Editing Gracie Allen (section)

==Early life==
Allen was born in San Francisco, to George Allen and Margaret Theresa ("Molly") Allen (née Darragh; later Mrs. Edward Pidgeon), who were both of Irish Catholic descent. She made her first appearance on stage at age three, and was given her first role on the radio by [[Eddie Cantor]].<ref name="ALoveStory">{{Cite book |last=Burns |first=George |url=http://archive.org/details/gracielovestory00burn |title=Gracie: A Love Story |publisher=J.P. Putnam's Sons |others=Internet Archive |year=1988 |isbn=9780451168863 |location=New York |pages=306 |language=English}}</ref>{{rp|94–95}} She graduated from Star of the Sea Convent School in 1914, and during that time became a talented dancer.<ref name="Biodata"/>

She soon began performing [[Irish dance|Irish folk dances]] with her three sisters, who were billed as "The Four Colleens".<ref name="ALoveStory"/>{{rp|28}} In 1909, Allen joined her sister, Bessie, as a [[vaudeville]] performer. At a performance in 1922, Allen met George Burns, and the two formed a comedy act. They were married on January 7, 1926 in [[Cleveland]] by a justice of the peace.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/saygoodnightgrac00blyt/page/10|title=Say good night, Gracie! : the story of George Burns & Gracie Allen|last=Cheryl.|first=Blythe|date=1989|publisher=Prima Pub.|others=Sackett, Susan.|isbn=1559580194|location=Rocklin, CA|pages=[https://archive.org/details/saygoodnightgrac00blyt/page/10 10]|oclc=20264365}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Palace Theater| url=https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/246| publisher=Cleveland Historical| access-date=2020-09-12}}</ref>

Allen was born with [[heterochromia]], giving her two different color eyes, one blue and one green.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaufman|first=James C.|date=2017-05-01|title=From the Sylvia Plath Effect to Social Justice: Moving Forward With Creativity|url=https://doaj.org/article/6089a1fcbbb9404185cb08f36fa60e27|journal=Europe's Journal of Psychology|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=173–177|doi=10.5964/ejop.v13i2.1413|pmid=28580020|pmc=5450978|issn=1841-0413}}</ref> Her left arm and shoulder were badly scarred when a boiling pot of tea fell on her as a child; as a result, she wore long-sleeved dresses throughout her life. Allen also suffered from crippling [[migraine]] headaches.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rothstein |first=Mervyn |date=1988-11-02 |title=Gracie Allen Still Steals the Show |pages=19, Section C |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/02/arts/gracie-allen-still-steals-the-show.html}}</ref>

===Birthdate myth===
Some discrepancy exists as to her date of birth. Depending on the source, Allen is alleged to have been born on July 26 in 1895, 1896, 1902, or 1906. All public vital records held by the city and county of San Francisco were destroyed in the [[San Francisco Earthquake|earthquake and great fire of April 1906]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shales |first=Tom |date=July 25, 2002 |title='Biography': For Love of Gracie Allen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/07/26/biography-for-love-of-gracie-allen/31f46ac9-95aa-4be9-9116-9a4998cae63c/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Her husband George Burns professed not to know exactly how old she was, though it was presumably he who provided the date of July 26, 1902 that appears on her death record. Allen's crypt marker also shows her year of birth as 1902.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Helterbran |first1=Valeri R. |title=Why Rattlesnakes Rattle... and 250 Other Things You Should Know |date=2012 |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishers |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-1-58979-648-5 |pages=176–177 |url=https://archive.org/details/whyrattlesnakesr0000helt/page/177/mode/2up}}</ref>

Among Allen's signature jokes was a dialogue in which she would claim that she was born in 1906. Her [[Comic foil|foil]] would press her for proof or corroborating information, and she would reply that her birth certificate had been destroyed in the earthquake. Her foil would point out that she was born in July, but that the earthquake was three months earlier in April. Allen would simply smile and reply: "Well, it was an ''awfully big'' earthquake."{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Presumably the most reliable information comes from U.S. Census data collected on June 1, 1900 that shows Grace Allen, age four (born in July 1895), along with her parents and five siblings.<ref name="fn_1">{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/gracie-allen/index.htm |title=Ancestry of Gracie Allen|publisher=Genealogy.com|date=2002-07-18|access-date=2010-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503085054/http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/gracie-allen/d0/i0000001.htm#s1|archive-date=May 3, 2012}}</ref> This proves that Allen was born before 1900 and indicates that the birthdate of July 26, 1895 may be correct.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com|title=Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records online|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=2010-08-02}}</ref> Additionally, the yearbook from her senior year of high school has been located; its 1914 date is consistent with her having been born in 1895.<ref name="Biodata"/>