After several unsuccessful attempts at a vaudeville career, Burns's luck changed in 1923, when he formed the Burns and Allen duo with young comic Gracie Allen (he would marry her in 1926). Gracie at first played the "straight man", but her wacky descriptions of her large family managed to garner all the laughs and the team wisely reversed roles. Having become vaudeville stars, the team appeared in several short films, made their feature debut with "The Big Broadcast" (1932) and played in several, mostly forgettable, movies during the 1930s and 40s.

With their low-keyed comic banter, Burns and