The Lovely and Talented Gracie Allen Quiz

Answer: San Francisco

Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was born on July 26. There is conflicting information about the year. Speculation runs from 1895-1906. Due to the Great Earthquake in San Francisco in 1906, the Birth and Death Records building was destroyed. It's on her tombstone that she was born in 1902.

There was something very unique about Gracie's eyes. She was born with heterochromia, giving her one blue eye and one green eye. Since "The Burns and Allen" television program was filmed in black and white, it wasn't noticed, but Gracie was still a bit self-conscious about it.

Answer: Yes

At the time, Gracie was one of the most loved figures in radio. Her Dumb Dora (as it was called) act was one of the things about Gracie that people loved about her. She became the national symbol of misunderstanding and ineptitude. The government's safety campaign's slogan was, "Don't be a Gracie Allen!" This increased her popularity even more.

The majority of the people in the US loved Gracie and her supposed dim-witted ways.

Answer: Her arm was badly scarred.

When Gracie was 18 months old, she pulled a large pot of boiling tea off of the stove, down on top of her. Her arm was badly scarred, and she could never straighten it. The only people she ever allowed to see her bare arm were her family, George and their children.

Answer: Her brother

This happened in 1933. The advertising agency and the network executive had decided to move George and Gracie's program from 9:00 pm to 9:30 pm, and needed an inexpensive way to get the word out over the air. The plan was for Gracie to show up, unannounced, on other radio programs, supposedly looking for her brother, and mention the time change. She appeared on numerous radio programs, always asking, "Has anyone here seen my brother, George?" One show was a drama set inside a submerged submarine. The telephone (in a submarine?) rang, and an unidentified voice asked the captain, "Is Gracie Allen's brother down there with you?"

The gag was so popular, it lasted much longer than expected. There were even jigsaw puzzles released showing George and Gracie, and one piece, which looked exactly like her brother, was missing from them! Even after they became TV stars, people still asked Gracie if she ever found her brother.

Answer: No

This was another publicity stunt. In 1940 Gracie ran on the Surprise Party ticket against Franklin D. Roosevelt and Wendell Willke. Her campaign slogan was, "Down with common sense, vote for Gracie!" She claimed she had a very good chance of winning the election, because "half of all the married people in this country are women!" She went on a whistle-stop tour, funded by Union Pacific Railroad, and in her speeches, urged Americans to be proud of the National Debt, because it was the biggest in the world.

She also claimed she would welcome foreign relations, as long as they brought their own bedding! (That's our Gracie!) She did receive several thousand write-in votes, however.

Answer: The Gracie Allen Murder Case

Gracie was very nervous about acting in this movie, as it was the first one she did without George. But he was at the studio every day, encouraging her. She played the part of a perfume manufacturer's niece, appropriately named Gracie Allen. She was caught up in the murder of a thug at a night club (which, by the way, was owned and run by another thug!) Gracie ended up working with Philo Vance (played by Warren William) to solve the murder. One of the funniest things about Gracie in the movie is that she kept calling Philo "Fido"! She had some wonderfully funny lines and really made the movie as hilarious as it is. One of the funniest of Gracie's lines comes when she and Philo Vance discover the body of the murdered man at the night club. Philo says, "He was killed elsewhere. I wonder why they brought the body here? Gracie responds, "Well, they have a wonderful floor show!"

Answer: He'd ask, "Gracie, how's your brother?"

Gracie suffered from severe migraine headaches all of her life, but refused to miss a show. That's what sometimes made her forget what she was supposed to say. When George asked her, "Gracie, how's your brother?", she could make up the craziest stories about him. Here's one example:

George: "Gracie, how's your brother?"
Gracie: "He broke his leg!"
George: "How did he do that?"
Gracie: "He fell off of the ironing board while he was pressing his pants!"

This seemed very natural to the audience, who expected Gracie to be zany. Anyway, it worked!

Answer: No

At the end of their radio programs, Gracie usually said something silly. In one routine, George asked her "Gracie, how is your cousin?" Gracie: "You mean the one that died?" George: "Yeah." Gracie: "Oh, he's fine now." Then George would say "Say good night, Gracie!" Gracie would turn to the audience, smile and say "Good night!" George made a comment that since he wrote their scripts, he never had Gracie say that.

He said if he had known what a catch-phrase it would become, he would have written it into her scripts from the very beginning!

Answer: She was ill.

Gracie had wanted to retire when "The Burns and Allen Show" was still on the radio because she had suffered a mild heart attack, but George would talk her into continuing for "just one more year". She reluctantly agreed. Finally, in 1958, she informed George that she couldn't go on.

She was beginning to suffer from chest pains more often, and felt she just couldn't go on any longer. George agreed with her, and her retirement was officially announced on February 19, 1958.

Answer: Heart attack

Gracie had struggled with heart disease for years. She died on August 27, 1964 at the age of 62. George never got over the loss. He visited her grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park once a month and talked to her about what was going on in his life. He dated women after Gracie died, but never remarried. As he said, "I'll never find another Gracie!" George died on March 9, 1996, shortly after his 100th birthday. He's buried beside Gracie, and their headstone reads:

Gracie Allen and George Burns (For once, Gracie received top billing!)
1902-1964 1896-1996
Together Again

If you would like the full story about Gracie, I suggest reading George Burns' book, "Gracie: A Love Story". It's an excellent book!