Steve Allen

Although Allen was thought initially to have died of a heart attack, it was eventually determined by the coroner's office that the official cause of death was hemopericardium, a leaking of blood into the sac surrounding the heart, and that this was secondary to a minor automobile accident Allen was involved in earlier that day. He was driving to his son's Encino home about 7:45 p.m. on October 30, 2000, when his car was struck by a sport utility vehicle backing out of a driveway on the 16000 block of Valley Vista Blvd in Encino. The impact was enough to break four ribs and rupture a blood vessel in Allen's chest, which allowed blood to leak into the pericardium. Further investigation occurred after it was revealed that his attending physician had mentioned the accident on Allen's death certificate, the cause of which was primarily attributed to hemopericardium. Allen's son, Bill (one of Allen's four sons) told the media his father said nothing about it upon arriving at his home shortl