The comedic duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen are one of the few acts that transitioned from vaudeville to radio, film, and television. The married comedic duo utilized Allen’s zany antics with Burns’ straight man, cigar-smoking and arched eyebrow persona, with their radio show debuting in 1934 as “The Adventures of Gracie” which later was renamed “The Burns and Allen Show’ in 1936. The radio series featured Allen’s off-the-wall personality that the straight man Burns was befuddled to challenge. The series was broadcast on radio until 1950, with the duo re-emerging in 1950 as “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” which received 11 Primetime Emmy nominations during its eight-season run on CBS. The “Burns and Allen Show” was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994 and their comedic duo and humorous banter inspires comedians and writers to this day.

Presented here is an 8 x 10-inch black and white photo signed by Allen and Burns and a 8 1/2x7-inch typed letter signed by the duo. The letter is labeled “GENERAL CIGAR CO, INC.” in black on the blue background portion of the letter. “119 West 40th Street New York” and is dated “April 22, 1935” in blue type. The letter is addressed to a “Miss Anne Riche, 87 Simonson Ave, Mariner’s Harbor, S.I. NY.” The duo addresses the letter as “Dear Fan” and go on to make witty and hilarious banter of the same kind heard on their radio program and play with the concept of dictation, with Allen writing and Burns doing the dictation, comedically adding the punctuation instead of typing it to hilarious effect. Allen signed the bottom of the letter with black ink and Burns signed the letter with black ink after a postscript of “Oh yes, put down the P.S. say George Burns wants to say hello.” The signatures are bold and the letter is in good condition but features some toning.

The second item in this presented lot is a 8x10-inch black and white photograph of the comedic duo in front of a microphone holding script. Burns, in a suit and tie, is laughing while Allen, in a beautiful ornate hat, is cracking a wry smile while reading from her script. Burns signed across his image with a blue marker. The signature is bold and the photo is in great condition. The lot consisting of an 8 x 10-inch photo signed by Burns and the typed letter signed by Burns and Allen has been pre-certified by Beckett Authentication.

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