Remember George Burns?
Remember Gracie Allen?

You may remember their TV show if you are old enough. When they retired it was the longest running show on the tube.

They started in vaudeville. They were one of the few to successfully make the switch from stage to radio in 1934 when whole families sat in the parlor to listen to Sunday night comedies.

As people became fascinated with the hazy black and white images on the television set, the Burnses moved to the new medium.

The reason this is on my blog. Last night we went to a one man show in which the actor tried to recreate the character of George Burns based on his autobiography "Gracie and Me".

It brought a a memory. Our local newspaper in the 1930's carried a column headed "Gracie Allen Says" a spoof on the talking heads of that day.


At the age of seven I was reading the newspaper and I asked my mother to explain who Gracie Allen was. She took a few minutes from her task at hand and responded that Gracie was part of the team of Burns and Allen. Gracie was a comedienne. George was her partner. Without Gracie George Burns would not last a week in show business.

Gracie retired in 1950 after a series of heart attacks.

George did a command performance for the queen of England in the 1990's.