved and I lost contact after that. Met Ed and Barbie a few times and they were always very nice people to me at the time and nothing like what I have read on here, mind you they were both away a lot so didn’t spend much time with them.
I was trying to find Dawn through Facebook with no success. Always though about how she has been throughout the years and what she has done with her life. I believe she either went to White Oaks or Oakville Trafalgar.
Any help in getting Dawn my email would be greatly appreciated. 80zeder@gmail.com
Hello, something about Australian sense of humour maybe, I too found this show hilarious and was too busy watching and enjoying to actually exercise – particularly when Barbie did the happy puppy which actually is a great little exercise and yes, loved that opening and always wanted to go to the Bahamas when I grew up.
Like all of you am googling coz was looking for the DVD, a friend suggested they may have seen it on foxtel??? I wonder who the appropriate people to contact regarding a release would be?? many more obscure shows are available on dvd – am sure this would be an excellent seller to exercise to or just play at parties. Surely irrespective of whether it sold exercise machines or not as that fellow blogger accurately pointed out they could make a decent amount of cash on the dvd alone, just those orange terry towelling tracky daks on point of sale posters along with photos of palm trees and the showgirls would generate interest whether you’d ever heard of Ed or not. I don’t remember the Mary Lou cookie business but sounds like the belly laughs we’d get from watching again would be just as beneficial as the fitness.
Love that Ed used to just use household items and apparently thinks all those machines are rubbish, it’s true, the simple things in life are often the best.
Well I wish us all luck, fingers crossed someone will get their act together and make this happen sooner rather than later.
Was it not “beautiful Montego Bay” in the show’s intro?
I have just finished reading almost two years of comments on the Ed Allen Show. Wow! I couldn’t remember Ed’s surname so was thrilled to find this site.
I was a young mum in the 80’s in NZ and faithfully exercised with Ed every day. I remember going on holiday and asking for the tv to be turned on in the morning so I could continue with “our” exercise regime.
Now I’m 50 and looking for something simple, yet inspirational. I’m going to start hounding all the local video and DVD stores in the hope that there has been enough interest generated to re-market Ed in all his one-piece glory.
I to remember the Ed Allen Show…I used to work out with it when I was in my 20’s…now I am living in south america and am looking for a program just like his but there is nothing…so if someone finds something please send me the info
I worked for Barbie and Ed Allen in Ottawa. Barbie Allen Dancercise was so much fun. Thanks for the memories.
Thank you again, for all your comments. I’ve really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Ed Allen and for many of you, the personal memories you’ve shared about working with him, etc…keep them coming!
Wow, I am soooo excited to find this site. I have been talking about Ed Allen for years to my kids. When I was in Jr. High I was kinda chubby. I started getting up early and meeting with Ed in front of the TV set every AM and slimed down in no time. The thing I liked about it was, It wasn’t too hard and overwhelming. I could just do the exercise for 30 min and then off to school. No sweating buckets, or feeling like I was going to puke. It was sensible. I think the reason our kids don’t exercise as much as they should is that they think they have to go all out and then it becomes this big ordeal and they don’t want to do it. Our kids need someone like Ed to send them off to school in the AM. Lord knows they won’t listen to their mother. I wish I could get some of his tapes.