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Gracie Allen

Date of Birth / Doğum Tarihi
26 July 1895, San Francisco, California, USA

Date of Death / Ölüm Tarihi
27 August 1964, Hollywood, California, USA. (heart attack)

Birth Name / Gerçek Adı
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen

Mini Biography / Biyografi
She and her husband-to-be became the comedy team of Burns & Allen in 1922 (she was the daft one). They remained spouses and performing partners until her passing. IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Takacs

Trivia / Önemsiz Şeyler
Attending secretarial school, Gracie was invited by her roommate to Union Hill, New Jersey to see if she was interested in working with either member of an act that was splitting up. The act was George Burns and Billy Lorraine, and she chose George.In 1922, they made their first performance at the Hillstreet Theatre in Newark, New Jersey where they were paid $5 per day. George saw that the audience not only found Gracie's character funny, but they fell in love with her, and he did too. He immediately changed the act to give her all the funny lines and played her straight man. They became a hit.George Burns called Gracie ""Googie"", while she called him ""Natty"".Interred along with her husband George Burns at Forest Lawn (Glendale), Glendale, California, USA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage.Mother of actor Ronnie Burns.Had one blue eye and one green.The 1939 movie, The Gracie Allen Murder Case, was especially written for the actress by the creator of Philo Vance, writer S.S. Van Dine. It was one of the few times she worked without her husband, George Burns.Most people did not know when she was born, as her birth certificate was lost during the California earthquake in 1906, and she was usually evasive about her age. Her family was even forced to guess her birth date for her death certificate, settling on 1902. Her true age would not be revealed until 1972, when the 1900 Census became public, and gave her actual birth year as 1895.Accidently spilled boiling water on her arm as a child, which left a bad scar which she kept concealed for the rest of her life.Began having mild heart attacks in the late 50s which continued until her death in 1964.Has a type of flower named after her.During her run on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1950), she stood only 5 feet tall and weighed a dainty, petite 100 pounds.The words ""Together Again"" are engraved on she and George's stone at the cemetary in which they are buried. She is buried above him because George ""wanted her to have top billing.""She and George have two adopted children, Sandra Jean and Ronald John.Started out in an Irish dancing group called ""The Allen Sisters"" with her three older sisters, Bessie, Hazel and Pearl.Her father left her, her mother, her 3 sisters and 1 brother when she was 5 years old, and Gracie never spoke of him again.When she went to work with George, she was engaged to another man. It took four years for George to change her mind, but they went on to become one of the best remembered couples in Hollywood history.""The Burns & Allen Show"" (on CBS and NBC from 1934 to 1950) was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.Declined only one photo-session request in her career, when she was asked to pose outside a mental hospital; husband George compared this to having Mae West pose outside a brothel.Had a fear of water and drowning; took swimming lessons secretly to be able to teach her children.Staged a mock Presidential campaign in 1940; the theme of her campaign speech appeared to be ""My girdle is killing me.""Suffered occasional migraines, which sometimes lasted for days; the only thing that seemed to help was a tight bandana, and bed rest in absolute quiet.Accidently spilled a pot of boiling water on her arm as a child, which left a bad scar she kept concealed for the rest of her life. (Her heart's wish was to wear a strapless evening gown and no gloves, just once.)Their running gags: Gracie's endless relatives, the elaborate search for Gracie's ""missing brother"" (who actually left town in the wake of the publicity), Gracie's infatuation with matinee idol Charles Boyer, Gracie's enthusiasm for George's singing.The annual Gracie Allen Awards are presented by American Women in Radio and Television, Inc., to programs by, for and about women.Graduated from Star of the Sea, School for Girls [Is now co-ed] in San Francisco.In 1949, she missed a radio show when she had a migraine so bad she couldn't get out of bed. She was replaced by Jane Wyman, who had won the Best Actress Oscar earlier that year. It turned out to be the only performance she missed in over thirty-five years of performing with George Burns.Her idol and first childhood crush was Charlie Chaplin.In the early 1940s, during the height of their popularity, George Burns had a brief extra-marital affair. He apologized to Gracie by giving her a new centerpiece for the dining room table, and nothing more was said about it. However, years later when Gracie was shopping with a friend she said, ""You know, I wish George would cheat again. I need a new centerpiece.""

Personal Quotes / Kişisel Alıntılar
Gracie explaining the part she played: ""Gracie isn't really crazy. She makes sense in an illogical sort of way. She's off-center. Not quite right really, but nearly right.""""Gracie thought she was terribly smart. Gracie's character was different. Gracie thought everybody was out of step but her. She was always helping people. She was always sorry for you. Like if she would say, 'My sister got up in the middle of the night, she screamed, she looked down at her feet and they turned black.' You would say to her 'What did she do?' She was sorry for you for asking that question. She thought you were pretty dumb not to know what to do if your feet turned black. 'She took off her stocking and went to sleep again.'"" - Gracie Allen""Gracie's the kind of girl who shortens the cord on the electric iron to save electricity."" - Gracie Allen""Gracie didn't marry me because I was a sex symbol. We were in show business and we made each other laugh. That's why it lasted 38 years. We slept together, ate together, dressed together and worked together and never had a fight. It was a partnership and a friendship, too. And she knew everything. The only thing I ever felt guilty about was a telegram we got in vaudeville. It was from Flo Ziegfeld, and he was out front, and that was one of the nights I blew smoke in Gracie's face and he hated my guts. So he sends me a cable saying, 'I'll pay $200 for the dame, $100 for the act.' I never read it to her. I told her it was from some of the boys at the Friars Club. Before she died, I said, 'Gracie, I got a confession to make. Remember that cable we got that time in vaudeville?' And she said, 'You mean the one from Ziegfeld?'"" - George Burns""She was just a dainty, nice darling Irish girl with blue-black hair and a quick delivery and great, great style."" - George Burns