George Burns on Donahue Show, 1988

to present George Burns [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] look if if I can stand you can stand okay we get down here why would he go down there okay there we are your sweethearts in the country town the neighbors say no no no no place park scene dark Great Britain Munda shining through the trees play that place park scene doc great big moon is shining through the trees gasps to me you sounds of kisses floating we never worked together before sounds because you're floating through the breeze act one begun dialog is would you like to spoon then it's my cue with you underneath that great big moon hold it you know caused by the lie [Music] of the silvery moon Sega in school okay that's enough mother [Music] my kid brother he's a lazy kid mm-hmm one day's work is all the work he did wrote a song entirely wrong up on yon because if it's going strong George I'm going on the other game heard my brother won the song he sang he said it can uh place is gonna be a hit how could it miss when the chorus goes like this [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I'm [Music] I'll be 93 in January I'll sell 90 to 92 look what's here Gracie a love story I'm pleased to recommend this to your attention here is George Burns story of his of his marriage to his beloved Gracie Gracie Allen it wasn't really crazy about show business she just worked she she was raised to work hard and I got it Gracie came from a theatrical family when I met Gracie she was a Irish dramatic actress she made people cry I used to make people cry when I told jokes and when you weren't ólafur I'm aggressive and then when I worked for Gracie the first show I was the comedian and nobody laughed and Gracie did the straight lines and they laugh so the audience found Gracie's character if Gracie did something sarcastic they wouldn't like it so she they found the off-center character and I wrote the jokes and Gracie was able to tell him of us and that's what made us a good combination and you weren't at all your ego was not at all damaged by the fact that we split salaries I got half the money and your mother didn't was not upset you brought a shiksa home no I said to my mother I'm gonna get married - Gracie tomorrow in Cleveland my mother said grace she's a nice girl I said mama she's a Catholic my mother says that they'll have you that's fine now how did how did how did her folks do with they like me they did they liked me what was that Gracie wasn't gonna marry me Gracie was gonna marry somebody else she had an Irishman then you were on bed Benny Ryan then you Ryan he was a great songwriter he wrote a song I'll just give you the little bit of it she does a new step it goes one two three kick she can't count so good that's the worst of the trick my shin bones look like they've been hit with a brick when Francis dances with me it was great so when grace oh so I wrote a song for Gracie and I sang it in the book yeah and Gracie said if you write another song I marry been around as a matter of fact this wasn't funny you were really in the trenches for her attention well if it wasn't Gracie and Mary Kelly and Reynold three girls they lived together three Catholic girls and Mary Kelly like me Mary Kelly made Gracie marry me she thought I'd be a better husband and I was and bené bené bené wouldn't show up on time and that was that bugged her huh well Betty drank a lot oh he did a lot of drinking and you know I drink too but not a lot as a matter of fact that was one of Gracie's uh she loved Pat O'Brien except when he was drinking she did you tell me in his book why she didn't like him at all look you can't go by me I lie a lot you married in Cleveland with the meter running on the taxi we got into Cleveland five o'clock in the morning Gracie called me up and it was Christmas Christmas week and we had at Cleveland and Detroit booked and I knew that Gracie was gonna marry Benny Reince I said the Gracie look after we played the two weeks you're gonna marry Benny let's call it off footing I'd like to get married in Cleveland and she went out that that would bring Ryan and she called me up at 3 o'clock in the morning she says if the phone was downstairs we should say you yeah right and I said she said we're getting married in Cleveland get the license so I got the Cleveland we got there at 5 o'clock in the morning but if you get a room in five o'clock in the morning you gotta pay for an extra room until 7:00 the day starts at 7:00 yes sir so we sat in the lobby for two hours to save $7 and then we went down to the justice of the peace to get married and the taxicab said the meter in the taxicab says 80 cents and when we came out and got married the meter says ninety five cents become right fast we got married and it was a wonderful marriage it was it your second marriage yeah you married her most of Hosea yeah well I was only mad wasn't marriage well I was I was I was about eighteen years old and she was about sixteen and I did a ballroom dancing at the lousy act and we were booked on the small-time for 26 weeks and a mother and father would let me take her out of town unless I married her well I wasn't going to cancel 26 weeks so we got married we wait for 26 weeks we got the boss you you never slept with her but we step with a sheet in between to say because she she didn't like me I didn't like her either and when we color and I got up in the morning the sheet was still clean a couple of years later I married Hermosa Jose my partner in a dance act her name was actually Hannah Siegel but I named her after my cigar I used to smoke Hosea Moses Hermosa I see yeah I switched yeah what's a Peabody Peabody is you know a few No all right don't dance after I look half of him looking under look lighter ice to teach dancing when I was 14 out of dancing school BB's college of dancing there's two teach a waltz or Foxtrot to two-step for $5.00 and was in a a polish section but they couldn't dance the fellas couldn't dance with anybody but me so I used to go to the weddings with the dancer and some of the guys started dancing too close so I quit you you think she called you natty daddy what was your name hey George Nathan Birnbaum Nathan Byrne how I got the name of George we were seven in the family five brothers and seven sisters and one brother's name is a door and everybody called him George and we liked him he was my favorite brother so we all called us out George go five drugs in the family and the white and bronze I got from the brains brothers cold people it was to pass our neighborhood and I'd pick up the shooting get the coal and fill my knickers full of coal if they get home to my mother no and and little a B Kaplan used to do the same thing when this was coming down the street to say here come the boys brothers so that's how I got the name of Bern uh you know what a vaudeville performer never forgets a joke at the end of the show Gracie got a little emotional which was very unusual for her to do I'm trying to figure out what show this is radio she says I just want everyone to know one thing I'm a very lucky woman I was courted by the youngest handsomest most charming most sought after star in show business then I married good [Laughter] oh hey I'll tell you this I want to show them you and Gracie at work this is just a bit of a clip I mean okay if this isn't history this was at the center of our popular culture for a long long time that the TV show was eight years true yeah uh-huh all right here's up here just a slice of Burns and Allen take a look here will you stop this from the beginning where's that now it's licensed I want to see it don't remember Gracie our marriage license was in the trunk and the trunk was burnt in Vancouver but I'll be glad to get your duplicate you wanna try that all preliminary that's right call me Gracie yeah everybody calls me Gracie if we were really married they call me mrs. burns yeah still today now I'll tell you what else we've got Gracie was classy huh well let me tell you about Gracie that the audience might be interested in grace she played sort of a dumb Dame on the stage there were a lot of dumb Dame's in those days and they dress dumb they dressed in had pleated skirts and medieval surberg Gracie didn't she wore a beautiful dress grace she was a lady on the stage and Gracie didn't think she was dumb when Gracie said silly things you didn't understand us she felt sorry for you and Gracie and Gracie thought she was very smart Gracie never told the joke Gracie explained it to you like you were spike for instance I said to grasing him did the nurse ever drop you when you were a baby and she says that's the silliest question I ever heard did the nurse we were very poor people my mother had to do it you know who else worked with her very well I don't have to tell you Jack and Gracie Oh Jack and Gracie yeah we're well good you must still looked in the wing same holy Callie you loved it I wrote it watch this can we see it Jack Benny and Gracie imagined here and now that I found out that George and I are married I'm giving back all the wedding presents I got so don't forget to take yours oh you don't have to do that Gracie like that by the way what did I give you you know George and I always meant to ask you the same thing eight years of this you must have you got the other one ready cuz it's funny too you got to see this I'm just this here Jack Benny and Gracie at work watch this George's in for a pleasant surprise when he gets home Oh Gracie I don't want to sound as though I'm knocking a competitor but whoever is doing your napkins is washing them in hard water add 2 spoons please it's not sweet enough Jack was dumped she did tell her she thought Jack Benny was dumped bad for two sports didn't think she was she for all her interest first of all I want to talk about her style she wore clothes she never she would have a different outfit on all the time which was unusual nobody think about doing this today for D if that happened by accident see our first show I wore the funny clothes and Gracie was dressed like a lady she was a straight woman but nobody laughed at my jokes they laughed at her answers so then when I gave her all the jokes she never changed clothes she still was that perfectly dressed woman so that happened by accident and it was later on that she she just wanted to quit well no I mean I look back on this now I don't know how you handle this I'm I knew that Gracie was the sick as she was she would have liked that quit a couple years before that if you knew yeah you didn't know I know she had a bad heart but it didn't worry me because when she had a bad hop she take a little pill I'd put my arms around her she'd be fine again and when Gracie died I was shocked because I had all these pills I couldn't imagine and Gracie had migraine headaches so sorry but she was able to block it out she used to block out the audience walk out the footlights she'd have no migraine hair they go on the stage you give a great performance to come off and have the headache again but Gracie was able to do that she didn't think she was a big star Oh Gracie was not interested in show business off the stage she was interested my children the family our children we had a son and daughter and she ran the house and I took care of the in show business I'd know nothing but show business yeah and you we got up she called you googy I called her gummy I mean you called you googy I called her go you called her go she called you natty how I called him about googy well go gates yet she woke me up at 3 o'clock in the morning and she said make me laugh I didn't know what the sesh I said Googie Googie Googie and she laughed and nobody ever stole that line you know you know this was one of my big jokes go giggle do good this is a I am pleased to recommend this book to your attention here this is a wonderful love story America already knows that here are the details of it very very wonderfully drawn I must say George there's not much sex in here well I was never a great lover I never remember sleeping with grace she was she applauded me you see when you're married that long it's easy to make your wife laughs let me tell you David Fisher and I wrote that book uh he's sitting here it's very good of you to write that uh and he's a very good writer David yes David I learned a lot about marriage in 40 years and I can give some pretty good advice I know all about the importance of respect and Trust and honesty and generosity and sharing but for me it still comes back to one thing Mary Gracie this is some marriage George I'll only bring this up once yeah I wish I could [Applause] you were first of all you were born in 1898 1896 January the 20th 1896 I did a 1898 1896 1896 he was there when I was 32 that's right 1890 1796 do you remember the turn know you were here running around with a little kid down the street here at the turn of the century does that knock you out or what no and I was 8 years old I went into show business how it happened I used to make syrup for a candy store for kids chocolate and vanilla and strawberry and there was a guy in our neighborhood a lot of carrier his name was Lou folly I need love and harmony singing and he came down there he saw four kids he taught us how to sing harmony and we were pretty good yeah like this streets on everywhere say that Sri Sarma thrown everywhere again now streets are everywhere they were how many singers you really were smitten with anyway so well we were singing once I'm making the syrup we looked up there where I ate it then people up there and they threw a couple of pennies at us eight years old yeah I said boy let's go into show business yeah we started singing saloons and on ferry boats and gods night out I fell in love with show business then I still thought aloud now this was the Lower East Side sorry side yeah uh now wait a minute you more or less died until you were twenty seven years old didn't you I did all kinds of bad acts I went through the seal it not gonna sail to show you how bad the act was every time I threw the seal a piece of fish he throw it back you were 30 and she was 20 did you have fur Gracie buy a whole decade I never knew Gracie's age she never told me Fisher found out her age I didn't she never told her age I never had a birthday but not her age and she died at age 58 the 5a here was a woman why was he died at 64 she retired at 58 I I'm gonna take your grace he retired I went into show business yeah I was retired when I worked with Gracie yeah I don't know I've said the Gracie how's your brother she talked for 40 years yeah now George just one more thing before we leave this segment here you had in here I got I got drunk one night too many martinis and I did something with the girl wasn't nice and the following day I called up Jack Benny was my closest friend to tell him what a terrible thing I did and Gracie wanted a silver centerpiece for the table of course $750 we had a lot of centerpieces and she asked me to the centerpiece I see a lot of centerpieces and the meantime the nurse said the girl that worked first Rose told me that Gracie hide the phone conversation of Jay Benny so the next day I brought home with silver centerpiece and a diamond bracelet for $10,000 and seven years later Gracie said to Mary Benny I was George would cheat again I need another son of his say Gracie was a smart girl you know it's I should do things I had my one-night affair I don't know why I did it maybe I had too much to drink but I but it had nothing to do with the centerpiece I wasn't very good at you were having a fight with Gracie about the centerpiece I wasn't very good at cheating maybe because I hadn't done it before somehow Gracie found out and I found out that Gracie had found out so she knew and I knew she knew but I didn't know if she knew that I knew that she knew if that had kept up we might have had a whole new Act well now my good night might have gone back with the seal yeah Grayson now uh we're gonna break it here do you visit her once a month or once a month I talked to Gracie yeah I'll tell I was on the show please do yeah now this is good for you to do this this is a I enjoy it I I visited Gracie until sometimes and um Gracie some funny things that were said you know I don't know that she is me or not but because she doesn't answer and I enjoy it and I'd go every month oh my god I'll always love Gracie yeah it's great ninety-two are you going to heaven George they pay me now I'm not gonna die I died now tuna and you've already played God so that's right what a good time you're having what a joyful thing we cuz I love what I'm doing for a living and that's terribly important I don't be my age and to be able to get out of bed enjoy what you're gonna do that day is great [Applause] [Music] be part of the audience right Donoghue tickets Carib NBC New York New York one zero one one two yes ma'am how did you develop your unique vocal style how did you develop your unique vocal style give us an example before you well for instance um is a song young at heart that I sing and Frank and Frank your front wait a minute Frank sir Frank Sinatra sang this song and I guess I thought maybe you'd like to hear it the right way don't tell him I said that I'm old I'd like to get older knowledge to fairy tales can come true it can happen to you if you're young at heart it's hard you will find to be narrow of mind if you're young at heart you can go to extremes with impossible schemes laugh at your dreams and fall apart of the scenes life it's more exciting with each passing day and lovely there in your heart or on the way don't you know that it's worth every treasure oh nice to be young for trips to our it's much better by BA to be young at heart and if you should survive tomorrow five think of all you'll derive out of being alive and here's the best part you better head start if you are among the very young [Music] I'm glad you waited go ahead are you there yes hi I always wanted to tell mr. burns that when I was growing up I never knew my grandfather and that I used to pretend that he was my grandfather so now that I'm older I still feel close to him and I always wanted to meet him and one of these days I will because right now I'm studying to be an actress so one of these days I will meet you and I will say hello to you and I love you very very much [Applause] obviously you're fabulous you're very young at heart so you follow a special diet take vitamins exercise what are you doing that I could do I'm Chad yeah I I'm a very small leader I eat a very little breakfast like maybe three prunes and two cups of coffee and no bread and for lunch I have a cup of soup and a bagel you know bagels got a hole in it you can look through the hole and see what you're eating this is it and I have a good dinner I have a good dinner and I do exercise and well and food does is not important to me if the food isn't good I send for ketchup and if I go with a girl I don't like or I send for capture yes yes man I'd like to think you do look fabulous but I also want to know what motivated you into having that affair what motivated me to want to having the affair with that girl too many martinis when you drink too many martinis you're thinking from here down what could you tell us about your children we don't hear much about them well I've got two adopted children they're lovely sandy and Ronnie and I've got seven grandchildren and I've got five great-grandchildren and this is a museum Gracie was Jewish but I don't I don't want don't wake at it but Gracie was very a Catholic and very religious see fish Fridays and all of that my children both Catholics Gracie was the Catholic my grandchildren are all Catholics migrated I'm the only Jewish one of my family I'm the only one that eats with my head on severe I graduated huh I was gonna ask you about Ronnie and your daughter but the question was it very friendly that's why I'm gonna stick around I don't wanna run forgot me Jack you you never laughed at Jack Benny off stage well Jack Benny was a genius on the stage he was a great but off stage you see the take he did off stage he was silly like Princeton some I had lunch ones for Jack Benny the brown berry and I said I'm gonna have bacon and eggs he said I'm gonna have cream of wheat he says what I hate cream of wheat I says well don't order cream of wheat he says but Mary says it's good for me I says tell Mary need cream early he said but I love bacon eggs I said then order break in the next this is what mary says it's bad for me I said tell Mary not eat bacon right so then the check came Apple yeah Oh the waiter came over and I saw I Baker makes and Jackson's all that bacon and eggs when the check came I says give Jack the check he's watching I pay the check I said if you don't pay the check I'll tell Mary add bacon Jason's chasin Oh Jason Jack see if you told Jack a joke he wouldn't laugh because he knew all the jokes but he'd bring things on himself we're eating at chases trad Dave Jason was alive then we'd gone back up 50 years and jacket and we won't have him Edie dinner and Jack says let's make chase and pay for the dinner I said how do you do that he says we're both very good customers when the check comes I'll call over they've chase and I'll say if George Burns pays for this cheque I'll never come in here again and you save Jack Benny pays for the check I'll never come in here again and they've Jason say fellas I'll take the checkers with me customers so we had a very expensive dinner and the check came and Jack Benny called over Dave Jason he says to Dave George but in spades for the check I'll never come in here again so I didn't say anything so Jack Benny paid for the trick bring it on himself you know mr. burns most comedy shows today you'll maybe get a laugh every few minutes but on your old TV shows you guarantee to laugh a minute of your material how much was ad-lib or write to the script whether it be radio or live a little bit but you better have 90% and writing you could ad-lib 10% but you don't add a little so you can't ad-lib not for a half-hour the very odd it wasn't everything you may be the only person on earth who could work that consistently with Gracie because there was no it was all non sequitur you there was no way to know your line from her line no Gracie if it's a very tough job for Gracie the script with 40 pages and Gracie had to memorize 26 27 pages and of those days there were no cards you could read it Gracie had to memorize but very hard it's very easy to remember please sure if you say to me how do you feel I said I feel fine but if you say - Gracie how do you feel I'm next line might be look on the floor maybe it fell down that's hard to remember we're in New York City with the author of Gracie a love story and we'll be back in a moment [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Thank You RC a Columbia home video for these historic cliffs they they really are Gracie was in awe of movie stars it never occurred to her that if she wanted to see a real movie star all she doe to do was look in the mirror well first he'd have to push me out of the way then look in the mirror you worked with everybody Crosby Benny Bob Hope Carole Lombard they were her friends clock' but we was Ben yeah he did one of our shows yeah are you there caller are you there hi hi I I tell you I wish I could be with you right now be with that wonderful wonderful man he I love him makes the Al Jolson George you are the next best on my rig I can ask how old are you kid 52 52 wow she's too young for me you wanted to say I have eight I could nine kids five daughters what one of my daughters you had a question okay you know you know the song won't you waltz home sweet home with me for old times sake don't you waltz home sweet home with me for old times sake look now do you know I'm trying to lead sure they won't fall down so Nelly won't go away anyway you don't know my song and I don't know your Hey yeah mr. burns you sang a song I wish I were 18 again I just want you to know that I think you will always be 18 you have a fan can you give some advice to those of us who are about to get married are you getting married yes how many months weeks what next September well let me tell you something kid if you're getting married if you want to make marriage a success it's not what you're doing bet what you're doing you're out of it that's important is it I never made a dollar on bread mr. burns I just wanted to tell you I'm thrilled to be here and to thank you for a lifetime of entertaining all of us thank you very much sure mr. burns I don't fear the author of this saying but I believe you are and perhaps you could tell me the saying goes I'd like to live to be 90 and get shot by a jealous husband was that your saying no I never said that nothing Boyle stole that mr. burns I you gave me a lot of years I would like to know and those commercials that you do and you're so what is that some of your input well we write the commercials you know we play around with them they give us a framework and we fool around and then they pay me so I do it Thank You mr. burns he hears so much about you know you love stirring I was very impressed by your book and I'm glad you mentioned Gable and Lombard but I wonder how it must have felt year after year day after day working with your wife on set every day the same show it those were wonderful years I worked with Gracie for 40 years and were married for 38 and was a wonderful marriage see we didn't work very hard to be married we worked marriage was a byproduct of what we did for a living ruins overs as we had that we had a lot to talk about we were great friends I was not a great lover Gracie didn't marry me because I was a great the only thing I was interested in getting into a show business yeah hi George first of all I want to tell you I think you're so cute secondly I like to know who is your favorite comedian comedian that's living well a lot of comedians I can tell you the young kids that are coming up today like Milton Berle and red button and Danny Chalmers all those kids they'll all make it you're not making old age popular people can't wait to get old you've you've obviously been alive for a long time from but from Theodore Roosevelt up to now now George Bush what are your feelings about some of the presidents have served during your lifetime I don't get mixed up in politics I don't tell Ronnie Reagan how to run the government and Ronnie Reagan don't know it doesn't know the words to red rose rag are you there caller yeah yeah do you admire young comedians you've got any young guys that you I just mentioned the young kids oh yes ma'am George congratulations on your book and I just want to know since you're so young and spry are you going to do any more movies for us we enjoy them well they they're talking Warner Brothers right now we're talking about another god movie but I would I would like to make a god movie that's a little bit different I think that God would come down for John Denver that was a good movie but the other god movies were not hers I don't think God would would would would go would would come down for Henny Youngman George do you remember your first cigar when I was 14 I started to smoke cigars and I've been smoking ever since yeah and I smoked about 10 to 15 today just curious why did you write the book at this point in your life not earlier well it wasn't my idea it was it was David Fisher's idea he thought of the book racy a love story and he went to Portman apartment came to me and we wrote there we wrote the book David George would you ever reconsider marrying and if so I have a 91 year old grandmother now I never got I'll never get married again I was I had a great marriage and that that's it I have a very happy 40-year interets interracial into religion marriage did you have any problems marrying a Catholic girl that problems what did you have any problems being married to a Catholic girl for no wines or anyone's no grace you went to church and I brought a tie let me get back yes you've mentioned that you will married again but would you have any girlfriends we still always see you with all kinds of beautiful girls with you well have some girlfriends hi agent least let me talk about it now I don't I go out with girls I told you I go I would go so I'm I take him to dinner and we dance a little bit and then my young friend takes them home for tonight all beautiful ladies we're in New York City with the one and only George Burns and we'll be back in a moment okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in vaudeville you had to bring your pictures when he showed up to the the manager of the theater those days they can constantly absolutely show so they looked at you for one show and if they don't like you they give you back your pictures but so giving or giving back your pictures man it was over that's right at that said what people died do would they give you back your pictures guy knocks on your door because your back when the guy knocks on my door I'm not gonna answer this is very moving George you go up to you go up to see Gracie and the doctor has told you that she's gone and you say you say to yourself gone how could she be gone when I had all those pills that's funny yeah that's an honest thing you're saying I can show you looked at the pills she can't be deadly that's right every time she took a pill she was stayed alive had these folks left yeah I wanted to see her he said do you want to see her one more time of course I did I wanted to talk to her for a few more minutes I wanted to stand next to her on stage and hear the laughter of the audience I wanted to see her smile and hear the bird-like voice and that unmistakable cackling laugh I wanted her to look up at me with her trusting eyes I wanted to fight my way through the ring around the piano and sing just one more song with her for the last time I wanted to ask her once more Gracie how's your brother that was the running that joke took over the country her brother was missing everybody you drove her brother crazy who wasn't missing I'm almost finished here kid just give me a second so I went into the room she was lying there and she looked so peaceful I didn't know what to do for the first time in 40 years I was alone so I did the only thing there was to do I leaned over and I kissed her on the lips and whispered I love you googy and then I gave her back her pictures and walked out of the room hmm well I'll tell you something you know the guys go first you know I know but you really you're setting records here yeah I want to know how you're doing with this widowhood because a lot of folks now are dealing with it now how long is Gracie died in 6064 for yeah that's 25 years almost well 24 yeah well I still see Gracie I to me Gracie season the gone I graciously is still here yeah that's the way to survive this yes yes ma'am I was wondering what your family thought about you going into show business your parents and your brothers and sisters they were very happy I brought in a few dollars I never went to school I only went to the poor yeah where were you in the birth order George are you in the middle there were eight older divers and how many younger four I was at three three younger then I was the fourth from the understand there were eight older now huh that doesn't mean my father was a great lover that means that was freezing in my house how I like to say whatever you're doing keep on doing it looks good we agree yes ma'am you'll stand did Gracie have the same great sense of humor in her personal life as she did on stage Oh Gracie had a good sense iam oh but she you never knew Gracie was an actress Gracie I made Gracie laugh off the stage and Gracie didn't have to make anybody laugh they laughed at what she said Gracie was going on elevator and same fifth floor and everybody out already would have they say she's grown up to the ninth floor she's gonna walk down four flights made that up so Gracie didn't have to be funny yeah do you watch TV and what are your favorite shows you watching TV these days do I I'll tell you I'm not much of a teeny washer I go upstairs around 8:30 and I see the news downstairs and then I read and then I watch the talk shows where they answer back on radio I listen to radio until I take a nap could I fall asleep and about fall asleep I fall asleep and if I don't I just people say how do you sleep who the hell cares I don't I don't they don't pay me for sleeping baby if I sleep I sleep Jack Benny said to you one time I couldn't sleep last night yeah I said how did you sleep the night before I slept real well a night before I said then sleep every other night [Applause] did you have any bloopers when you were like with Gracie and what was the skit was supposed to be about the way you won take Jake in this business there was Gracie was one take right yeah well great Gracie not only knew her lines she knew everybody yeah she knows the whole script Gracie only remembered her line have you remember the question I'm not Gracie couldn't Gracie had a great memory but you had to have a good memory too to work with Gracie and in our shows we never worked with any comedians there were all actors and actresses like B benaderet was an actress Myra Keating was an actor harry von Zell was an actor I figure I'm an actor am i I want to show him speaking of you call him Zell Harrison's out Zell was a nickname here you are can we see it here's here's a scene with harry von zell and graceless please due to the meat shortage George and I were married came to my house one night for dinner and there were six at the table and my mother only had four sticks so she said Gracie why don't you and George elope is it true you've already made plans for your hundredth birthday I'm gonna pray the Palladium said it when I monitor radium in London Greg I'm booked there for two weeks yes you better get is it true you've already made plans for your hundredth birthday I'm gonna pray the Palladium said it when I monitor radium in London great I'm booked that for two weeks yes you better get your seats now because yeah did you ever have problems in your marriage that got so rough that you felt like it would you know be over and I hate to say this gives you one but we never had that kind of a problem I didn't work at being married little friend real great friend when she was mad she would clenched her fists and Gracie got mad she got mad like Gracie had her dress cleaned by the chiffon cleaners we were getting about $400 a week and Gracie bought her dress for $200 that was your whole salary more than the salary cuz I paid 10% commission and the cleaners there was a red and white dress and they ran the red through the white they ruined the dress from Gracie one or two hundred dollars and they wouldn't give it over so we had a joke on the stage where I said the Gracie a funny thing happening to my mother in Cleveland and her answer was I thought you were born in Buffalo that was the joke and I set the Gracie funny thing happened to my mother in Cleveland Gracie walked down to the footlights she's ladies and gentlemen don't send your clothes to the chiffon cleaners they just roam like a two hundred dollar dress she said it three times and the cleaners sent her $200 and we'll be back in just a moment [Music] holworth access San Francisco Berkeley San Rafael Concord and now open in San Mateo at Fashion Island [Music] thank you Paul Greenwood for helping us I'm only sorry that we had to cut my song at the show ran long and Gracie I love story George Burns and you're gonna like this book yes ma'am mr. burns are any of your children or grandchildren and show business my son was but he's selling Arabian horses I don't know what that does is I've never been on an Arabian horse over here yeah my daughter's been divorced three times and them kids don't say marry nowadays my son has been the boss wife George I'd like to know if you didn't make it in show biz what kind of other job do you think you would have held let me tell you something kid service provided and promotional fees paid by the following the Drake offers an exciting weekend in New York at a special price the only Swiss hotel on Park Avenue for reservations call 800 rate New York or two one two four two one Oh 900

Channel: Bloqk-16

Views: 64,568

Rating: 4.7976656 out of 5

Keywords: George Burns, Grace Allen, Phil Donahue

Id: y_RrWKhHLKM

Length: 47min 15sec (2835 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 10 2018