Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label The Four Colleens

July 26: Happy Birthday, Gracie Allen

If the great comedian, George Burns , had a great love of his life...it was Gracie Allen . Miss Allen was born July 26, 1895 (at best guess as her birth records were lost in the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906) and through her illustrious career, she endeared herself to the hearts of millions of fans around the globe. She made her first appearance to the masses at the age of 3 when she performed with Eddie Cantor. As part of “The Four Colleens”, she and her sisters performed irish dances and eventually ended up on vaudeville with her older sister Bess. In 1922 she met a young comic vaudevillian named George Burns and teamed up...both on stage and in life. In their act, Gracie originally was the straight force of the duo, but as she was receiving the laughter for her less than “all there” approach to dialog. Gracie Allen became the focal point of the jocularity. In reality, Miss Allen had a keen I.Q. and  was very articulate. Their success on the stage carried the