George Burns & Gracie Allen: A Love Story

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George Burns & Gracie Allen: A Love Story

"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."

When Burns first met the 17-year-old daughter of Edward Allen, a San Francisco song-and-dance man, George and Gracie were both aspiring vaudevillians. Glass fragments from an exploding hurricane lamp had left the Irish lass with one eye that appeared green and the other blue; another childhood accident had scalded and permanently scarred her left arm. But Burns, the former Nathan Birnbaum, a New York City clothier's son who was divorced and 10 years her senior, saw a partnership. "She could sing and she could dance and she was willing to work cheap," he wrote. "Who cared how old she was?"

Before long, his intrest was more than professional, and he bought her a $20 wedding band--"very special," he recalled. "The metal band actually changed colors as it aged in my pocket." The ring, of course, did not do justice to the marriage. The couple stuck together through their steamer-trunk years on the vaudeville circuit, and 17 more on the nation's most popular radio

In a showbiz marriage that lasted for 38 years, these former vaudevillians--whether onstage or off--played it for love, for laughs and always for keeps.

show before moving to Hollywood in 1950 and brightening television's nascent horizon with The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. True, their marriage did have its rough spots. One oft-repeated story has it that whenever Gracie suspected George of philandering, he would buy her an expensive gift. "I wish George would find another girlfriend," she once told a friend. "I could use a silver-fox jacket."

But they always managed to ride over the bumps. Once, in the middle of the night, Gracie elbowed George and asked him to make her laugh. Half-asleep, he mumbled, "Googie, googie, googie." It became his pet name for her, and as a couple, Googie and her Natty were indestructible. "Sometimes after a dinner when Gracie needed to relax, she would say, 'George, sing what you sang to get me to sleep last night,'" recalls their close friend Carol Channing. "And sometimes he'd put his arm out for a tango, and Gracie would jump up and join him in these long Groucho Marx steps back and forth across the living room."

In 1934 they adopted a daughter, Sandra, and the following year, a son, Ronnie. With a family, thriving career and a stream of friends like Jack Benny and Fred Astaire coursing through their comfortable custom-built house at 720 North Maple Drive, Gracie had a mild heart attack, and in 1958, exhausted and suffering from the chest pains that had plagued her ever since, she made good on her threat to retire. On June 4 of that year, George and Gracie filmed their final TV show. Six years later she was dead. When George went into her hospital room for their last goodbye, she was still wearing the $20 wedding band that he had given her 38 years before. "For the first time in 40 years I was alone. So I did the only thing there was to do," he remembered. "I leaned over and I kissed her on the lips and whispered, 'I love you, Googie.'"

"In the long run, nobody is living a valentine. That's not how it is," says Martin Gottfried, author of George Burns: The Hundred-Year Dash. "But in real life, I don't think you can get a better marriage than George and Gracie's."

Burns never made a secret of the tough time he had dealing with his loss. "When I miss her a great deal, I crawl in on her side of the bed, in the middle of the day even," he told Carol Channing. "I stay there until I feel warm and good, and then I go on about my business." He also became somewhat of a fixture at Hollywood's Forest Lawn Cemetery, where every month he would go to the mausoleum to talk to Gracie. "I don't know if she hears me," he said. "But after speaking to her, I feel better."

That their chats should continue beyond the grave didn't really seem so odd. Throughout his life, whenever people asked Burns how to make a marriage work, he had a standard response: "I tell them the answer's easy--marry Gracie." Taking his own advice, he never married again.

"Say Good Night Gracie..."

From People Magazine

THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW
U.S. Domestic Comedy

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, which premiered on 12 October 1950, was one of the first comedy series to make the successful transition from radio to television. Similar to the format of the radio program in which George Burns and Gracie Allen played themselves, the CBS domestic comedy was set in their home, the first television series to depict the home life of a working show business couple.

The half-hour series was broadcast live for the first two seasons. The first six episodes were broadcast from New York, but the show soon moved to Hollywood, making it only the third CBS series to emanate from the West Coast (after The Ed Wynn Show and The Alan Young Show). On Burns' insistence, the show was broadcast on alternate weeks in order to provide sufficient time for rehearsals and alleviate some of the pressures of live broadcasts. During its bi-weekly period, the series alternated with the anthology series Starlight Theater and, later, with Star of the Family. After two seasons of live performances, the series switched to a weekly filmed broadcast. Although not filmed before a studio audience, the final filmed product was previewed to an audience and their reactions recorded. At a time when many series relied on mechanically reproduced ("canned") laughter, Burns claimed that his series only "'sweetened' the laughter when a joke went flat and there was no way of eliminating it from the film. Even then we never added more than a gentle chuckle."

Like other television pioneers such as Desi Arnaz and Jack Webb, George Burns must also be credited for his contributions behind the scenes. Burns and Allen incorporated a number of television "firsts," although Burns noted that "television was so new that if an actor burped, everyone agreed it was an innovative concept and nothing like it had ever been done on television before." Still, he was the first television performer to use the theatrical convention of "breaking the fourth wall" between the audience and the performer. He frequently stepped out of a scene and out of character to address the audience, then rejoined the story. This convention was later imitated by others, but not used effectively until It's Garry Shandling's Show in the 1980s.

The staff writers for the series were those who had written for the Burns and Allen radio program or worked with the team in vaudeville, including Paul Henning (who later created The Beverly Hillbillies), Sid Dorfman (who later wrote for M*A*S*H and produced Good Times for Norman Lear), Harvey Helm, and William Burns, George's younger brother. To keep dialogue and situations consistent with the characters' personalities and ages, the writers adhered to policies and practices established during their radio show. The stories stayed away from topical humor, fantastic characters, and absurd situations and focused instead on more universal aspects of daily life. Plots were simple (e.g., Gracie attempting to learn Spanish) and, like their vaudeville routines, the comedy emanated from Allen's uniquely skewed interpretation of the world and the resulting confusion. Burns played the quintessential straight man to the giddy, scatterbrained Allen.

Each episode began with Burns standing, trademark cigar in hand, before the proscenium surrounding their living room set. There he presented a brief monologue, then offered the audience a few comments regarding the situation they were about to see.

Allen's success, and her enormous popularity, emanated from her ability to underplay her character. Her convincing sincerity makes illogical premises, such as sewing buttons on her husband's shirttails so no one would notice if he lost one, seem logical.

Episodes ended with a Burns and Allen dialog reminiscent of their vaudeville routines. At the conclusion, of every episode Burns would turn to Allen and close, "Say goodnight, Gracie," to which Allen would obligingly turn to their audience and fondly bid them "goodnight."

The supporting cast continued in roles established in the original Burns and Allen radio program. Bea Benaderet and Hal March played the Burns' neighbors, Blanche and Harry Morton. Bill Goodwin, as himself, played the show's announcer and friend of the family, and Rolfe Sedan played mailman Mr. Beasley, with whom Gracie gossiped. During the run of the series, the role of Harry Morton was subsequently played by John Brown, Fred Clark, and Larry Keating. In the second season, announcer Goodwin left to host his own variety series (The Bill Goodwin Show, NBC) and was replaced by Harry Von Zell. A musical entr'acte entertainment was provided by The Singing Skylarks. The Burns' son Ronnie later joined the cast as himself.

Although Burns and Allen was never among the top-rated series, it maintained consistently high ratings throughout its eight seasons. The show garnered a total of twelve Emmy nominations: four for best comedy series, six for Allen as best actress and comedienne, and two for Bea Benaderet as best supporting actress.

The series ended on 22 September 1958 with Allen's decision to retire from show business. Burns continued working in a revamped version of the show, The George Burns Show (NBC, 21 October 1958 to 14 April 1959), in which he again played himself, now in the role of a theatrical producer. Bea Benaderet and Larry Keating reprised their roles as Blanche and Harry Morton, but now portrayed Burns' secretary and accountant and Harry Von Zell repeated his role as Burns' announcer. The series lasted only one season.

Burns returned to series television again in 1964 as producer and star of Wendy and Me (ABC, 14 September 1964 to 6 September 1965), in which he played an apartment building owner who narrated and commented on the action. Burns' McCadden Productions continued to produce other situation comedies, such as Mr. Ed, The Bob Cummings Show, The People's Choice, and The Marie Wilson Show. In 1985, at age 89, Burns hosted the short-lived half-hour comedy anthology series George Burns Comedy Week (CBS, 18 September 1985 to 25 December 1985).

-Susan Gibberman

CAST

George Burns..................................Himself
Gracie Allen....................................Herself
Blanche Morton................................Bea Benaderet
Harry Morton (1950-1951)................Hal March
Harry Morton (1951)........................John Brown
Harry Morton (1951-1953)................Fred Clark
Harry Morton (1953-1958)................Larry Keating
Bill Goodwin (1950-1951)................Himself
Harry Von Zell (1951-1958).............Himself
Mr. Beasley, Mailman.......................Rolfe Sedan
Ronnie Burns (1955-1958)...............Himself
Bonnie Sue McAfee (1957-1958)........Judi Meredith

PRODUCERS Fred DeCordova, Al Simon, Ralph Levy, Rod Amateau

PROGRAMMING HISTORY
239 Episodes

CBS
October 1950-March 1953 Thursday 8:00-8:30 March 1953-September 1958 Monday 8:00-8:30

FURTHER READING

Blythe, Cheryl and Susan Sackett. Say Goodnight Gracie: The Story of George Burns & Gracie Allen. Rocklin, California: Prima Publishing & Communications, 1989.

Burns, George. Gracie: A Love Story. New York: Putnam's, 1988.

Burns, George and Cynthia Hobart Lindsay. I Love Her, That's Why!: An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1955.

"Burns and Allen Bow on Television: Radio Comedians Successful in Transition to Video; Gracie as Zany as Ever." New York Times, 13 October 1950.

"George Burns and Gracie Allen." Current Biography, 1951.

"Gracie Ends Act With George." Life (New York), 22 September 1958.

Morris, J. K. "Gracie Allen's Own Story: Inside Me." Woman's Home Companion (New York), March 1953.

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