The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show

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Cast
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Burns & Allen Show:  This is one of a handful of shows that began on radio and survived on television.  The TV show first aired on October 12, 1950.  Gracie Allen-Burns was the main character.  All the stories revolved around her doing something and mixing up George and others in the mess.  George was the straight man, a bouncing board for Gracie, as well as the narrator.  George's moments of narration also doubled for his stand-up comic routines.  There was an invisible fourth wall, so to speak, so the audience could always see what was going on.  All George had to do was step over the partially-constructed wall to do his monologues.

The advertisements were often very cleverly worked into the storylines.  There were no distinct commercial breaks.  A few times in the show they would lead into something about Carnation Evaporated Milk, and later on B.F. Goodrich products.  The announcer, first Bill Goodwin, then Harry Von Zell, were made into likable members of the cast so they also doubled as actors.

George and Gracie were a show business couple.  George always fretted about the upcoming television show, while Gracie continuously got herself into one hair-brained scheme after another.  Their neighbors, the Mortons, consisted of a constantly grumpy husband named Harry who worked as a realtor, and his spoiled housewife Blanche.  Blanche was always played by Bea Benaderet, so her character remained pretty much established throughout the whole series.  Harry Morton, however, would be played by four different actors during the series run.  Each one of the Harry Morton actors looked incredibly different and brought their own elements of Harry's personality, so the character was changed many times over.  Only one thing was consistent, Harry was always grumpy. 

George Burns- George Burns
Gracie Allen- Gracie Allen GO TO HER PAGE!
Blanche Morton- Bea Benaderet
Harry Morton- Hal March (1950-1951)
Harry Morton- John Brown (1951)
Harry Morton- Fred Clark (1951-1953)
Harry Morton- Larry Keating (1953-1958)

Announcer- Bill Goodwin (1950-1951)
Announcer- Harry Von Zell (1951-1958)

Supporting Players:
Detective Sawyer-

First Episode: October 12, 1950
Last Episode: September 22, 1958
Number of Seasons: 8
Network: CBS

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Season 4:

Season 5:

Season 6:

Season 7:

Season 8:

Season 9?:  The George Burns Show (1958-1959)

This show was a continuation of the "Burns & Allen" show, but was its own separate series.  It lasted only one season, but in a weird way, one could almost consider this the 9th season of the "Burns & Allen" show.

This show was destined to fail.  It was trying to be EXACTLY like Burns & Allen, but without the Allen!  I do believe George could have always made it on his own, but he shouldn't have tried to make a cake with half the ingredients.  I've seen episodes of this show, and it SUCKED!  The actors were still awesome.  The writing was still pretty good, but doing a Burns & Allen show with Gracie M.I.A. was NOT a wise notion.  Everyone was pretty much a straight man.  There was no single character that was really goofy.  So where could the comedy come from?  It was about as laid back as "Ozzie & Harriet."

With the cast, this show had its moments, and it was honorable for George to want to continue even after Gracie wanted to retire, but the creators of the show were just too dang brave for their own good.  The only way for a George Burns solo show to have worked was if they completely changed the premise.  They could've even kept the same supporting actors, just as long as they changed their functions.



George Burns
Born: January 20, 1896 New York, New York, USA.
Died: March 9, 1996 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Cause of Death: Natural Causes.
Birth Name: Nathan Birnbaum.
Height: 5' 7".
Spouse #1: Hannah Siegal (?-?) (annulled).
Spouse #2: Gracie Allen (January 7, 1926- August 27, 1964) (her death).
Biography:  Took his name from the Burns Brothers Coal Company.  While growing up, he stole lumps of coal from their trucks to help heat the family home.  "George" was just a name his brother liked to use on people in everyday conversation.  Until his death he smoked as many as ten cigars a day.  The whole thing with Hannah Siegal was by name only.  They had a ballroom-dancing act together in the early 1920s.  The team was offered a 36-week contract to go out on the road.   Hannah's dad, however, was about to break up the team because he didn't feel she should travel with a man outside the bonds of marriage.  George and Hannah got married before they left, and right when they came back they divorced.  In the beginning of George & Gracie's partnership, George was the ditz and Gracie was the straight man.  When George realized that Gracie got more laughs, he switched the roles.  George actually wore a hairpiece for most of his performing career.



Fred Clark
Born: March 19, 1914 Lincoln, California, USA.
Died: December 5, 1968 Santa Monica, California, USA.
Cause of Death: Liver Ailment.
Birth Name: Frederic Leonard Clark.
Height: 6' 1".
Spouse #1: Benay Venuta (February 15, 1952- ?) (divorce).
Spouse #2: Gloria Glaser (November 18, 1966- his death).




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