Gracie Allen was one of the great comediennes of the twentieth century. She was born in 1906 in San Francisco to an Irish Catholic show business family. Her father, George Allen, was a noted song and dance man. Her sister spoke Gaelic. Gracie began on stage at age three performing an "Interpretative Irish Dance." Working in Vaudeville, she met and teamed up with George Burns in 1922. The two married in 1926 and performed together the rest of their lives. One form or another of the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ran on radio from 1934 to 1950 and on CBS Television from 1950 to 1958. Gracie was the scatterbrained illogical character opposite Burns as the straight man. They also made twenty plus film’s together. She retired in 1958 and died in 1964. Burns lived past 100 and continued working. The phrase of "Say 'good night', Gracie" is still remembered today.

Links

GracieAllen.net: a tribute to Gracie Allen.

Gracie Allen from The Museum of Broadcast Communications.