Radio Guide M IKE ROSCOPE ALBUM &/' LOG BOO 1935 Pri ce , Fift y Cent s COPYRIGHT '1935 BY RADIO GUIDE, INC .. 731 PLYMOUTH COURT, CHICAGO , ILLINOIS - FRED ALLEN I{~D ..\LLe:" -although he has b~en :1(cu,ed \':lrloLbly of re,embling :"C\\, , York's former mayor Jamcs j. Walker, Gene Tunney, and the late Frank E. • F Camphell. the undertaker-considcrs the charges nlere:y part of the hnards of the profess:on, "As a matter of I act'" he 'insist>, "it i," the ,ame old face I' ve alwan u,ed !" Fred Allen's real name i, Fred Sulli\'an, l ie \\'as born in Cambridg~, ,\b;sa­ chu,etb, fort ,,' years agCl on .\\:tv 31, l :-1 l )5, I Ie declares I-,e was an after-t!1u !ght to .\\ emo,ial Day, Peuple sti :1 can't forget him' Stage debut \\'a, made at the age of ten in an an,ateur production uf .. ['he I hree \Vi se .~l en," gi\'en hy hi s church, Il is lines \\'ere: "Sorro\\' is sigh;ng, hrl::lth­ ing, dYIng-sealed in this cold, , tone tomb," They are the on lv se riou, [in~, he's e\'er recited, and tbey a ln:ost encbl his theatrical ,·a reer. ,-\fter fini shing ,chuo!. he found it job in a harcll\'are store in Boston, Stil l he is trying to figure out \ 1 hether there are more nuts in a hard\\'are store or on the ,tage, Professional ,tage career made II h ~il he sub,rituted for a friend I\'ho Iud becn hooked into a local \'audc\'ille home at fil'c dollars per--\'eek.- not day I The friend got cold feet, so Fred went on in hi, place, l ie lI'as bilkd :1, " Paul I [uc\;'c­ European Entertainer," and becau,e he I\'as a ,uh,tinitc, he rt:cei\'cd only threc doll ars, h'ed li\;ed the work so much that he quit hi s job in the hardl\'a re ,to:e to become " !-'red St. James, W or[d.., \\'or,t Juggle r, " To n',;\;e matters Il or,e, he I\'orc :t red lI'ig \\'hi le he juggled, :\llcn OlV ns mo re than one thousand \'olumes of boe,ks on comedy, Ii i, i, one of the greatest coll ections in the \\'orld, ,\nd he makcs excell ent me of it beL:lu,e, ZI, he says, "Good joke, nt:I'er di,', Their structure remain, the ,ame no marter hOI\' many changes take place as thc years go by." lie i, the only gag-Ill an \l'ho admits that he reads hi s jokes in books, Recently he has been so busy that he can't spare the time to dig up hi s lines in anc:ent tome" so he has employcd writers to help him prepare material fo r his rad:o broJdc:r,ts, He is in bed by tl\'O o'clock e\'ery mo rning, :lI1d up by ten, , :-:el'er does he smoke, but occasionally chell'S tobacco-drinks modcrately- takes snulT to clear hi s head, Some o ne told him that Caruso used , nun for the same purpo,e, f red believes, hOIl'el'e r, that snuff does not impro\'e the \'o:ce, [ [e's a nut about exercise, and \'isits a gymnasium e\'cry day, Hc beli e\'es hand ball and ro\\'ing mach;nes im­ pro\'e o ne's health, and is a mark for :tIl kinds of "'1'\\'0 Years :\go [ \\ 'as Puny, i3ut Look At Me Noll'" ads, heel is a shre\\'d bu siness man, ' I hat', lI'hy he changed hi s namc, On returning to America after three years' engagement i 1 :\ustralia- where h : rcce i\'e d ::;85 a week- he knell' that the Keith oflice proba bly lI'ould gi\'e him the S:l me here, l ie changed hi s n:lIl,e so the booking office \\'ouldn't kn Ol\' him , burro\l'i ng the last namc of hi s agent, edgar All en, Eelga r \\'asn't so sure about the I\'isdom of adding heel to the Allen clan, But it has \\' o rked sa ti sfactorily, , !'i-ed's back teeth are a [[ chippeel, They became so from a trick he lbeci to do while juggling, He's co nscious of approaching b:tldne5S, and religiously takes scalp treatments, l ie likcs to be alone, . hut people usual[ y croll'd ,lI'<lund him expect[ng free entertainment, ' I hat's one o f the reason, he hates to ea t in re,L1u rants, Il c has too mall\' friends. Unlike meht stage people, Fred i,n't , upersti tiou" :"01' do ~s he cI'c r go tv night clubs, Usuall y he can' t spare the tinie: prefers to sit home and read, Shake:,pca re is one of hi s fa\'orites, a nd Frl'tl find , good material for gll gS, in the I\orks of the bare!. _ I:reel Im'e,; the stage but prefcrs radio, lie's kept stepping to obtain nell' ma­ terial for each broadcast ; this ofTe rs a l11e!ltal hazarel, and mental In/areb are I I hat he 10l'es, . l ie met IJOrl land Il ona-that',; a I'ir[', n<1mc- II 'he:1 both I\cre playing in the " Passing Shol\' of Inz," But he's a ~;JOI\ ' lI'orker, Thel' Il'ere not married until 1920, Page 6 -- GRACIE ALL,EN I ~ A C I E A LL E~, born in Sa n Francisco, Calif., on July 26, bu t yea r unk nown, "I'm as old as my little fin ge r and a little older th an my tee th," she says, G Her Pa and three sisters, but not her broth er, we re in sholl' busin ess, I twas a fo regone conclusion therefore th at she'd land in the bus in ess herself. She did, At • th ree she made her stage debut si nging and dancing, Gracie attended publ ic chool and a conve nt in San Francisco, Duri ng Summer vacations she played outlyin g vaudevi ll e houses in Los Angeles and Oakland, also in her native city. She did a sin gle turn-dancin g and si nging, Her mother ac ted as her "dresse r," and also peeked out from behin d the curtain to see why the house didn't applaud Gracie more energetica ll y. A mon th after she was graduated fro m sc hool Gracie met Larry Rei ll y, who was doin g an I ri sh mu sical sketch in th e home town. She join ed the act, playi ng the "love interes t," and came to New York with it. The biggest thrill she ever had was seei ng New York for th e fir st ti me. She's still thrill ed by \lew York when­ e\'er she retu rn s. The act was bi ll ed as "Larry Rei ll y and Co." One day the "Co." \\'as left off the bill ing, So Grac ie quit. After that she wa ited for ma nagers to co me to her. They didn't, so she laid otf for a year. I n the meantime Gracie took a stenographic course; never completed it. Nex t Gracie went to Uni on Hill , N, j., to visit some f ri ends playing at the local vaudev ill e house, On the bill was a tea m, Burn, and Lorrai ne, who were to sp lit up in a few weeks, Gra(ie ,aw the act and liked Burns better than Lorraine, ' he arranged to be introduced, T hat hi stori c meeting between George Burns and Gracie :-\II en \\'as satisfaclorv to both, They signed as partners, After rehea rsing for two weeks they we nt to 1I'0rk in tht IIi/I st, th ea ter, ~e \\' a r k, at the magnifi ce nt, breath-ta ki ng sala ry of 815,00 for three days for th e tea m, -I he next \\'ee k they pl ayed one day in Bonton, :\, j., fo r $10, That was thi rteen years ago, After th ey had bee n pl ay in g togethe r for three years, Gracie took to go in g out with another man, G e0t~e disco\'e red that he was jealous, His proposal was in these words: "Either we get married wi thi n ten days or bu st up the act." Gracie bega n to cry, She fi gured that if George coul d brin g tears to her eyes she mus t lo\'c him, So she married him, They\'e been happy e\'e r si nce, Next to Geo rge Burns, Grac ie li kes steak (med ium ), stewe d tomatoes and cot­ tage fri ed potatoes, Sh e does a lot of talking about food but in reality is a \'ery small eater, She eats hardly enough to keep a fl y ali ve, She doesn't smoke ; takes an occasional cocktail , bu t never straight drink s, Goe, in for cockta il s according to their colors, Prefers gree n and pink drinks, She jus t dotes on mO\' ies, but her eyes \\'on't stand lTIu ch : entertain s herself by playin g so litai re; kn O\\'s e\'ery solitai re game in exi stence, more th an a hundred, She says she also pl ays bri dge, but George Burn s deni es th is, I-;er ambiti on is to be a lady of leis ure-to fo rget the cloc k, curtain cal ls :lIll1 ea rl y lTI orning film ings, She lo\'es clothes, expe nsive ones, and any kind of furs, bU l !> he doesn't go in much for je\\'c lry, "T ha nk hea \' en," com ments George Burns, She is nu ts about pe rfumes, Il a, no particular preference for scents ju,t so long as the bottles are pretty, Also likes fl o\\'ers, Gracie is a sound sleeper, She must ha\'e eight hou rs' slee p e\'ery night : can do \'ery we ll on fo urteen, She sleeps \\'it h a pill ow o\'er 'her face, George and she use twin beds, She \\'ears t ra iling night go\\' nS-a la LYlm Fon tann e, She has a passion for negl igee and loun gin g pajamas, And for their recently adopted baby girl.