His profile rose with it, and he came to be seen, in some eyes, as more Woody Allen than Gordon Gekko--a genial, funny, regular guy whose self-deprecating style masked a sharp intensity and a knack for nasty infighting when necessary.
Robert Mondavi, a unit of Constellation, last month tapped Ted Allen, a star of the TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, to host wine tastings at restaurants in Manhattan.