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Gracie Allen (1906-1964), wife of comedian and actor George Burns, was half of one of America's most popular comedy couples. They began their careers on the vaudeville stage, then transitioned to radio, movies, and television. Allen was known as a "dizzy dame," whose "illogical logic" and high nasal voice entertained the public for more than four decades.
Although her comedy routines and publicity stunts, such as running for president on the Surprise Party ticket, made her a household word and the symbol of female silliness, in reality Allen was not much like the character she played. She was a private person who enjoyed a quiet family life when she was not meeting the demands of her highly successful show business career.
A Performer From the Start
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was born on July 26, 1906, in San Francisco, California, to George and Margaret "Pidgie" Allen. George Allen was a song and dance man who abandoned his family when Gracie was about five years old. Her mother later married Edward Pidgeon, a police captain.
Allen first performed at the age of three, doing an Irish dance at a church social. Her mother sewed dresses for Allen and her sisters Bessie, Pearl and Hazel to wear while performing Irish and Scottish dances. The family taught dancing in the basement of their house. From the start, Allen was determined to get into show business. Almost every day after coming home from the Star of the Sea Catholic School, Allen would walk from theater to theater dreaming of a time when her picture would be posted in one. She loved the film star Charlie Chaplin and, for her sixth birthday, her step-father arranged for her to meet him.
Allen began working professionally as a singer while she was still a child. During school vacations she sang in local movie houses. After graduating, she and her sisters performed a song and dance act as The Four Colleens. When they broke up, Allen became part of a vaudeville act, for which she was paid $22 a week. (Vaudeville was a type of entertainment popular in the early 20th century, consisting of a variety of acts, such as song-and-dance, juggling and comedy routines.) At about age 18, Allen quit that act and found herself alone and unemployed in New York City. After six months of searching for a partner, she enrolled in stenography school to learn to be a secretary.
Partnership with Burns
In 1923, Allen's roommate took her to see an act performed by Billy Lorraine and George Burns, whose real name was Nathan Birnbaum, son of immigrant Orthodox Jewish parents. Burns and Allen decided to work together, first performing in Newark, New Jersey, for $5 a day. At first, Burns played the comedian and Allen the "straight man," feeding Burns the straight lines, to which he would respond with the punch lines. Allen, however, got all the laughs. Eventually the act was changed so that Burns was the straight man and Allen the comedian. Allen played a type of character known as a "Dumb Dora," or "dizzy dame." According to Burns, in his book, Gracie: A Love Story, "What made Gracie different was her sincerity. She didn't try to be funny. Gracie never told a joke in her life, she simply answered the questions I asked her as best she could, and seemed genuinely surprised when the audience found her answers funny. Onstage, Gracie was totally honest. … The character was simply the dizziest dame in the world, but what made her different from all the other 'Dumb Doras' was that Gracie played her as if she were totally sane, as if her answers actually made sense. We called it illogical-logic."
In 1924, the team began working as a "disappointment act," which substituted on short notice if a regularly scheduled act could not perform. For two years, Burns and Allen traveled, filling in for other acts.
Burns fell in love with Allen, although she was planning to marry an entertainer named Benny Ryan. In 1925, she almost married Ryan, but a last minute booking for a tour of the Orpheum circuit theaters took her out of town. On that trip, Burns proposed to Allen; but she said no. Finally she chose Burns over Ryan, and the two were married in Cleveland, Ohio. Six weeks after the wedding, the team signed a five-year contract, which paid between $450 and $600 a week. They had hit the big time. In 1930, they played on Broadway for 17 weeks, a vaudeville record.
From Vaudeville to Movies and Radio
In 1929, the couple performed on radio for the first time. Also that year, they appeared in their first film, a nine-minute short, for which they were paid $1,800. Paramount was so pleased with the result that the firm signed the pair to a contract for four more shorts at a rate of $3,500 each. Over the next two years, they made a total of 14 short films. Their first of 12 full-length feature films was The Big Broadcast of 1932 and their last film was Two Girls and a Sailor, made in 1944.
In 1932, the pair joined bandleader Guy Lombardo's radio show. CBS gave them their own radio program called "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" in 1933, which featured comedy routines and songs. A publicity stunt turned the pair into major radio stars: Allen suddenly appeared on other radio shows asking if people had seen her missing brother. This gimmick lasted quite a while and brought the couple much attention. Other stunts included Allen's mock run for president in 1940 and her exhibit of surrealist paintings. Their radio show lasted 17 years.
In 1934, the couple adopted a baby girl, Sandra Jean, and bought a home in Beverly Hills, California. In 1935, they adopted Ronald John.
From Radio to Television
The first episode of the television program "The Burns and Allen Show" aired on October 12, 1950. For a while, the couple did both their radio and television programs, until they were sure that television, a new medium, would succeed. Many of the shows that changed over from a radio format to television failed, but "The Burns and Allen Show" was a big hit. The TV show ran for eight years - 299 episodes. Allen and Burns played themselves as television actors, and the show took place in their "home." The plots often involved their neighbors, with whom they socialized by going out to movies or playing cards. Burns moved in and out of character, sometimes addressing the audience directly and sometimes participating in the action of the show. The early shows combined sitcom and vaudeville, with guest singers and dancers. Commercials were worked in as part of the show. The program ended with Burns saying, "Say good night, Gracie." She would bow and say, "Good night."
Allen's acting ability came from the fact that she did not "act" - she simply "did." Noted Allen, as quoted in Say Good Night, Gracie, "I really don't act. I just live what George and I are doing. It has to make some sort of sense to me or it won't ring true. No matter what the script says there's no audience and no footlights and no camera for me. There's no make-believe. It's for real."
For the first two years, the show was performed live, every other week. After that it became a weekly, but was filmed. Theirs was one of the first shows to use cue cards. It was also one of the first television programs to be filmed in color, the first color episode airing on October 4, 1954. In 1955, the couple's son joined the show playing their son, another innovation. Daughter Sandy appeared on the show 30 times.
Allen at Home
Allen suffered from intense migraine headaches but rarely missed work because of them. For relaxation, she loved to shop and had a special fondness for furs. She was always perfectly groomed and wore beautiful clothes, always with three-quarter length sleeves to hide scars from a childhood accident caused when she pulled a boiling pot off the stove, burning her arm and shoulder. Allen's name was often on the list of the ten best dressed women. She was petite, weighing 103 pounds and wearing a 4 1/2 shoe size.
Allen had her first heart attack in the early 1950s and suffered heart problems over the next several years. She did not enjoy the intense pace of a weekly TV program, and on June 4, 1958, the couple filmed their last show. In eight years, the show received 12 Emmy Award nominations but never won. Allen received six nominations as best actress/ comedienne, and the show received four nominations for best comedy series.
Allen spent her retirement years shopping, playing cards, reading, visiting friends and redecorating her home. She loved going out at night, especially to the theater, but after suffering a serious heart attack in 1961, she no longer had the energy to do so. Allen lived six years after her retirement, dying on August 27, 1964, in Los Angeles. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood.
Burns noted in his book, Gracie: A Love Story "I go to Forest Lawn Cemetery once a month to see her and I tell her everything that's going on. I told her I was writing this book about her. Evidently she approves - she didn't say anything. I don't know if she hears me, but I do know that every time I talk to her, I feel better."
In 1975, the Annual Gracie Allen Awards were established for broadcasting that demonstrates superior quality and stellar portrayal of the changing roles and concerns of women. The Awards seek to promote positive and realistic portrayals of women in all broadcasting mediums.
Burns died in 1996, a few weeks after his 100th birthday. He worked until he was 99 years old, performing in nightclubs and making television commercials. A good friend, actress Ann Miller, noted in an interview with CNN that Burns looked forward to being reunited with Allen. After his death, Miller said, "He has finally joined Gracie. That was his love. I know he missed her so terribly and now he will be with her."
Books
Blythe, Cheryl and Susan Sackett, Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Story of Burns and Allen, E.P. Dutton, 1986.
Burns, George, Gracie: A Love Story, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1988.
Online
"Clinton, Others Pay Tribute to Burns," CNN,http://www10.cnn.com (October 23, 2001).
Quotes:
"When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half."
| Gracie Allen | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 26 1895[1] San Francisco, California  United States |
| Died | August 27 1964 (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Gracie Allen (July 26, 1895[1]–August 27, 1964) was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns. Burns himself phrased it perfectly in a gag that got laughs no matter how often he repeated it for the rest of his life: "One day, the audience realized I had a terrific talent. They were right. I did have a terrific talent. And I was married to her for 38 years."
In a career spanning vaudeville through television, Gracie Allen's daffy character became a national institution. Highly intelligent in real life, her character's humor came from a near perfect ability to misunderstand whatever was said to her. If a word had multiple meanings, Gracie could be counted on to choose the wrong one every time. What made the character so endearing was her good-natured patience with the rest of the world — which clearly wasn't as bright as she was.
A classic example of Gracie's miscommunication:
George: (looking at Gracie, who is arranging a large vase of beautiful flowers) Grace, those are beautiful flowers. Where did they come from?
Gracie: Don't you remember, George? You said that if I went to visit Clara Bagley in the hospital I should be sure to take her flowers. So, when she wasn't looking, I did.
Allen was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen in San Francisco, California to parents George and Margaret (Darragh) Allen, into an Irish Catholic show-business family. She was educated at the Star of the Sea Convent School. She was a talented dancer, and began performing Irish folk dances with her three sisters, billed as The Four Colleens.
She became a vaudeville performer with her sister Bessie in 1909. She teamed up with George Burns to form a comedy act in 1922, and married him in 1926, a controversial matter at the time, as Burns was Jewish and Allen was Catholic.
The Burns and Allen act began with Gracie as the straight man, setting up George to deliver the punchlines -and get the laughs. In his book George later explained that he noticed Gracie's straight lines were getting more laughs than his punchlines, so he cannily flipped the act over — he made himself the straight man and let Gracie get the laughs. Audiences immediately fell in love with Gracie's zany character, and the team toured the country, eventually headlining in major vaudeville houses. Many of their famous routines, including "Lambchops" were preserved on early one and two-reelers made while the couple was still performing on the stage. George Burns attributed all of the couple's early success to Gracie, modestly ignoring his own brilliance as a straight man. He summed up their act in a classic quip: "All I had to do was say, 'Gracie, how's your brother?' and she talked for 38 years. And sometimes I didn't even have to remember to say 'Gracie, how's your brother?'"
In the early 1930s, like many vaudeville stars of their era, Burns and Allen graduated to radio. Their show was modestly successful, though the ratings began to decline. The show was originally a continuation of their original "flirtation act" (as their vaudeville and short film routines had been). George realized that they were simply too old for that material, and changed the show's format into the situation comedy vehicle for which they are best remembered: a working show business couple negotiating ordinary problems caused by Gracie's "illogical logic", usually with the help of neighbors Harry and Blanche Morton, and their announcer, Bill Goodwin (later replaced by Harry von Zell during the run of their television series). One of the show's running gags (both in radio and television) had George firing the announcer at least once every other episode.
Burns and Allen frequently used running gags as publicity stunts. In 1932-33 they pulled off one of the most successful in the business: a yearlong search for Gracie's apparently missing brother. They would make unannounced cameo appearances on other shows, asking if anyone had seen Gracie's brother. Gracie's real-life brother was apparently the only person who didn't find the gag funny, and he eventually asked them to stop.
In 1940, the team launched a similar stunt when Gracie announced she was running for President of the United States on the Surprise Party ticket. George and Gracie did a cross-country whistlestop campaign tour on a private train, performing their live radio show in different cities. In one of her campaign speeches Gracie said, "I don't know much about the Lend-Lease Bill, but if we owe it we should pay it." Another typical Gracie-ism on the campaign trail went like this: "Everybody knows a woman is better than a man when it comes to introducing bills into the house." The Surprise Party mascot was the kangaroo; the motto was "It's in the bag." As part of the gag, Gracie (in reality, the Burns and Allen writers) published a book, Gracie Allen For President, which included photographs from their nationwide campaign tour, and the Surprise Party convention. Gracie actually drew some votes in the November election.
Gracie was also the subject of one of S.S. Van Dine's famous Philo Vance mystery novels, The Gracie Allen Murder Case. Typically, she couldn't resist a classic Gracie review: "S.S. Van Dine is silly to spend six months writing a novel when you can buy one for two dollars and ninety five cents."
Another publicity stunt had Gracie playing a piano concerto at the Hollywood Bowl (and later at Carnegie Hall). The Burns and Allen staff hired a composer to write the Concerto For Index Finger, a joke piece that had the orchestra playing madly, only to pause while Gracie played a single (incorrect) note with one finger. On her final "solo," she would finally hit the right note, causing the entire orchestra to applaud. Ironically, the actual index-finger playing was done off-stage by a professional pianist.
By 1948-49, Burns and Allen were part of the CBS talent raid: their good friend (and frequent guest star) Jack Benny, once CBS mastermind William S. Paley made it clear that he believed the talent and not the network made the difference, had decided to jump from NBC to CBS, and he convinced among others Burns and Allen to join him. A year after they made the move, Burns and Allen brought their show to television. They continued the formula which had kept them longtime radio stars, playing themselves as television stars, still living next door to Harry and Blanche Morton. They concluded each show a brief dialogue performance in the style of their classic vaudeville and earlier radio routines.
From the beginning, the television show blurred the traditional boundaries between the actors and the characters they played:
Gracie retired in 1957, and Burns tried to soldier on without her. The show was re-named The George Burns Show with the cast intact except for Gracie. The locale of the show was changed from the Burns home to George's office, with Blanche Morton working as George's secretary so she could help Gracie keep an eye on him. Gracie's absence was only too obvious, and impossible to overcome. The renamed show barely lasted a year.
In the early 1930s, George and Gracie made several short films, preserving several of their classic vaudeville routines on
celluloid. They also made two films with
The signature Burns and Allen sign off became part of the country's vernacular and the title of Rupert Holmes' 2002 play about the couple. Born of their vaudeville routine and carried over to both radio and television, their shows normally ended with George asking Gracie to say goodnight, and she would comply with "Good night." Popular legend has it that Gracie would say, "Good night, Gracie." According to her husband, recordings of their radio and television shows, and other references, that never happened. It is likely that the confusion was caused by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Stars Dan Rowan and Dick Martin used a similar routine wherein Dan would face the camera to say "Say goodnight, Dick." Dick's reply would always be "Good night, Dick."
In the 1930s George and Gracie adopted two children, Sandra Jean and Ronald John, who were raised nominally Catholic, though Sandra was expelled from Catholic school for her liberal views. Ronnie eventually joined the cast of his parents' television show playing George and Gracie's son, a serious drama student who disdained comedy. Sandy, by contrast, made only occasional appearances on the show, and left show business to become a teacher.
As a child, Gracie had been scalded badly on one arm, and she was extremely sensitive about the scarring. Throughout her life she wore either full or three-quarter length sleeves in order to hide the scars. The half-forearm style became as much a Gracie Allen trademark as her many aprons and her illogical logic. When the couple moved to Beverly Hills and acquired a swimming pool, Gracie put on a bathing suit and swam the length of the pool, to prove to her children that she could swim. She never put on a bathing suit or entered the pool again.[citation needed]
Gracie was said to be sensitive about having one green eye and one blue eye (heterochromia), and there was some speculation that plans to film the eighth season of The Burns & Allen Show in color prompted her retirement. However, this seems unlikely since a one-time-only color episode was filmed and broadcast in 1954 (a clip of which was seen on a recent CBS anniversary show). The reason she retired in 1957 was her health; George Burns noted more than once that she stayed with the television show as long as she did to please him, in spite of her health problems.
Gracie fought a long battle with heart disease, finally succumbing to a heart attack in Hollywood in 1964. She was interred in a crypt at the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California; George was interred at her side when he died thirty-two years later. ("Gracie Allen and George Burns — Together Again," reads the engraving on the marker.) Gracie's age almost depended on whom you asked; even her husband professed not to know exactly when she was born. (See note below.)
The Gracie Allen Award is presented by The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television to recognize and encourage positive and realistic portrayals of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs.
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