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Gracie Allen Biography |
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, 1964, 1895 - 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 realised 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. /b> Life and early career 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. Double act The Burns and Allen act began with Gracie as the Double act, setting up George to deliver the punchlines -and get the laughs. In his book Gracie: A Love Story 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?'" Radio 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. Publicity Stunts Burns & 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 & 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 note with one finger. Ironically, the actual index-finger playing was done off-stage by a professional pianist. Television 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 & 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: Movies In the early 1930s, George and Gracie made several short films, preserving several of their classic vaudeville routines on celluloid. They also made several films with W.C. Fields, and co-starred with Fred Astaire in A Damsel in Distress (film), a musical film with an original score by George Gershwin which introduced the song "A Foggy Day". In spite of their vaudeville beginnings, George and Gracie amazed the film critics with their ability to keep up with Astaire during their Academy Award for Best Dance Direction dance routine in an amusement park funhouse. "Say goodnight, Gracie" The signature Burns and Allen signoff became part of the country's vernacular. 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." Private Life In the 1930s George and Gracie adopted two children, Sandra Jean and Ronnie Burns, 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. 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 eight season of The Burns & Allen Show in color prompted her retirement. The real 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. Farewell 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 (Glendale) 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.) Filmography Radio series TV series 
Courtesy of: http://www.wikipedia.org/ |
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