Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie (Allen) Burns (1895 - 1964)

Born 26 Jul 1895 in San Francisco, California, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Nathan (Birnbaum) Burns — married 7 Jan 1926 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, USA

Died 27 Aug 1964 at age 69 in Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Gracie (Allen) Burns is Notable.

Gracie was given a Star on the (Hollywood) Walk of Fame for her work in Television on February 8, 1960. It is located at 6672 Hollywood Blvd.

Gracie was nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy for her work on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show".

1955 - Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series

1956 - Best Actress - Continuing Performance

1957 - Best Continuing Performance by a Comedienne in a Series

1958 - Best Continuing Performance (Female) in a Series by a Comedienne, Singer, Hostess, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or any Person who Essentially Plays Herself

1959 - Best Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series

From the August 28th 1964 edition of the Oakland Tribune:

Heart Attack Kills Gracie Allen at 58

HOLLYWOOD (AP) - Gracie Allen, whose scatterbrained comedy helped make Burns and Allen a top act in show business for 34 years, died last night after a heart attack. She was 58. Spokesmen for the family said Miss Allen died at 11:15 p.m. and that her husband, comedy actor George Burns, was at her side at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. Contacted at the Burns home in Beverly Hills, William Burns, George's brother, said the popular comedienne had been in seemingly good health before being stricken. MILD ATTACK He said she had experienced mild heart attacks in the past. They didn't, however, seem to slow her down much. Ten days ago she and her husband were among the guests at the gala wedding reception for Edie Adams and her new husband Marty Mills. She appeared effervescent and cheerful, as she has been since her retirement in 1958. Until then, the strain of sustaining her nitwit role sometimes made her tense and withdrawn. REAL ACTRESS At the time of her retirement, Burns explained why she quit: "She's never missed acting for a minute. She never was a ham, anyway. Most actors are aware of playing to an audience. Not Gracie. The side of the stage toward the audience was a wall to her. She concentrated only on what she had to say and never gave a thought to cameras or lights or makeup or anything. "She deserved a rest. She had been working all her life, and her lines were the toughest in the world to do. They didn't make sense, so she had to memorize every word. It took a real actress. "Every spare moment — in bed, under the hair dryer — had to be spent in learning lines. Do you wonder that she's happy to be rid of it?" Miss Allen was born in 1906, the year of the great earthquake in San Francisco. Named Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen, she was one of four daughters of Edward Allen, a song and dance man then booked in San Francisco. At 3 1/3, she had made her stage debut but she continued in Catholic schools until she was 14, when she began a dancing act with her three older sisters. Later, she joined an Irish song and dance act and at one time went to secretarial school in Hoboken, N.J. It was in New Jersey that she met George. Born Nathan Birnbaum in 1896 Burns had been through the vaudeville mill and claims to have weathered 50 partners before encountering Gracie. She saw him on a bill at Union Hill, N.J., where he was booked as Burns and Lorraine. They met after the show and George revealed he was seeking a new partner. He suggested that Gracie join him. REWROTE THE ACT Gracie recalled later "Of course George had written this act for himself, with himself as the comedian and I as the straight man but the funny thing -- my straight lines got the laughs. People laughed twice as hard at my not being funny as they laughed at George's being funny. When we came of after the first show, he said, 'We're switching parts, Gracie.' He rewrote the act then and there." Burns and Allen played vaudeville for three years hefore he was able to convince her they should get married. They were wed in Cleveland on Jan. 7, 1926. INTO BIG TIME After their marriage they were propelled into the big time. They became headliners in vaudeville and starred on the bill that ended Vaudeville at New York's Palace Theater. After guest-starring on Rudy Vallee and Guy Lombardo radio programs, they began their own show on Feb 15. 1932. Their career continued in radio and television until Gracie's retirement. They also appeared in such movies as "Big Broadcast of 1932," "International House," "Love in Bloom," "Damsel in Distress," "College Swing," "Honolulu" and ' The Gracie Allen Murder Case." George once analyzed his wife's humor "Gracie is not really crazy, if she were, we couldn't get a day's work."

Sources

• Gracie Allen's entry on Wikipedia.com.
• Wikidata: Item Q255786
• Gracie Allen's biography on IMDB.com.
• The Digital Deli Too: Burns and Allen for Swan Soap;
• Find A Grave: Memorial #22
• Josh Compton (2015) Political Humor on the Radio, Image Repair, and Gracie Allen's 1940 Presidential Campaign, Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 22:2, 255-264.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Matt Pryber for creating Allen-14416 on 26 Jul 2014.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Matt, Toby, Abby, David, Maryann, Scott, Stephanie, Natalie, Nathan, Amy, Nicolas, Ryan and others.