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Comedians
Comics of the 1940's

Our Comedians Inventory
George Burns and Gracie Allen - Jack Benney -


click on image to enlarge 		George Burns and Gracie Allen

They were the most popular radio couple in the business.

One of the best comedy teams ever on radio, George Burns & Gracie Allen. They were first heard on radio 06/10/29 over the BBC while they performed in several London theatres. Starting on 02/22/32 for Robert Burns Panatela Cigars, they continued on radio until the last broadcast of their own radio programs on 05/17/50. With that broadcast, they had appeared on 1,028 radio programs, 796 broadcasts of their own programs, and 232 guest appearances. This was not the end of the Burns & Allen experience for their fans. On 10/12/50, they began their television career. They appeared together for eight seasons totaling 294 episodes. Gracie Allen then retired and George Burns continued for another 463 television appearances before withdrawing from the media.

GRACIE ALLEN. Born in San Francisco, California, U.S., 26 July 1895. Attended Star of the Sea Convent School. Married George Burns, 1926; children; Sandra Jean and Ronald John. Joined sister Bessie in vaudeville act, Chicago, Illinois, 1909; played vaudeville as 'single' act from 1911; teamed with George Burns in 1922; toured Orpheum vaudeville circuit; toured United States and Europe in the Keith theater circuit from 1926; played BBC radio for twenty weeks in 1926; first United States radio appearance, with Burns, on The Rudy Vallee Show, 1930; premiered as star of The Adventures of Gracie on CBS radio on 15 February 1932; starred, with Burns, in The Burns and Allen Show on NBC radio, 1945-50; performed in movies throughout 1930s; starred, with Burns, in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, CBS television, 1950-58; retired from show business in 1958. Died in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on 27 August 1964.

GEORGE BURNS. Born Nathan Birnbaum, in New York City, New York, U.S., 20 January 1896. Married actress and comedienne Gracie Allen, 1926 (died 1964); children; Sandra Jean and Ronald Jon. Early career in vaudeville as singer in children's quartet, then as dancer, roller skater, and comedian; formed comedy partnership with Gracie Allen in 1923; co-starred with Allen in radio program, 1932-50; partnership moved to television in the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, 1950-58; continued as star of the George Burns Show, 1958-59; after death of Allen in 1964, continued to work in film, notably in The Sunshine Boys, 1976. Honorary degree; University of Hartford, 1988. Recipient; Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, 1976; recipient, Kennedy Center Honor, 1988. Died in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., 9 March 1996.

The overal dimensions of this piece is; 13 x 18 in brushed metal frame double matted in acid free marble and black, with non glare glass.

The picture Black and White measures; 13 x 17'

The cut signature measures; 2 x 4 1/2 signed by Gracie Allen with date 1956 under her name and underscore in dark blue ink on beige autograph paper. George Burns has signed underneath George Burns in dark blue ink on.



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click on image to enlarge 		Jack Benney

JACK BENNEY CUT SIGNATURE MOUNTED
WITH HARRAH'S PROMO PIECE

Overall measurements of this piece are 13 x 20
in acid free material signed to Penny Janice from Jack benney in pen on blue autograph paper.

Jack Benny was among the most beloved American entertainers of the 20th century. He brought a relationship-oriented, humorously vain persona honed in vaudeville, radio, and film to television in 1950, starring in his own television series from that year until 1965.

The comedian grew up in Waukegan and went on the vaudeville stage in his early teens playing the violin. The instrument quickly turned into a mere prop, and his lack of musicianship became one of the staples of his act. Benny's first major success was on the radio. He starred in a regular radio program from 1932 to 1955, establishing the format and personality he would transfer almost intact to television. Most of his films capitalized on his radio fame (e.g., The Big Broadcast of 1937), although a couple of pictures, Charley's Aunt (1941) and To Be or Not to Be (1942) showed that he could play more than one character.

Benny's radio program spent most of its run on NBC. In 1948, the entertainer, who had just signed a deal with the Music Corporation of American (MCA) that allowed him to form a company to produce the program and thereby make more money on it, was lured to CBS, where he stayed through the remainder of his radio career and most of his television years.

His television program evolved slowly. Benny made only four television shows in his first season. By 1954-55, he was up to 20, and by 1960-61, 39. The format of The Jack Benny Show was flexible. Although each week's episode usually had a theme or starting premise, the actual playing out of that premise often devolved into a loose collection of skits.

Benny played a fictional version of himself, Jack Benny the television star, and the program often revolved around preparation for the next week's show--involving interactions between Benny and a regular stable of characters that included the program's announcer, Don Wilson, and its resident crooner, Dennis Day. Until her retirement in 1958, Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, portrayed what her husband termed in his memoirs 'a kind of heckler-secretary,' a wise-cracking friend of the family and the television program.

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