Gracie Allen

Gracie Allen
Publicity still of Allen from the Burns and Allen CBS Radio program
Born	Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (1895-07-26)July 26, 1895 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	August 27, 1964(1964-08-27) (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Occupation	Actress, comedian, vaudevillian
Years active	1924–1958
Spouse(s)	George Burns (m. 1926–64); her death
Children	Sandra Jean Burns (1934–2010) Ronald Jon Burns (1935–2007)

Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie "Gracie" Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her . For contributions to the television industry, Gracie Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6672 Hollywood Boulevard. The team of Burns and Allen was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1988.

Allen was born in San Francisco, California, to George Allen and Margaret Theresa ("Molly") Allen (née Darragh; later Mrs. Edward Pidgeon), who were both of Irish Catholic extraction. She made her first appearance on stage at age three and was given her first role on the radio by Eddie Cantor. She was educated at the Star of the Sea Convent School and during that time became a talented dancer.

She soon began performing Irish folk dances with her three sisters, who were billed as "The Four Colleens". In 1909, Allen joined her sister, Bessie, as a vaudeville performer. At a performance in 1922, Allen met George Burns and the two formed a comedy act. They were married on January 7, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Allen was born with heterochromia, giving her two different color eyes; one blue and one green.

Depending on the source, Allen is alleged to have been born on July 26 in 1895, 1896, 1902 or 1906. All public records held by the City and County of San Francisco were destroyed in the earthquake and great fire of April 1906. Her husband, George Burns, also professed not to know exactly how old she was, though it was presumably he who provided the date July 26, 1902, which appears on her death record. Her crypt marker also shows her year of birth as 1902.