George Burns (January 20, 1896 - March 9, 1996) & Gracie Allen (July 26, 1895 - August 27, 1964)

How do you even begin to put into words the greatness of George and Gracie? From the time of their union the 1920's until her passing in 1964 they entertained the world as a couple and then he carried on many years longer until he left us in the late 1990's. Even now in 2008 the wonderful old catchphrase "Say Good Night Gracie" is still used on a daily basis. Gracie only appeared without George by her side in two productions, the first being "The Gracie Allen Murder Case" in 1939 opposite Warren William as Detective Philo Vance and the second being in 1942 in the detective story "Mr. & Mrs. North" with Gracie as Pamela North and William Post, Jr. as Gerry North. Unfortunately Gracie suffered from severe migraine headaches that would last days at a time. Her illness only affected her performance once when she was forced to miss a 1949 radio show. Her good friend Jane Wyman filled in for her. They appeared in their popular radio program for several years before moving to television in 1950. Also on television they appeared together on "What's My Line?", "Climax!", "Toast of the Town" and "The Bob Cummings Show." Their television program ran from 1950 until 1958 when Gracie finally retired to deal with her failing health. George Burns commented later that she only continued on as long as she did for his sake. As the 1960's drew closer Gracie's health deteriorated more and more. Suffering from a bad heart she had several mild heart attacks before one finally claimed her in 1964. Following the death of his wife and comedy partner George Burns carried on. He re-invented his act by focusing on his age and making all the jokes age related. He would go onto appear in a number of specials carrying his name and make guest appearances on several shows such as "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show", "Mister Ed" (which he also produced), "The Jack Benny Program", "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", "The Jackie Gleason Show", "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy", "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Dean Martin Show","Ellery Queen", "The Muppet Show", "Alice", "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Golden Palace." In addition to radio and television he also appeared in a few films including "The Sunshine Boys" in 1975 and "Radioland Murders" in 1994. George Burns and Gracie Allen...for more than eighty years they have been like a part of the family, a very special part. And thanks to the wonders of technology they always will be.