George Burns and Gracie Allen

Classic comedy shows (1932- 50)

There is no single secret to show business success, but George Burns had a point when he said, "First of all you have to have talent. And then you've got to marry her like I did."

Radio Comedy was a "family business" for many in Old Time Radio, a carry-over from vaudeville. Fred Allen wrote that it was a vaudeville tradition that when a performer married, the first thing he would do is write his bride into the act. Nattie Birnbaum, who would take the stage name George Burns, grew up selling newspapers, running errands or taking whatever odd jobs he could to help his mother make ends meet. His life was changed when he realized that people might pay to see him sing or dance or tell jokes; he may not have been blessed with a lot of talent, but he was determined to make it in showbiz.

Gracie Allen grew up in San Francisco and began performing as part of an Irish folk dance troupe with her big sisters. She was studying at a secretarial school in New York when her roommate suggested that she go to the theater to check out an act that was about to break up. The roommate had thought that a team of Gracie and the other guy would make a good act, but she met George instead. George wrote a "Dumb Dora/Park Bench" routine for the new act; some dancing and some George would tell a few jokes with Gracie providing the straight lines. After just a few appearances, he realized that Gracie's straight lines were getting more laughs than his jokes. George quickly rewrote the act to take advantage of Gracie's "illogical logic".

Audiences fell in love with Gracie, but not before George did. He knew that this was the girl he wanted to marry, but she was already promised to take the hand of another performer. After working together for four years, George finally lashed out at a Christmas party, and Gracie realized that if he could make her cry, she must be in love with George Burns. They were married on January 7, 1926. 

By the end of the decade, they began to have their act filmed as a short feature for Vitaphone Pictures (Warner Bros) before sailing for a tour of Europe. They made their radio debut on the from London and appeared on Rudy Vallee's program before landing a regular spot of Guy Lombardo's program. When Lombardo moved networks before the 1934 season, Burns and Allen were given the CBS spot as The Adventures of Gracie. 

George and Gracie remained on the radio until 1950 when they made the move to the small screen. Over the years, they would change networks, sponsors, even formats several times, but the magic was always Gracie's "illogical logic". They also had some terrific running gags. In 1933, they began the "Have you seen Gracie's brother?" routine which had Gracie interrupting other shows (on CBS and NBC) trying to find her long lost brother (Gracie's real brother, an accountant in San Francisco, hated the bit). During the 1940 election year, Gracie made a mock bid for the Presidency as the candidate from the Surprise Party.

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show was a TV hit for eight seasons, although Gracie disliked the pressures of television work. Suffering from a heart condition, she announced that she was retiring from show business at the end of the 1958 season. George was not ready to retire, but without Gracie, he found more success as a producer than as a performer. Gracie passed away on August 27, 1964. George was lost until he began sleeping in Gracie's bed and he would visit her grave to talk to her at least monthly. Eventually, he became a "senior statesman" of comedy and continued to perform until he died on March 6, 1996, just after turning one hundred years old.

Burns and Allen went on to TV, as did many of the greatest radio stars that had worked in vaudeville - Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton and others.