Peter Allen (American broadcaster)

Allen lived in Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan, residing in the same apartment for over 70 years. He died there on October 8, 2016, aged 96.

At Ohio State, Allen met his future wife, Sylvia, an artist and the sister of the Broadway actor Paul Lipson. Sylvia Lipson Allen died in 2006.

Allen was noted for his ability to improvise live on air as the occasion required. On the broadcast of January 23, 1988, he extemporized for close to an hour during a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth to cover the long intermission caused by the suicide of Bantcho Bantchevsky in the audience.

In 1975, after Cross's sudden death, Allen took over as announcer for the Met and continued in the job until 2004. The smooth, intelligent delivery and warmth of Allen's on-air persona endeared him to millions of opera listeners during his long tenure at the Met. Allen retired in May 2004 after 29 seasons and was succeeded by Margaret Juntwait.

He also narrated more than 100 films. He has Narrated the 1962 Audio Fidelity vinyl LP record 'Stereo Spectacular Demonstration & Sound Effects'.

Allen began his radio career at the OSU station, WOSU, and also worked for a commercial station in Columbus. The couple then moved to New York City, where Allen began his long tenure as announcer at WQXR radio in 1947. His connection with the Metropolitan Opera began in 1973 when he served as the backup for Milton Cross who had been announcing the Met's Saturday afternoon broadcasts since their inception in 1931.

Peter Allen (born Harold Levy; September 17, 1920 – October 8, 2016) was a Canadian-born American broadcaster and radio announcer, noted for hosting the Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera for some 29 years.