George Burns & Gracie Allen

Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. Image File history File links Burns&allen. ... Image File history File links Burns&allen. ... Laurel and Hardy are one of the worlds most popular double acts A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic device in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin, and profession, but drastically... George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum (January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996), was an American comedian and actor. ... Gracie Allen, wife of comic legend George Burns, who started show business in vaudeville, became famous when teamed with him. ...

Burns wrote most of the material, and played the straight man. Allen played a silly, addleheaded woman, a role often attributed to the "Dumb Dora" stereotype common in early 20th Century vaudeville comedy. Both attributed their success to the other, to the ends of their lives. Early on, the team had played the opposite roles until they noticed that the audience was laughing at Gracie's straight lines, so they made the change. A straight man is a role in a comedy double act where a performer works with a comedian by setting up the situations or feeding the lines that allow their partner to make a joke. ...

Burns and Allen developed their popular routine over more than three decades of stage, radio, film, and television. Historians of popular culture have often stated that Allen was a brilliant comedian, whose entire career consisted of engaging in dialogues of "illogical logic" that left her verbal opponents dazed and confused, and her audiences in stitches. During a typical 23-minute episode of the Burns and Allen show, the vast majority of the dialogue and speaking parts were written for Allen, who was credited with having the genius to deliver her lengthy diatribes in a fashion that made it look as though she was making her arguments up on the spot. One running gag on the TV show was the existence of a closet full of hats belonging to various visitors to the Burns household, where the guests would slip out the door unnoticed, leaving their hats behind, rather than face another round with Gracie. Another running gag showed George watching all the action (standing outside the proscenium arch in early live episodes; watching the show on TV in his study at the end of the series) and breaking the fourth wall by commenting upon it to the viewers. The interior of the Auditorium Building in Chicago built in 1887. ... The fourth wall is the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. ...

Burns and Allen had several regulars on radio, including Toby Reed, Gale Gordon, Bea Benaderet, Mary 'Bubbles' Kelly, Ray Noble, singer Jimmy Cash, Tony Martin, Elliot Louis, musician Meredith Willson, and Artie Shaw. Bill Goodwin announced the program for several years, and also went with George and Gracie to the Burns And Allen TV program. Goodwin left to star in his own program and Harry Von Zell continued in the role. Von Zell often filled in for Goodwin on Burns and Allen's radio show as well. Their son Ronny also turned up on the show from time to time. The couple's daughter Sandy, was somewhat shy and not too fond of show business, declined any attempt to get her on the show as a regular cast member, though she appeared in a few episodes as a classmate of Ronnie. Gale Gordon at his home in Borrego Springs, California (he was honourary mayor of the town) Gale Gordon (b. ... Bea Benaderet (IPA: ) (April 4, 1906—October 13, 1968) was an American actress, born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. ... Ray Noble is a common personal name that can refer to different people: Ray Noble: a baseball player Ray Noble: a musician This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Tony Martin (born December 25, 1912) is an American actor and traditional pop singer. ... Robert Meredith Willson (18 May 1902 – 15 June 1984) was an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man. ... Artie Shaw Arthur Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an accomplished jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and writer. ... Bill Goodwin (July 28, 1910 - 9 May 1958) Goodwin was for many years the announcer and regular character of the Burns and Allen radio program (1950-1951). ... Harry von Zell (11 July, 1906 - 21 November 1981) was a U.S. radio announcer and a film and television actor, best remembered for a verbal slip made as a young announcer, when he referred to U.S. President Herbert Hoover as Hoobert Heever. ...

Burns would always end the show with "Say goodnight, Gracie" to which Allen simply replied "Good night." She never said "Good night, Gracie" as legend has it.^[1] (this "false memory" may be caused by the Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ending, "Say good night, Dick;" "Good night, Dick!"). Burns was once asked this question and said it would've been a funny line. Asked why he didn't do it, Burns replied, "incredibly enough no one ever thought of it." A false memory is a memory of an event that did not happen or is a distortion of an event that did occur as determined by externally corroborated facts. ... Rowan & Martins Laugh-In was a United States comedy television show broadcast for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968 through May 14, 1973 over the NBC network. ...

Notes

References

• Burns, George, Gracie: A Love Story (1988), Putnam Pub Group. ISBN 0-399-13384-4

External links

• A George Burns and Gracie Allen Website
• A George Burns and Gracie Allen Fan Club