George Burns

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). With their low-keyed comic banter, Burns and Allen became a successful radio team and then starred in their own TV series from 1950 until Allen's retirement in 1958 (she died six years later). Burns continued his career as a solo comedian and made an outstanding film comeback in 1975 with his award-winning performance as a cantankerous old vaudevillian in "The Sunshine Boys." He subsequently appeared in several features, notably as the omniscient title character of Carl Reiner's "Oh, God!" (1977), and continued to smoke his trademark cigars, talk-sing his charming vaudeville-based patter songs, and wryly joke about his ageless virility and various other ups and downs about growing old. As he had promised for years, Burns did indeed make it to age 100 and his centennial birthday was celebrated nationally. Seven weeks later, Burns died in his sleep of natural causes on March 9, 1996.

Filmography

Life Events

1923

Teamed with Gracie Allen; performed on Keith and Orpheum vaudeville circuits

1929

Appeared with Allen in 10-minute short film "Lamb Chops", the first of over a dozen shorts for Paramount

1930

"Burns and Allen" show first premiered on radio

1932

Feature film debut, "The Big Broadcast"

1939

Last film before 35-year break from screen, "Honolulu"

1950

"Burns and Allen" show premiered on TV

1958

Began performing as solo comedian after Gracie Allen retired

1964

Gracie Allen died

1975

Returned to screen in "The Sunshine Boys"; won Oscar as Best Supporting Actor

1976

Portrayed the Almighty in "Oh, God"; reprised role in two sequels

1994

Final film, "Radioland Murders"

Photo Collections

A Damsel in Distress - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are several photos taken during production of RKO's A Damsel in Distress (1937), directed by George Stevens and starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, and George Burns & Gracie Allen.

The Sunshine Boys - Publicity Stills

Here are some Publicity Stills from The Sunshine Boys (1975). Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Videos

Honolulu (1939) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Liable To Get Killed! Movie star Brooks (Robert Young) recovering from the last time he was mobbed during an east-coast PR swing, getting out of the hospital with the help of hustling agent Duffy (George Burns), with a poor result, in MGM’s Honolulu, 1939, also starring Eleanor Powell and Gracie Allen.

Honolulu (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Throw Myself At Him? Robert Young, in a dual role, here is movie star Books Mason, who’s traded places with his look-alike Hawaiian plantation owner George, cruising home for two weeks of peace and quiet, when he’s recognized by cruise ship entertainer Millie (Gracie Allen), who must tell pal Dot (Eleanor Powell), the first scene for both gals, in MGM’s Honolulu, 1939.

Honolulu (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Title Song Cruise ship entertainers Millie (Gracie Allen) and Dot (Eleanor Powell) persuaded to perform, the title song, an original by Harry Warren and Gus Kahn, Gracie with the vocal then Eleanor, choreographed by Bobby Connelly, handling the jump rope with ease, in Honolulu, 1939, from MGM and producer Jack Cummings.

College Humor (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Colleen Of Killarney Mary Kornman is daffy co-ed Amber, inquiring with George Burns and Gracie Allen, who appear here unbidden in their first scene, using their own names, before their radio show, known mostly at the time for Paramount one-reelers, maneuvering into an un-credited song, in Paramount’s sprawling College Humor, 1933.

College Swing (1938) -- (Movie Clip) When You Get To Be A Professor Gracie Allen is Gracie “Alden,” in the 200-year old original structure of the college her family stands to inherit if she, on this last chance, can pass a graduation exam, cheating miraculously from a laundry list, George Burns her interrogator representing the administration, Cecil Cunningham on the board, in College Swing, 1938.

College Swing (1938) -- (Movie Clip) You Will Positively Graduate! After she played her ancestor in a colonial prologue, Gracie Allen is the last member of her wealthy family with the chance 200-years later to take ownership of the college by graduating, and Bob Hope introduces himself as an eager tutor after her fees, early in Paramount’s College Swing, 1938, also starring George Burns.

Going In Style (1979) -- (Movie Clip) I Never Forget To Flush Writer-director Martin Brest finds his three leads on a park bench in Brooklyn, Art Carney as Al, Lee Strasberg as Willie and George Burns as Joe, opening the whimsical geriatric crime-comedy Going In Style, 1979.

Going In Style (1979) -- (Movie Clip) A Bank's A Bank Brooklyn pensioners Joe (George Burns), Al (Art Carney) and Willie (Lee Strasberg) on a rare excursion to Manhattan, shopping for a bank to rob, in director Martin Brest’s debut film, Going In Style, 1979.

Oh, God! (1977) -- (Movie Clip) God Grants You An Interview Extreme ordinary from director Carl Reiner, the singer and sometime actor John Denver is an LA grocery manager, Teri Garr his somewhat distracted wife, script by longtime Reiner collaborator Larry Gelbart, from a book by Avery Corman, opening the 1977 comedy Oh, God!, starring George Burns.

Oh, God! (1977) -- (Movie Clip) You're Not Allowed To See Me LA grocery manager Jerry (John Denver) is irked because the note he got inviting him to an interview with God keeps popping up, so he goes to the address and discovers the voice of George Burns on an intercom, early in the Carl Reiner/Larry Gelbart comedy hit Oh, God!, 1977.

Oh, God! (1977) -- (Movie Clip) Life Is a Crap Shoot Third day for grocery manager Jerry (John Denver) in his inexplicable encounter with “God,” showering when the supreme being appears in person for the first time, George Burns, the same voice from the previous day, giving not quite satisfactory explanations, in director Carl Reiner’s Oh, God!, 1977.

Damsel In Distress, A (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Stiff Upper Lip Just the first part of the endless amusement-park dance number staged by Hermes Pan, with Fred Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allen, frolicking to George and Ira Gershwin's original Stiff Upper Lip, from A Damsel In Distress, 1937.

Sunshine Boys, The - (Original Trailer) A feuding comedy team reunites for a television comeback in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys (1975) with an Academy Award®-winning performance by George Burns.

Honolulu - (Original Trailer) A movie star trades places with a Hawaiian plantation owner in Honolulu (1939) starring Eleanor Powell and Robert Young.

Family

Sandra Luckman

Daughter

Teacher. Adopted; teaches elementary school in San Diego.

Ronnie Burns

Son

Actor. Adopted; involved in investments and real estate.

Companions

Hannah Siegel

Wife

Vaudevillian. Burns' partner; first wife; Burns claimed marriage was annulled because it was never consumated.

Gracie Allen

Wife

Comedienne, actor. Married from January 7, 1926 until her death on August 28, 1964 from heart ailment.

Bibliography

"George Burns and the Hundred Yard Dash"

Morton Gottfried, Simon & Schuster (1996)

"100 Years, 100 Stories"

George Burns, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1996)

"Wisdom of the 90s"

George Burns and Hal Goldman, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1991)

"Gracie: A Love Story"

George Burns, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1988)

"Dr. Burns' Prescription for Happiness"

George Burns, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1985)

"Dear George: Advice and Answers from America's Leading Expert on Everything From A to Z"

George Burns, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1985)

"How to Live to Be 100: or More!"

George Burns, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1983)

"The Third Time Around"

George Burns (1980)

"Living It Up, or They Still Love Me in Altoona!"

George Burns (1976)

"I Love Her, That's Why"

George Burns and Cynthia Lindsay (1955)

"The Ultimate Diet, Sex and Exercise Book"

George Burns

Notes

Burns recorded three country and western albums

When he underwent triple bypass surgery in 1974 at age 78, it was reported he was oldest person ever to have that operation

Inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1988

The week before his 95th birthday Burns quipped, "I never felt better, never looked better, never made love better--and never lied better." --From New York Post. January 17, 1991.

Concerning his monthly visit to Gracie Allen's grave at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles he said, "I talk to her. Sometimes I tell her a joke, but Gracie doesn't laugh. She's heard all my jokes." --From New York Post, January 17, 1991.

"I did 15 or 20 acts before I met Gracie, and they were all flops. I worked with a dog, a seal, anything that would work with me. The act was so bad the seal used to throw the fish back." --George Burns describing his early vaudeville career to New York Post, January 17, 1991.

Burns serves as one of several Proctors (along with Billy Crystal and Buddy Hackett) for the Friars Club

About

Biography

Filmography

Photos & Videos

Family & Companions

Bibliography

Notes

Biography

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Music (Feature Film)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Cast (Special)

Writer (Special)

Music (Special)

Special Thanks (Special)

Cast (Short)

Misc. Crew (Short)

Life Events

1923

1929

1930

1932

1939

1950

1958

1964

1975

1976

1994

Photo Collections

Videos

Movie Clip

Trailer

Family

Companions

Bibliography

Notes

TCM Emails