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George Burns and wife Gracie Allen Burns wrote most of the material, and played the straight man. Allen played a silly, confused woman. Both attributed their success to the other, to the ends of their lives. Early on, the team had played the opposite roles until they noticed that the audience was laughing at Gracie\'s straight lines, so they made the change. Burns and Allen developed their popular routine over more than three decades of stage, radio, film, and television. Burns and Allen had several regulars, including Toby Reed, Gail Gordon, Elliot Louis, musician Meredith Willson, and Artie Shaw. Bill Goodwin announced the program for several years, and also went with George and Gracie to the Burns And Allen TV program.