From People Magazine

“For 40 years my act consisted of one joke,” George Burns was fond of saying. “Then she died.” The woman in question, as anyone within earshot of a radio or television in the 1950s would know, was his wife, Gracie Allen–and the female side of a showbiz team whose ditzy banter in an era of idealized domesticity made it one of the most beloved and successful comedy acts in history.

Both onstage and off, as Burns himself was always the first to acknowledge, Gracie, the perfectly honed not-so-Dumb Dora to his long-suffering straight man, was more than half an act. “Next to Gracie, I was wonderful,” he wrote in an affectionate biography, 1988’s Gracie: A Love Story. “All I had to do was stand next to her and imagine some of the applause was for me.”

The Act That Made Them a Team

This is said to be one of the first acts that George and Gracie performed. At the time, they were only an acting team. George says in his book, Gracie: A Love Story, that he asked her several times to marry him, allegedly to “share expenses.”

Though they married early in their career they did not play a married couple. It was not until much later, during their run in radio, that their marriage was announced. The show went on the same, no staged marriage ceremony, but simply an announcement was made and the scripts were changed to read that George and Gracie were a married couple.

In this act we read one of many famous “brother Willy” sketches. Gracie often talked about her brother and his antics, which are amplified by her own unique point of view. Gracie’s fictional family was much like her fictional self, which adds to the hillarity of her innocence. Gracie played her character so well that people would often think that Gracie was the same way in real life!

Amazing Gracie

She was a matchless comic artist who was smart
enough to become the dumbest woman in show-business history.

by Maynard Good Stoddard

“I lie a lot,” confesses the author of five bestsellers previous to Gracie: A Love Story. “But when I write about Gracie, I don’t have to lie,” he says. “The truth is unbelievable enough.”

George Burns is of course referring to Graice Allen, his wife and partner, a matchless comic artist smart enough to become the dumbest woman in show-business history.

Only Gracie would make ice cubes with hot water so they would be ready if the water heater broke. Who else would cut her vacuum cord in half to save electricity? Or suggest, “Horses must be deaf because you see so few of them at concerts”? Or plead with her audience, “If I say the right thing, please excuse me”?

To the millions of Burns and Allen vaudeville, radio, TV, and movie fans, saying the wrong thing was the right thing. And at saying the wrong thing, Gracie was an expert.

Burns records how Gracie, getting her permit to drive a car, went up against bureaucracy in the person of Mr. Harkness of the motor vehicle bureau.

“Mrs. Burns,” he said, “I’ve been going over your test. Never in the 16 years I’ve been here have I seen anything like it.”

“Thank you,” Gracie responded proudly.

Burns’ Home in Beverly Hills

George and Gracie lived for many years in this Beverly Hills home.  In his book Gracie: A Love Story, George writes about how people thought that they really were the characters that they played on television.  So sometimes tourists would visit with the couple by simply appearing in their backyard.  George said that Gracie was very gracious to them and played the part. 

Above is a scan of an actual postcard that was available for sale along with others with pictures of other stars’ homes.  The face reads “Residence of Mr. and Mrs. George Burns (Gracie Allen), Beverly Hills, California.”  The reverse side says that the card was published by Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles Calif. and indicates that the printing method is “C.T.Art-Colortone.”

Say “Happy New Year,” Gracie

Check out this post from another blog about Burns and Allen:

…When I was starting out in show business the thing I want most for New Year’s Eve was a booking. If you were booked on New Year’s Eve, it meant you were doing O.K.

…The parties I remember most took place at Jack and Mary Benny’s home in Palm Springs. Many of the greatest performers in show business would be there and, during the night, almost all of them would get up and perform for the rest of our crowd. They had to – it was New Year’s Eve and they wanted to be booked.

Eventually a voice was heard above all the rest suggesting, “Let George Burns sing a few songs.”

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