Howdy! Welcome to the first of two hinky, blinky, fig and fealty Hiatus weeks. Instead of just disappearing for a fortnight and hoping everyone will eventually gather in the latter part of July, I've decided to assemble in advance some peculiar content. So I said on Monday, except I've revised this paragraph somewhat again, just to see if you're paying any attention. If not I don't know why I bother.
Anyway, what's the phrase? No such thing as bad publicity? Ask the guy who sat for this painting:
Supposedly she painted it, but I don't believe it. Who's to blame for this? Why, a BUILD- BOY.
I've never been fond of the dumb-Dora routine, but you can't not love these two. Wikipedia:
In the early days of talking pictures, the studios eagerly hired actors who knew how to deliver dialogue or songs. The most prolific of these studios was Warner Bros., whose Vitaphone Varieties shorts captured vaudeville headliners of the 1920s on film.
Burns and Allen earned a reputation as a reliable "disappointment act" (someone who could fill in for a sick or otherwise absent performer on a moment's notice). So it went with their film debut. They were last-minute replacements for another act (Fred Allen) and ran through their patter-and-song routine in Lambchops (1929).
And because the Internet is vast and generous:
I think they'd done this one on stage a time or two.
They only did ten more movies, but then it was radio and of course TV. Reruns were playing on CBS into 1960, and preceded "The Couple Next Door."
Burns and Allen filmed their last show June 4, 1958. The filming was an emotional experience, although nothing was said about it being Allen's last performance. At the wrap party, Allen took a token sip of champagne from a paper cup, hugged her friend and co-star Bea Benaderet, and said "Okay, that's it." After one last look around the set, she said, "And thank you very much, everyone."
"She deserved a rest," Burns said when Allen devoted herself to gardening and being a housewife:
She had been working all her life, and her lines were the toughest in the world to do. They didn't make sense, so she had to memorize every word. It took a real actress. Every spare moment — in bed, under the hair dryer — had to be spent in learning lines. Do you wonder that she's happy to be rid of it?
Burns attempted to continue the show with the same supporting cast but without Allen. The George Burns Show lasted one season.
Don't feel bad for George; we know he did quite well. He was also a producer, and his company did, oh, Mister Ed and other shows.
Say, what did people who read about Gracie painting a picture of her husband have for dinner? This. Find the one dish that sounds peculiar today.
Heated potato Chips?
Exit topic: dinners you had growing up. Favorites and Most Hated.
We never had liver and onions, but it sounded . . . well, liver and onions.
