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]]> When George Burns and Gracie Allen first appeared as a vaudeville team they were paid $5 per show.

George was the comedian and Gracie was the straight man, but when Gracie had a live audience she was hilarious.

George said in his book Gracie: A Love Story: “Gracie was transformed in front of a live audience.  She said the lines differently on stage than in a rehearsal.”   Her straight lines got more laughs than his punchlines.

Burns and Allen played the whistle stop circuits of vaudeville for three long years, appearing in one small town after another, with separate berths on the trains and separate rooms in the hotels.   George wanted more.

George and Gracie were married on January 27, 1926, and the following year hit the big time with a long contract on the Keith circuit which payed them a whopping $750.00 a week.

But that was a pittance compared to the fortunes they would earn just a few years later on the radio.

Read more about Burns and Allen

Here is a clip from an appearance by Burns and Allen on the Kraft Music Hall starring Al Jolson.   Gracie wants George to sing, but George is intimidated by singing in front of the great Jolson.  In this clip Gracie is talking to Oscar Levant,  a regular on the show —

Burns and Allen with Al Jolson and Oscar Levant on the Kraft Music Hall 11-4-48

Click the blue arrow to listen and continue reading.  Click the link to pause, fast forward or reverse.

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