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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Great Lives

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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Great Lives: Episode 7: Gracie Allen

Gracie Allen

Episode 7

Episode 7: Gracie Allen

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Gracie Allen

Actress Emma Kennedy chooses the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen.

Matthew Parris and actress Emma Kennedy explore the life of American comedienne Gracie Allen, who died in 1964. From January 2012.

Matthew Parris is joined by the actress Emma Kennedy to explore the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen. George Burns and Gracie Allen were a hugely successful stage act who went on to conquer the new media of radio and television. But, unusually for the time, it was Gracie who was getting all the laughs, whilst George played the straight man. For actress and comic Emma Kennedy, Gracie was a pioneering female comic who, with her energy, wit and "illogical logic", paved the way for the likes of Lucille Ball and Roseanne Barr. Professor Brian Ward provides the expert analysis.

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