Figure 1.--Here we see Gracie Allen and George Burns with their two children, Sandy and Ronnie, in 1938. They are on their way to Hawaii. At the time this was mostly done by sea. The children were not involved in the radio show. Sabdy had bit parts in the TV show, but Rinnie had a major role as a collge student in the final years.

George Burns and Gracie Allen were vaudevill performers that developed a routine about George and other men pursuing Gracie. The pair criss-crossed the country with the act. Interestingly, Gracy at first the straight man or woman as it was, setting up George to deliver the punchlines which got the laughs In his book, George explained that he noticed that Grcie's straight lines were getting more laughs than his punchlines. So they decided to flip roles , so he cannily flipped the act over�he made himself the straight man and let her get the laughs. It proved a masterpiece of American commedy. Audiences fell in love with Gracie. They loved the naivete, zaniness, and total innocence she so effectively portrayed. In reality she was a very astute businesswoman. They made some short films with the same routine. And this is what is routine when they contiunued along with other importanht show-biz figures graviated toward radio. At first they did not have their own show, but filled in breaks to the Guy Lombardo band music program (early-1930s). They continued this format for a decase, even as they got older and the audience all knew that they were married. As a result, they finally changed to the family format that we are more familar with because they used it on TV. They were a popular show in early TV and their shoiw was a success from the begiunning (1950). They had two children. They adopted two children, Sandra Jean and Ronald Jon, because they could not conceive on their own. They were Jewish, but as the children's parents were Ctholic, agreed to raise the children as Catholics. And the children would be free to make their own religious choice as adults. The were not part of the radio show, but Ronnie joined the cast of the television show, playing George and Gracie's son. He was a serious drama student who wanted nothing to do with comedy. Sandy made only occasional appearances on the show. She became a treacher.

Created: 4:06 AM 6/12/2018
Last updated: 4:06 AM 6/12/2018