At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy [2] and served for two years in the Submarine Service during World War II.

In the 1950s he appeared regularly on the CBS-TV children's program Captain Kangaroo as "Mister Artist."

A subsequent stint in advertising ended when he created the syndicated comic strip, Inside Woody Allen.

[8] During this period his first play, Alms for the Middle Class, had a simultaneous world premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Geva Theater (Rochester, New York) and was produced on Earplay, the dramatic workshop of National Public Radio.

At the time of his death, he was working on All the Sincerity In Hollywood, a one-character play based on the life of radio comedian Fred Allen.