Gracie was Classic, Burns when asked about his show business longevity said "I had one joke for 42yrs then she died and that was it". RIP George and Gracie
Actually they were married 38 years (1926-64, Gracie's death). When George died in 1996, he made sure he was buried in the crypt below Gracie because he wanted her to have "top billing."
@ladypictureshow66 If you like that book, you should also read, "All My Best Friends", by George Burns. There's a lot about Gracie in there, plus stories about their friendship with Jack Benny and Mary Livingston, as well as Bob Hope, Al Jolson, and many other stars from the Golden Era of Hollywood. ♥️
These two were such a wonderful couple and truly in love. I remember reading that when George Burns died, his last words were that he could finally be with Gracie again in Heaven. :')
Love George & Gracie. If you are in L.A. and go to Grauman's Theatre check out George's footprints, handprints, and the cigar print. A class act, these two. I had a big smile on my face while watching the fourth Star Trek movie, because the two humpback whales were named George & Gracie. Love it!
It's so sad too, George lived most of his adult life as a widower, and he used to visit Gracie's crypt right up until he died and talk to her out loud as if she was still alive.
Although Gracie played a ditz, she was a brilliant person, and came up with most of their routines. In one of his books George gives all the credit to their success to Gracie. He admits that he was just a straight man for her jokes. He loved her enormously. Her routines are classics, and pretty much every comedian and sit-com on TV has stolen from her.
Notable is their long marriage which ended only with Gracie's death (which George never really got over, though he went on to greater stardom and an Oscar). That was not unusual in the Hollywood of their time, witness Jack Benny and Mary Livingston, Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa, and Eddie and Ida Cantor. Also Irene Dunne, Roz Russell, Janet Gaynor, Jo Stafford, Joni James and Tony Acquaviva and many others.
Burns & Allen were not only hugely popular on radio but also on TV. I just checked on Wikipedia and their radio show ended its run in February 1950 and their TV show started its run in October 1950 - although they had been regular performers on Guy Lombardo's radio show and replaced Lombardo on his CBS radio network radio show when Lombardo left CBS to work on the NBC radio network.
This was one of the funniest episodes--and proves what a brilliant comic Steve Allen was. Gracie--such a wonderful, lovable ditz--did you notice she waited for George's OK before answering each time?? He always said, though, the act was mostly her, that he just responded to her wonderful inanities. Daly always a class act--and funny--few 'gentlemen' like that these days.
@@poetcomic1 I'm sorry to hear that you are deaf (no pun intended). Yes you are correct that Gracie whispered to George after she said out loud to George, "Don't answer George".
I have to say how clever this is, and how funny it is, and how well they all perform it. It's completely reasonable to have George and Gracie "answer" with knocks, and then to have Gracie, completely in character as her usual clueless self, give their identities away as if she didn't realize she was doing it. And you can see what a payoff the line gets from the audience as well as the panelists!
I have been watching these shows for a few nights and they are great. You watch the shows now and some of the contestants look like they belong on skid row or something. Man did they have manners back then.
I'm too young to have seen them in the 50s but I absolutely love them -- and this show too. It's addictive. Why can't they bring it back. instead to stupid regis.
Bennett joined the show in 1951, about a year after What's My Line debuted. He stayed with the show until 1967. Only Dorothy Kilgallen was a panelist from the start, until her death in 1965..
This would have been a perfect clip if Steve Allen hadn't insisted on trying to get the last laugh. Gracie's "slip" was both charming and hilarious, and Allen basically shoehorned his joke in - which promptly fell flat. Normally I'm a huge fan of Steve Allen, but here it felt like he was auditioning for the cameras, when he should have just let George and Gracie have their moment.
You never know, from her apparently comfortable demeanor, that Gracie had terrific stage fright, that caused her to mostly retire a few years after this episode of WML.
GSN rebroadcast this 6 June 1954 episode on 8 June 2008. This episode featured a contestant that Gil Fates discussed in his book. The production staff sometimes sat around brainstorming amusing occupations that would be fun. At one session, someone wondered who makes fancy designs on manhole covers. A manhole designer of course. WML found Al Buta in Florida. The other contestant was a female French war correspondent working in IndoChina. All that plus Burns & Allen. Classic entertainment!
Hm, maybe I read it wrong then. Well, I know he said sometime that he would finally join Gracie in Heaven at his death. I guess they meant that in the newspaper article I read instead of that being his last words.
0:18. The way Gracie waved her hand before sitting down, it was like she was making sure the panelists couldn't see. 😆😆😆😆😆😆. But in one of his books George said she was smart enough to be the world's dumbest woman.
Excuse me, joanfontainefan...but um...how 'bout going into your little account there and getting GRACIE's name right in the title ? ( a little respect for one of the original funny ladies)
Sad to say I think you're probably right. But even that dumb Millionaire had some 'stars' at the end a couple of weeks ago. Of course they were only promoting their other ABC shows. The era of great conversation is over in this age of Twitter and text messaging replaced by the era of unabased plugging and personal stylists.
Except Gracie Allen never utterred the phrase "Goodnight Gracie". When George Burns was asked about it later, he said that she had never said it because they had never thought of it. We think it because Dick Martin used to say "Goodnight Dick"
