In honor of Women’s History Month, the Showplace will feature prominent female-driven classic programs and women who “changed the game” and made a lasting impact in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Probably the most successful and famous female comedian in the first half of the 20th century was NOT Lucille Ball.
Who was possibly even better than the Queen of Comedy herself before 1951?
Answer: Gracie Allen.
The “better” half (according to her husband) of the famous comedy duo Burns and Allen was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosaline Allen.
She was born in the year 1895, 1896, 1902 and 1906 – just one of the many zany, continuous gags that spanned her entire performing career.
Gracie began performing Irish folk dances with her sisters before becoming a vaudeville performer in 1909. A decade later she met and later married George Burns as they formed a partnership as a comedic team.
As hard as it is to believe now, Allen was actually the straight man…er, straight woman, in the early years of this legendary duo.
In “Gracie: A Love Story,” one of several books Burns wrote about his beloved wife, he stated that he was originally the one to deliver the punchlines. Yet it was Allen who was delivering the straight set-ups who, with her humorous delivery, was getting more laughs than the jokes themselves.
Burns’ decision to switch roles nearly instantly made them one of the most requested comedy acts on the vaudeville tours, which also included W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton, May West, the Marx brothers, Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Al Jolson and George’s best friend, Jack Benny.
As vaudeville began to fade and many stars transitioned to radio in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the husband and wife team immediately captured their own radio program. Unfortunately, their jokes–frequently revolving around humorous situations involving newlyweds–were not getting the laughs that they once did on the vaudeville circuit.
In the book, “Sunday Nights at 7:00”, Burns confided in Benny that he was struggling to write funny material for his radio show and, if ratings didn’t improve, Burns and Allen would be out of work. Benny pointed out that, since the couples were no longer newlyweds and now middle-aged, that their old jokes weren’t working and advised that the comedy should revolve around family issues suited to their ages and also focus on Allen’s faux-hair brained ideas.
The suggestion not only paved the way for radio and television success in the 1930s, 40s and 50s but also for some of the most elaborate ploys of the 20th century.
But heartbreak was also on the horizon for this famous duo. We’ll have more on the story of Gracie Allen next week here at the Showplace.
In the meantime, you can see the “better half” on the Burns and Allen Show at 11:30am every Sunday morning on ATVN.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here on our website.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
