George Burns

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George Burns

George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and writer. He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebrow and cigar-smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century. He and his wife, Gracie

Gracie Allen, appeared on radio, television, and film as the comedy duo Burns and Allen. When Burns was 79, he had a sudden career revival as an amiable, beloved and unusually active comedy elder statesman in the 1975 film The Sunshine Boys, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Burns, who became a centenarian in 1996, continued to work until just weeks before his death of cardiac arrest at his home in Beverly Hills.

Contents

1 Early life 2 Gracie
Gracie Allen 3 Stage to screen 4 Radio stars

4.1 Supporting players 4.2 New network 4.3 Television 4.4 The George Burns
George Burns Show 4.5 Wendy and Me

5 The Sunshine Boys 6 Oh, God! 7 Later films 8 Final years and death 9 Legacy 10 Bibliography 11 Filmography 12 Discography

12.1 Albums 12.2 Singles

13 Radio series 14 TV series 15 See also 16 References 17 Further reading 18 External links

Early life[edit] George Burns
George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum on January 20, 1896 in New York City,[2] the ninth of 12 children born to Hadassah "Dorah" (née Bluth; 1857–1927) and Eliezer Birnbaum (1855–1903), known as Louis or Lippe, Jewish immigrants who had come to the United States from Kolbuszowa, Galicia.[3] Burns was a member of the First Roumanian-American Congregation.[4] His father was a substitute cantor at the local synagogue but usually worked as a coat presser. During the influenza epidemic of 1903, Lippe Birnbaum contracted the flu and died at the age of 47. Nattie (as George was then called) went to work to help support the family, shining shoes, running errands and selling newspapers.[5] When he landed a job as a syrup maker in a local candy shop at age seven, "Nate" as he was known, was "discovered", as he recalled long after:[6]

We were all about the same age, six and seven, and when we were bored making syrup, we used to practice singing harmony in the basement. One day our letter carrier came down to the basement. His name was Lou Farley. Feingold was his real name, but he changed it to Farley. He wanted the whole world to sing harmony. He came down to the basement once to deliver a letter and heard the four of us kids singing harmony. He liked our style, so we sang a couple more songs for him. Then we looked up at the head of the stairs and saw three or four people listening to us and smiling. In fact, they threw down a couple of pennies. So I said to the kids I was working with: no more chocolate syrup. It's show business from now on.

We called ourselves the Pee-Wee Quartet. We started out singing on ferryboats, in saloons, in brothels, and on street corners. We'd put our hats down for donations. Sometimes the customers threw something in the hats. Sometimes they took something out of the hats. Sometimes they took the hats.

— George Burns

Burns was drafted into the United States Army
United States Army when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, but he failed the physical because he was extremely nearsighted.[citation needed] In order to try to hide his Jewish heritage, he adopted the stage name by which he would be known for the rest of his life. He claimed in a few interviews that the idea of the name originated from the fact that two star major league players (George H. Burns and George J. Burns, unrelated) were playing major league baseball at the time. Both men achieved over 2000 major league hits and hold some major league records. Burns also was reported to have taken the name "George" from his brother Izzy (who hated his own name so he changed it to "George"), and the Burns from the Burns Brothers Coal Company (he used to steal coal from their truck).[7][8]:33 He normally partnered with a girl, sometimes in an adagio dance routine, sometimes comic patter. Though he had an apparent flair for comedy, he never quite clicked with any of his partners, until he met a young Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic lady in 1923. "And all of a sudden," he said famously in later years, "the audience realized I had a talent. They were right. I did have a talent—and I was married to her for 38 years."[9] His first wife was Hannah Siegel (stage name: Hermosa Jose), one of his dance partners. The marriage, never consummated, lasted 26 weeks and happened because her family would not let them go on tour unless they were married. They divorced at the end of the tour.[8]:58 Gracie
Gracie Allen[edit] Main article: Gracie
Gracie Allen

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Burns, Allen and children just before they sailed for Hawaii in 1938

Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was an American comedian born into an Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic show-business family and educated at Star of the Sea Convent School in San Francisco, California, in girlhood. She began in vaudeville around 1909, teamed as an Irish-dance act "The Four Colleens" with her sisters, Bessie, Hazel, and Pearl.[8]:28 While attending secretarial school in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1923, she met Burns at a vaudeville theater in adjacent Union City.[8]:40 Allen came to call Burns by the nickname Nattie (a diminutive of his real name Nathan), while he called her "Googie".[8]:85[10] The two immediately launched a new partnership (Burns and Allen), with Gracie
Gracie playing the role of the "straight man" and George delivering the punchlines as the comedian. Burns knew something was wrong when the audience ignored his jokes but snickered at Gracie's questions. Burns cannily flipped the act around: After a Hoboken performance in which they tested the new style for the first time, Burns' hunch proved right. Gracie
Gracie was the better "laugh-getter" with the "illogical logic" that formed her responses to Burns' prompting comments or questions.[citation needed] Allen's part was known in vaudeville as a "Dumb Dora" act, named after a very early film of the same name that featured a scatterbrained female protagonist, but her "illogical logic" style was several cuts above the Dumb Dora stereotype developed by American cartoonist Chic Young, as was Burns' understated straight man. The twosome worked the new style on the road, building a following, as well as a reputation for being a reliable "disappointment act" (one that could fill in for another act on short notice).[citation needed] Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen were so consistently dependable that vaudeville bookers elevated them to the more secure "standard act" status, and finally to the Palace Theatre in New York. Burns wrote their early scripts but was rarely credited with being a good comedy writer. He continued to write the act through vaudeville, films, radio, and, finally, television, first by himself, then with his brother Willie and a team of writers. The entire concept of the Burns and Allen characters, however, was one created and developed by Burns.[citation needed] As the team toured in vaudeville, Burns found himself falling in love with Allen, who was engaged to another performer at the time, Benny Ryan. After several attempts to win her over, he finally succeeded after making her cry at a Christmas party. She told him, "You're the only boy who ever made me cry. And I decided that if you could make me cry, I must really love you."[8]:68 They were married in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 7, 1926; the interfaith marriage was somewhat daring for those times.[8]:64 They adopted their daughter, Sandra, in 1934 and son, Ronnie, in 1935. In later years Burns admitted that he had had a very brief affair. Stricken by guilt, he phoned one of his best friends, Jack Benny, and told him about the indiscretion. However, Allen overheard the conversation and Burns quietly bought an expensive centerpiece and diamond ring and nothing more was said. Years later, he discovered that Allen had told one of her friends, Mary Livingstone
Mary Livingstone (Jack Benny's wife), about the episode, finishing with, "You know, I really wish George would cheat on me again; I could use a new centerpiece."[8]:305–306 After fighting a long battle with heart disease, Allen suffered a fatal heart attack in her home on August 27, 1964, at the age of 69. She was entombed in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. In his second book, They Still Love Me in Altoona, Burns wrote that he found it impossible to sleep after her death until he decided to sleep in the bed she used during her illness. He visited her grave once a month, professing to talk to her about whatever he was doing at the time, including, he said, trying to decide whether he really should accept the Sunshine Boys role which Jack Benny
Jack Benny had to abandon because of his own failing health. He visited the tomb with Ed Bradley
Ed Bradley during a 60 Minutes
60 Minutes interview on November 6, 1988. Stage to screen[edit] Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen got a start in motion pictures with a series of comic short films in the late 1930s. Their feature credits in the mid- to late-1930s included The Big Broadcast; International House (1933), Six of a Kind (1934), (the latter two films with W.C. Fields), The Big Broadcast of 1936, The Big Broadcast
The Big Broadcast of 1937, A Damsel in Distress (1937) in which they danced step-for-step with Fred Astaire, and College Swing
College Swing (1938) in which Bob Hope
Bob Hope made one of his early film appearances. Honolulu would be Burns's last movie for nearly 40 years. Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen were indirectly responsible for the Bob Hope
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby series of "Road" pictures. In 1938, William LeBaron, producer and managing director at Paramount, had a script prepared by Don Hartman and Frank Butler. It was to star Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen with Bing Crosby, who was then already an established star of radio, recordings and the movies. The story did not seem to fit the comedy team's style, so LeBaron ordered Hartman and Butler to rewrite the script to fit two male co-stars: Hope and Crosby. The script was titled Road to Singapore, and it made motion picture history when it was released in 1940. Radio stars[edit]

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Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen first made it to radio as the comedy relief for bandleader Guy Lombardo, which did not always sit well with Lombardo's home audience. In his later memoir, The Third Time Around, Burns revealed a college fraternity's protest letter, complaining that they resented their weekly dance parties with their girl friends listening to "Thirty Minutes of the Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven" had to be broken into by the droll vaudeville team. In time, though, Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen found their own show and radio audience, first airing on February 15, 1932 and concentrating on their classic stage routines plus sketch comedy in which the Burns and Allen style was woven into different little scenes, not unlike the short films they made in Hollywood. They were also good for a clever publicity stunt, none more so than the hunt for Gracie's missing brother, a hunt that included Gracie
Gracie turning up on other radio shows searching for him as well. The couple was portrayed at first as younger singles, with Allen the object of both Burns' and other cast members' affections. Most notably, bandleaders Ray Noble (known for his phrase, "Gracie, this is the first time we've ever been alone") and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw played "love" interests to Gracie. In addition, singer Tony Martin played an unwilling love interest of Gracie's, in which Gracie
Gracie "sexually harassed" him, by threatening to fire him if the romantic interest was not reciprocated. In time, however, due to slipping ratings and the difficulty of being portrayed as singles in light of the audience's close familiarity with their real-life marriage, the show adapted in the fall of 1941 to present them as the married couple they actually were. For a time, Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen had a rather distinguished and popular musical director: Artie Shaw, who also appeared as a character in some of the show's sketches. A somewhat different Gracie
Gracie also marked this era, as the Gracie
Gracie character could often be found to be mean to George.

George: Your mother cut my face out of the picture. Gracie: Oh, George, you're being sensitive. George: I am not! Look at my face! What happened to it? Gracie: I don't know. It looks like you fell on it.

Census Taker: What do you make? Gracie: I make cookies and aprons and knit sweaters. Census Taker: No, I mean what do you earn? Gracie: George's salary.

As this format grew stale over the years, Burns and his fellow writers redeveloped the show as a situation comedy in the fall of 1941. The reformat focused on the couple's married life and life among various friends, including Elvia Allman
Elvia Allman as "Tootsie Sagwell," a man-hungry spinster in love with Bill Goodwin, and neighbors, until the characters of Harry and Blanche Morton entered the picture to stay. Like The Jack Benny
Jack Benny Program, the new George Burns
George Burns & Gracie
Gracie Allen Show portrayed George and Gracie
Gracie as entertainers with their own weekly radio show. Goodwin remained, his character as "girl-crazy" as ever, and the music was now handled by Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson (later to be better known for composing the Broadway musical The Music Man). Willson also played himself on the show as a naive, friendly, girl-shy fellow. The new format's success made it one of the few classic radio comedies to completely re-invent itself and regain major fame. Supporting players[edit] The supporting cast during this phase included Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc as the melancholy, ironically named "Happy Postman" (his catchphrase was "Remember, keep smiling!"); Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet (later Cousin Pearl in The Beverly Hillbillies, Kate Bradley in Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction and the voice of Betty Rubble
Betty Rubble in The Flintstones) and Hal March
Hal March (later more famous as the host of The $64,000 Question) as neighbors Blanche and Harry Morton; and the various members of Gracie's ladies' club, the Beverly Hills Uplift Society. One running gag during this period, stretching into the television era, was Burns' questionable singing voice, as Gracie
Gracie lovingly referred to her husband as "Sugar Throat." The show received and maintained a Top 10 rating for the rest of its radio life. New network[edit] In the fall of 1949, after twelve years at NBC, the couple took the show back to its original network CBS, where they had risen to fame from 1932 to 1937. Their good friend Jack Benny
Jack Benny reached a negotiating impasse with NBC
NBC over the corporation he set up ("Amusement Enterprises") to package his show, the better to put more of his earnings on a capital-gains basis and avoid the 80 percent taxes slapped on very high earners in the World War II period. When CBS executive William S. Paley
William S. Paley convinced Benny to move to CBS
CBS (Paley, among other things, impressed Benny with his attitude that the performers make the network, not the other way around as NBC
NBC chief David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff reputedly believed), Benny in turn convinced several NBC stars to join him, including Burns and Allen. Thus did CBS
CBS reap the benefits when Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen moved to television in 1950. Television[edit]

George Burns
George Burns and Gracie
Gracie Allen, 1955.

On television, The George Burns
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen Show put faces to the radio characters audiences had come to love. A number of significant changes were seen in the show:

A parade of actors portrayed Harry Morton: Hal March, The Life of Riley alumnus John Brown, veteran movie and television character actor Fred Clark, and future Mister Ed
Mister Ed co-star Larry Keating. Burns often broke the fourth wall, and chatted with the home audience, telling understated jokes and commenting wryly about what show characters were doing or undoing. In later shows, he would actually turn on a television and watch what the other characters were up to when he was off camera, then return to foil the plot. When announcer Bill Goodwin
Bill Goodwin left after the first season, Burns hired announcer Harry Von Zell, a veteran of the Fred Allen
Fred Allen and Eddie Cantor radio shows, to succeed him. Von Zell was cast as the good-natured, easily confused Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen announcer and buddy. He also became one of the show's running gags, when his involvement in Gracie's harebrained ideas would get him fired at least once a week by Burns. The first shows were simply a copy of the radio format, complete with lengthy and integrated commercials for sponsor Carnation Evaporated Milk by Goodwin. However, what worked well on radio appeared forced and plodding on television. The show was changed into the now-standard situation comedy format, with the commercials distinct from the plot. Midway through the run of the television show the Burns' two children, Sandra and Ronald, began to make appearances: Sandy in an occasional voice-over or brief on-air part (often as a telephone operator), and Ronnie in various small roles throughout the 4th and 5th season. Ronnie joined the regular cast in season 6. Typical of the blurred line between reality and fiction in the show, Ronnie played George and Gracie's on-air son, showing up in the second episode of season 6 ("Ronnie Arrives") with no explanation offered as to where he had been for the past 5 years of the show(Note: ** This isn't the case...at some point in the first episodes where Ronnie is seen, it's mentioned that he's supposed to have been away at school. They don't say what type of school but I would assume they meant a boarding school since he starts college right away on the show). Originally his character was an aspiring dramatic actor who held his parents' comedy style in befuddled contempt and deemed it unsuitable to the "serious" drama student. When the show's characters moved back to California in season 7 after spending the prior year in New York City, Ronnie's character dropped all apparent acting aspirations and instead enrolled in USC, becoming an inveterate girl chaser.

Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen also took a cue from Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Desilu Productions
Desilu Productions and formed a company of their own, McCadden Corporation (named after the street on which Burns' brother lived), headquartered on the General Service Studio lot in the heart of Hollywood, and set up to film television shows and commercials. Besides their own hit show (which made the transition from a bi-weekly live series to a weekly filmed version in the fall of 1952), the couple's company produced such television series as The Bob Cummings Show (subsequently syndicated and rerun as Love That Bob); The People's Choice, starring Jackie Cooper; Mona McCluskey, starring Juliet Prowse; and Mister Ed, starring Alan Young
Alan Young and a talented "talking" horse. Several of their good friend Jack Benny's 1953–55 filmed episodes were also produced by McCadden for CBS. The George Burns
George Burns Show[edit]

Woman with man wearing George Burns
George Burns body puppet

The George Burns
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen Show ran on CBS
CBS Television from 1950 to 1958, when Burns at last consented to Allen's retirement. The onset of heart trouble in the early 1950s had left her exhausted from full-time work and she had been anxious to stop but couldn't say no to Burns. Burns attempted to continue the show (for new sponsor Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive on NBC), but without Allen to provide the classic Gracie-isms, the show expired after a year. Wendy and Me[edit] Burns subsequently created Wendy and Me, a sitcom in which he co-starred with Connie Stevens, Ron Harper, and J. Pat O'Malley. He acted primarily as the narrator, and secondarily as the adviser to Stevens' Gracie-like character. The first episode involved the nearly 70-year-old Burns watching his younger neighbor's activities with amusement, just as he would watch the Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen television show while it was unfolding to get a jump on what Gracie
Gracie was up to in its final two seasons. Again as in the Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen television show, George frequently broke the fourth wall by commenting directly to viewers. The series only lasted a year. In a promotion, Burns had joked that " Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens plays Wendy, and I play 'me'." The Sunshine Boys[edit] After Gracie's death George immersed himself in work. McCadden Productions co-produced the television series No Time for Sergeants, based on the hit Broadway play; George also produced Juliet Prowse's 1965–66 NBC
NBC situation comedy, Mona McCluskey. At the same time, he toured the U.S. playing nightclub and theater engagements with such diverse partners as Carol Channing, Dorothy Provine, Jane Russell, Connie Haines, and Berle Davis. He also performed a series of solo concerts, playing university campuses, New York's Philharmonic Hall and Carnegie Hall. In 1974, Jack Benny
Jack Benny signed to play one of the lead roles in the film version of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys ( Red Skelton
Red Skelton was originally the other, but he objected to some of the script's language). Benny's health had begun to fail, however, and he advised his manager Irving Fein to let longtime friend Burns fill in for him on a series of nightclub dates to which Benny had committed around the U.S. Burns, who enjoyed working, accepted the job for what would be his first feature film since before World War II. As he recalled years later:[6]

"The happiest people I know are the ones that are still working. The saddest are the ones who are retired. Very few performers retire on their own. It's usually because no one wants them. Six years ago Sinatra announced his retirement. He's still working."—George Burns

Ill health had prevented Benny from working on The Sunshine Boys; he died of pancreatic cancer on December 26, 1974. Burns, heartbroken, said that the only time he ever wept in his life other than Gracie's death was when Benny died. He was chosen to give one of the eulogies at the funeral and said, "Jack was someone special to all of you, but he was so special to me...I cannot imagine my life without Jack Benny, and I will miss him so very much."[11] Burns then broke down and had to be helped to his seat. People who knew George said that he never could really come to terms with his beloved friend's death. Burns replaced Benny in the film as well as the club tour, a move that turned out to be one of the biggest breaks of his career; his wise performance as faded vaudevillian Al Lewis won him the 1975 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and permanently secured his career resurgence. At the age of 80, Burns was the oldest Oscar winner in the history of the Academy Awards, a record that would remain until Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy won an Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. Oh, God![edit] In 1977, Burns made another hit film, Oh, God!, playing the omnipotent title role opposite singer John Denver
John Denver as an earnest but befuddled supermarket manager, whom God picks at random to revive his message. The image of Burns in a sailor's cap and light springtime jacket as the droll Almighty influenced his subsequent comedic work, as well as that of other comedians. At a celebrity roast in his honor, Dean Martin adapted a Burns crack: "When George was growing up, the Top Ten were the Ten Commandments". Burns appeared in this character along with Vanessa Williams on the September 1984 cover of Penthouse magazine, the issue which contained the notorious nude photos of Williams, as well as the first appearance of underage pornographic film star Traci Lords. A blurb on the cover even announced "Oh God, she's nude!"[citation needed] Oh, God!
Oh, God! inspired two sequels Oh, God!
Oh, God! Book II (in which the Almighty engages a precocious schoolgirl played by Louanne Sirota to spread the word) and Oh, God!
Oh, God! You Devil—in which Burns played a dual role as God and the Devil, with the soul of a would-be songwriter played by Ted Wass at stake. Later films[edit] After guest starring on The Muppet Show,[12] Burns appeared in 1978's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the film based on the Beatles' album of the same name. In 1979, at the age of 83, Burns starred in two feature films, Just You and Me, Kid
Just You and Me, Kid and Going in Style. Burns remained active in movies and TV past his 90th birthday. One of his last films was 1988's 18 Again!, based on his half-novelty, country music-based hit single, "I Wish I Was 18 Again." In this film, Burns played an 81-year-old self-made millionaire industrialist who switched bodies with his awkward, artistic, 18-year-old grandson (played by Charlie Schlatter).[citation needed] Burns also did regular nightclub stand-up acts in his later years, usually portraying himself as a lecherous old man. He always smoked a cigar onstage and reputedly timed his monologues by the amount the cigar had burned down. For this reason, he preferred cheap El Producto cigars as the loosely wrapped tobacco burned longer. Burns once quipped "In my youth, they called me a rebel. When I was middle aged, they called me eccentric. Now that I'm old, I'm doing the same thing I've always done and they're calling me senile."[citation needed] Arthur Marx estimated that Burns smoked around 300,000 cigars during his lifetime, starting at the age of 14. In his final years, he smoked no more than four a day (partially because tougher anti-smoking regulations limited the amount of public places he could do it) and he never used cigarettes or marijuana, claiming "Look, I can't get any more kicks than I'm getting. What can marijuana do for me that show business hasn't done?" His last feature film role was the cameo role of Milt Lackey, a 100-year-old stand-up comedian, in the 1994 comedy mystery Radioland Murders. Final years and death[edit]

George Burns
George Burns in 1986

Crypt of George Burns, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale

When Burns turned 90 in 1986, the city of Los Angeles renamed the northern end of Hamel Road " George Burns
George Burns Road."[13] City regulations prohibited naming a city street after a living person, but an exception was made for Burns. In celebration of Burns' 99th birthday in January 1995, Los Angeles renamed the eastern end of Alden Drive " Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen Drive." Burns was present at the unveiling ceremony (one of his last public appearances) where he quipped, "It's good to be here at the corner of Burns & Allen. At my age, it's good to be anywhere!"[13] George Burns
George Burns Road and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen Drive cross just a few blocks west of the Beverly Center
Beverly Center mall in the heart of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Burns remained in good health for most of his life, in part thanks to a daily exercise regimen of swimming, walks, sit-ups, and push-ups. He bought new Cadillacs every year and drove until the age of 93, when he stopped due to becoming so short that he couldn't see over the steering wheel. After that, Burns had chauffeurs drive him around. In his later years, he also had difficulty reading fine print. Burns suffered a head injury after falling in his bathtub in July 1994 and underwent surgery to remove fluid in his skull. Burns never fully recovered and all performances celebrating his 100th birthday were canceled. In December 1995, a month before his 100th birthday, Burns was well enough to attend a Christmas party hosted by Frank Sinatra (who turned 80 that month), where he reportedly caught the flu, which weakened him further. When Burns was 96, he had signed a lifetime contract with Caesar's Palace
Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
Las Vegas to perform stand-up comedy there, which included the guarantee of a show on his centenary, January 20, 1996. When that day actually came however, he was too weak to deliver the planned performance. He released a statement joking how he would love for his 100th birthday to have "a night with Sharon Stone". His final public appearance was in at the MCG in Melbourne, Australia, where he opened the 1996 AFL Premiership Season on February 8.[14][15] On March 9, 1996, 49 days after his centenary, Burns died in his Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills home at age 100.[16] His funeral was held three days later at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale.[16] As much as he looked forward to reaching the age of 100, Burns also stated, about a year before he died, that he also looked forward to death, saying that on the day he would die, he would be with Gracie
Gracie again in Heaven. Upon being interred with Gracie, the crypt's marker was changed from, "Grace Allen Burns-Beloved Wife And Mother (1902–1964)" to " Gracie
Gracie Allen (1902–1964) & George Burns
George Burns (1896–1996)-Together Again". George had said that he wanted Gracie
Gracie to have top billing. Legacy[edit]

The handprints of George Burns
George Burns in front of The Great Movie Ride
The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

George Burns
George Burns has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: a motion pictures star at 1639 Vine Street, a television star at 6510 Hollywood Boulevard, and a live performance star at 6672 Hollywood Boulevard. The first two stars were placed during the initial installations of 1960, while the third star ceremony was held in 1984,[17][18] in the new category of live performance, or live theatre, established that year.[19] Burns is also a member of the Television Hall of Fame, where he and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen were both inducted in 1988. He is the subject of Rupert Holmes' one-actor play Say Goodnight Gracie. Bibliography[edit] Burns was a bestselling author who wrote a total of 10 books:

Burns, George; Hobart Lindsay, Cynthia (1955). I Love Her, That's Why. Simon and Schuster. Burns, George (1976). Living It Up: Or, They Still Love Me in Altoona!. Putnam. ISBN 978-0-399-11636-0. Burns, George (1980). The Third Time Around. Putnam. ISBN 978-0-399-12169-2. Burns, George (1983). How to Live to Be 100 – Or More – The Ultimate Diet, Sex and Exercise Book. Robson Books. ISBN 978-0-399-12939-1. Burns, George (1984). Dr. Burns' Prescription for Happiness: Buy Two Books and Call Me in the Morning. Putnam. Burns, George (1985). Dear George. Putnam. Burns, George (1988). Gracie: A Love Story. Putnam. ISBN 0-399-13384-4. Burns, George; Fisher, David (1989). All My Best Friends. Putnam. ISBN 0-399-13483-2. Burns, George; Goldman, Hal (1991). Wisdom of the 90's. Putnam. Burns, George (1996). 100 Years 100 Stories. Putnam. ISBN 978-0-399-14179-9.

Filmography[edit]

Features

The Big Broadcast
The Big Broadcast (1932) as Himself International House (1933) as Doctor Burns College Humor (1933) as Himself Six of a Kind (1934) as George Edward We're Not Dressing
We're Not Dressing (1934) as Himself Many Happy Returns (1934) as Himself Love in Bloom (1935) as Himself Here Comes Cookie (1935) as Himself The Big Broadcast
The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) as Himself The Big Broadcast
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) as Mr. Platt College Holiday
College Holiday (1936) as George Hymen Winterset (1936) A Damsel in Distress (1937) as Himself College Swing
College Swing (1938) as George Jonas Honolulu (1939) as Joe Duffy The Solid Gold Cadillac
Cadillac (1956) as Narrator (voice) The Sunshine Boys (1975) as Al Lewis Oh, God!
Oh, God! (1977) as God Movie Movie
Movie Movie (1978) as Himself - Introductory Segments (uncredited) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) as Mr. Kite Just You and Me, Kid
Just You and Me, Kid (1979) as Bill Going in Style
Going in Style (1979) as Joe Oh, God!
Oh, God! Book II (1980) as God Two Of A Kind (1982) as Ross 'Boppy' Minor Oh, God!
Oh, God! You Devil
Devil (1984) as God / Harry O. Tophet 18 Again!
18 Again! (1988) as Jack Watson / David Watson A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary) Radioland Murders
Radioland Murders (1994) as Milt Lackey (final film role)

Short Subjects

Lambchops (1929) as George the Boyfriend Fit to Be Tied (1930) as A Tie Customer Pulling a Bone (1931) as Man with Bone The Antique Shop (1931) as Customer Once Over, Light (1931) as Barbershop Customer 100% Service (1931) as George Oh, My Operation (1932) as The New Patient The Babbling Book (1932) as George Your Hat (1932) as Hat Salesman Let's Dance (1933) as George, a Sailor Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (1933) as Himself (uncredited) Walking the Baby (1933) as George Screen Snapshots: Famous Fathers and Sons (1946) as Himself Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Grows Up (1954) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Beauty (1955) as Himself All About People (1967) as Narrator A Look at the World of Soylent Green (1973) as Himself The Lion Roars Again (1975) as Himself

Discography[edit] Albums[edit]

Year Album Chart Positions Label

US Country US

1980 I Wish I Was Eighteen Again 12 93 Mercury

" George Burns
George Burns in Nashville" — —

1982 "Young at Heart" — —

Singles[edit]

Year Single Chart Positions Album

US Country US CAN Country CAN CAN AC

1980 "I Wish I Was Eighteen Again" 15 49 8 25 19 I Wish I Was Eighteen Again

"The Arizona Whiz" 85 — — — —

1981 "Willie, Won't You Sing a Song with Me" 66 — — — — George Burns
George Burns in Nashville

Radio series[edit]

The Robert Burns Panatella Show 1932–1933; CBS

In their debut series, George and Gracie
Gracie shared the bill with Guy Lombardo and his orchestra. The pair launched themselves into national stardom with their first major publicity stunt, Gracie's ongoing search for her missing brother.

The White Owl Program 1933–1934; CBS The Adventures of Gracie
Gracie 1934–1935; CBS The Campbell's
Campbell's Tomato Juice Program 1935–1937; CBS The Grape Nuts
Grape Nuts Program 1937–1938; NBC The Chesterfield Program 1938–1939; CBS The Hinds Honey and Almond Cream Program 1939–1940; CBS

This series featured another wildly successful publicity stunt which had Gracie
Gracie running for President of the United States.

The Hormel
Hormel Program 1940–1941; NBC

Advertised a brand new product called Spam;[20] this show featured musical numbers by jazz great Artie Shaw.

The Swan Soap
Swan Soap Show 1941–1945; NBC, CBS

This series featured a radical format change, in that George and Gracie
Gracie played themselves as a married couple for the first time, and the show became a full-fledged domestic situation comedy. This was George's response to a marked drop in ratings under the old "Flirtation Act" format (as he later recalled, he finally realized "our jokes are too young for us").

Maxwell House Coffee Time 1945–1949; NBC The Amm-i-Dent Toothpaste Show 1949–1950; CBS

TV series[edit]

The George Burns
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen Show 1950–1958; CBS

Broadcast live every other week for the first two seasons, 26 episodes per year. Starting in the third season, all episodes were filmed and broadcast weekly, 40 episodes per year. A total of 291 episodes were created.

The George Burns
George Burns Show 1958–1959; NBC

An unsuccessful attempt to continue the format of the Burns and Allen show without Gracie, the rest of the cast intact.

Wendy and Me
Wendy and Me 1964–1965; ABC

George plays narrator in this short-lived series, just as he had in the Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen show, but with far less on-screen time, as the focus is on a young couple played by Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens and Ron Harper. Stevens is, essentially, playing a version of Gracie's character.

George Burns Comedy Week
George Burns Comedy Week 1985; CBS

Another short-lived series, a weekly comedy anthology program whose only connecting thread was George's presence as host. He does not appear in any of the actual storylines. He was 89 years old when the series was produced.

Further reading[edit]

Gottfried, Martin (1996). George Burns. Simon & Schuster. Young, Jordan R. (1999). The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio & TV's Golden Age. Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing. ISBN 0-940410-37-0.

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: George Burns

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Burns.

George Burns
George Burns on IMDb George Burns
George Burns at the Internet Broadway Database
Internet Broadway Database George Burns
George Burns at AllMovie Home of George Burns
George Burns & Gracie
Gracie Allen-Radio Television Mirror-December 1940 (page 17) Georgeburns.com at the Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine (archived July 11, 2011) FBI Records: The Vault - George Burns
George Burns at vault.fbi.gov

Awards for George Burns

v t e

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

1936–1950

Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan (1936) Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut (1937) Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan (1938) Thomas Mitchell (1939) Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan (1940) Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp (1941) Van Heflin
Van Heflin (1942) Charles Coburn
Charles Coburn (1943) Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald (1944) James Dunn (1945) Harold Russell
Harold Russell (1946) Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (1947) Walter Huston
Walter Huston (1948) Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger (1949) George Sanders
George Sanders (1950)

1951–1975

Karl Malden
Karl Malden (1951) Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn (1952) Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra (1953) Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien (1954) Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon (1955) Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn (1956) Red Buttons
Red Buttons (1957) Burl Ives
Burl Ives (1958) Hugh Griffith
Hugh Griffith (1959) Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov (1960) George Chakiris
George Chakiris (1961) Ed Begley
Ed Begley (1962) Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas (1963) Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov (1964) Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam (1965) Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau (1966) George Kennedy
George Kennedy (1967) Jack Albertson
Jack Albertson (1968) Gig Young
Gig Young (1969) John Mills
John Mills (1970) Ben Johnson (1971) Joel Grey
Joel Grey (1972) John Houseman
John Houseman (1973) Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro (1974) George Burns
George Burns (1975)

1976–2000

Jason Robards
Jason Robards (1976) Jason Robards
Jason Robards (1977) Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (1978) Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas (1979) Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton (1980) John Gielgud
John Gielgud (1981) Louis Gossett Jr.
Louis Gossett Jr. (1982) Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson (1983) Haing S. Ngor
Haing S. Ngor (1984) Don Ameche
Don Ameche (1985) Michael Caine
Michael Caine (1986) Sean Connery
Sean Connery (1987) Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline (1988) Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington (1989) Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci (1990) Jack Palance
Jack Palance (1991) Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman (1992) Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones (1993) Martin Landau
Martin Landau (1994) Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey (1995) Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr. (1996) Robin Williams
Robin Williams (1997) James Coburn
James Coburn (1998) Michael Caine
Michael Caine (1999) Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro (2000)

2001–present

Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent (2001) Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (2002) Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins (2003) Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (2004) George Clooney
George Clooney (2005) Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin (2006) Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem (2007) Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger (2008) Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz (2009) Christian Bale
Christian Bale (2010) Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer (2011) Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz (2012) Jared Leto
Jared Leto (2013) J. K. Simmons
J. K. Simmons (2014) Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance (2015) Mahershala Ali
Mahershala Ali (2016) Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell (2017)

v t e

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

1950–1975

Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (1950) Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (1951) Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor (1952) David Niven
David Niven (1953) James Mason
James Mason (1954) Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell (1955) Mario Moreno (1956) Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra (1957) Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (1958) Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon (1959) Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon (1960) Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford (1961) Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni (1962) Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (1963) Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison (1964) Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin (1965) Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin (1966) Richard Harris
Richard Harris (1967) Ron Moody
Ron Moody (1968) Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole (1969) Albert Finney
Albert Finney (1970) Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol (1971) Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon (1972) George Segal
George Segal (1973) Art Carney
Art Carney (1974) Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau / George Burns
George Burns (1975)

1976–2000

Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson (1976) Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss (1977) Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty (1978) Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (1979) Ray Sharkey
Ray Sharkey (1980) Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore (1981) Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman (1982) Michael Caine
Michael Caine (1983) Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore (1984) Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson (1985) Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan (1986) Robin Williams
Robin Williams (1987) Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks (1988) Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (1989) Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu (1990) Robin Williams
Robin Williams (1991) Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins (1992) Robin Williams
Robin Williams (1993) Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant (1994) John Travolta
John Travolta (1995) Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise (1996) Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson (1997) Michael Caine
Michael Caine (1998) Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey (1999) George Clooney
George Clooney (2000)

2001–present

Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman (2001) Richard Gere
Richard Gere (2002) Bill Murray
Bill Murray (2003) Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx (2004) Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix (2005) Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen (2006) Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp (2007) Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell (2008) Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. (2009) Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti (2010) Jean Dujardin
Jean Dujardin (2011) Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman (2012) Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio (2013) Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton (2014) Matt Damon
Matt Damon (2015) Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling (2016) James Franco
James Franco (2017)

v t e

Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album

1959−1980

Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg – The Best of the Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg Shows (1959) Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg – Lincoln Portrait (1960) Robert Bialek (producer) – FDR Speaks (1961) Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein – Humor in Music (1962) Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton – The Story-Teller: A Session With Charles Laughton (1963) Edward Albee
Edward Albee (playwright) – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1964) That Was the Week That Was
That Was the Week That Was – BBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy (1965) Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson (producer) – John F. Kennedy - As We Remember Him (1966) Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow – Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. I The War Years (1967) Everett Dirksen
Everett Dirksen – Gallant Men (1968) Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen – Lonesome Cities (1969) Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter & Diane Linkletter – We Love You Call Collect (1970) Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. – Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam (1971) Les Crane
Les Crane – Desiderata (1972) Bruce Botnick (producer) – Lenny performed by the original Broadway cast (1973) Richard Harris
Richard Harris – Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1974) Peter Cook
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore – Good Evening (1975) James Whitmore
James Whitmore – Give 'em Hell, Harry!
Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1976) Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones and Orson Welles
Orson Welles - Great American Documents (1977) Julie Harris – The Belle of Amherst
The Belle of Amherst (1978) Orson Welles
Orson Welles – Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979) John Gielgud
John Gielgud – Ages of Man - Readings From Shakespeare
Shakespeare (1980)

1981−2000

Pat Carroll – Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein (1981) Orson Welles
Orson Welles – Donovan's Brain
Donovan's Brain (1982) Tom Voegeli (producer) – Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Movie on Record performed by Various Artists (1983) William Warfield
William Warfield – Lincoln Portrait (1984) Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley – The Words of Gandhi (1985) Mike Berniker (producer) & the original Broadway cast – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1986) Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins and Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips – Interviews From the Class of '55 Recording Sessions (1987) Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor – Lake Wobegon Days (1988) Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson – Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson (1989) Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner – It's Always Something (1990) George Burns
George Burns – Gracie: A Love Story (1991) Ken Burns
Ken Burns – The Civil War (1992) Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Robert O'Keefe – What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS (1993) Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou – On the Pulse of Morning
On the Pulse of Morning (1994) Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins – Get in the Van (1995) Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou – Phenomenal Woman (1996) Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton – It Takes a Village (1997) Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt – Charles Kuralt's Spring (1998) Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve – Still Me
Still Me (1999) LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton – The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (2000)

2001−present

Sidney Poitier, Rick Harris & John Runnette (producers) – The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2001) Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers) and Elisa Shokoff (producer) – Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (2002) Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou and Charles B. Potter (producer) – A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Heaven / Robin Williams, Nathaniel Kunkel (engineer/mixer) and Peter Asher (producer) – Live 2002 (2003) Al Franken
Al Franken and Paul Ruben (producer) – Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (2004) Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton – My Life (2005) Barack Obama
Barack Obama – Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father (2006) Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter – Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis / Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee - With Ossie and Ruby (2007) Barack Obama
Barack Obama and Jacob Bronstein (producer) – The Audacity of Hope (2008) Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood – An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
Al Gore (2009) Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox – Always Looking Up (2010) Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) (2011) Betty White
Betty White – If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) (2012) Janis Ian
Janis Ian – Society's Child (2013) Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert – America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't (2014) Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers – Diary of a Mad Diva (2015) Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter – A Full Life: Reflections at 90 (2016) Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett – In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox (2017) Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher – The Princess Diarist
The Princess Diarist (2018)

v t e

Kennedy Center Honorees (1980s)

1980

Leonard Bernstein James Cagney Agnes de Mille Lynn Fontanne Leontyne Price

1981

Count Basie Cary Grant Helen Hayes Jerome Robbins Rudolf Serkin

1982

George Abbott Lillian Gish Benny Goodman Gene Kelly Eugene Ormandy

1983

Katherine Dunham Elia Kazan Frank Sinatra James Stewart Virgil Thomson

1984

Lena Horne Danny Kaye Gian Carlo Menotti Arthur Miller Isaac Stern

1985

Merce Cunningham Irene Dunne Bob Hope Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Beverly Sills

1986

Lucille Ball Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy Yehudi Menuhin Antony Tudor Ray Charles

1987

Perry Como Bette Davis Sammy Davis Jr. Nathan Milstein Alwin Nikolais

1988

Alvin Ailey George Burns Myrna Loy Alexander Schneider Roger L. Stevens

1989

Harry Belafonte Claudette Colbert Alexandra Danilova Mary Martin William Schuman

Complete list 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

v t e

Saturn Award for Best Actor

James Caan/ Don Johnson
Don Johnson (1974/75) David Bowie/ Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck (1976) George Burns
George Burns (1977) Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty (1978) George Hamilton (1979) Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill (1980) Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (1981) William Shatner
William Shatner (1982) Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill (1983) Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges (1984) Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox (1985) Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum (1986) Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson (1987) Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks (1988) Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels (1989/90) Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins (1991) Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman (1992) Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. (1993) Martin Landau
Martin Landau (1994) George Clooney
George Clooney (1995) Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy (1996) Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan (1997) James Woods
James Woods (1998) Tim Allen
Tim Allen (1999) Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman (2000) Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise (2001) Robin Williams
Robin Williams (2002) Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood (2003) Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire (2004) Christian Bale
Christian Bale (2005) Brandon Routh
Brandon Routh (2006) Will Smith
Will Smith (2007) Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. (2008) Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington (2009) Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges (2010) Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (2011) Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey (2012) Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. (2013) Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt (2014) Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (2015) Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds (2016)

v t e

Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award

1962: Eddie Cantor 1963: Stan Laurel 1965: Bob Hope 1966: Barbara Stanwyck 1967: William Gargan 1968: James Stewart 1969: Edward G. Robinson 1970: Gregory Peck 1971: Charlton Heston 1972: Frank Sinatra 1973: Martha Raye 1974: Walter Pidgeon 1975: Rosalind Russell 1976: Pearl Bailey 1977: James Cagney 1978: Edgar Bergen 1979: Katharine Hepburn 1980: Leon Ames 1982: Danny Kaye 1983: Ralph Bellamy 1984: Iggie Wolfington 1985: Paul Newman
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward 1986: Nanette Fabray 1987: Red Skelton 1988: Gene Kelly 1989: Jack Lemmon 1990: Brock Peters 1991: Burt Lancaster 1992: Audrey Hepburn 1993: Ricardo Montalbán 1994: George Burns 1995: Robert Redford 1996: Angela Lansbury 1997: Elizabeth Taylor 1998: Kirk Douglas 1999: Sidney Poitier 2000: Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee 2001: Ed Asner 2002: Clint Eastwood 2003: Karl Malden 2004: James Garner 2005: Shirley Temple 2006: Julie Andrews 2007: Charles Durning 2008: James Earl Jones 2009: Betty White 2010: Ernest Borgnine 2011: Mary Tyler Moore 2012: Dick Van Dyke 2013: Rita Moreno 2014: Debbie Reynolds 2015: Carol Burnett 2016: Lily Tomlin 2017: Morgan Freeman

v t e

Television Hall of Fame Class of 1988

Jack Benny George Burns
George Burns and Gracie
Gracie Allen Chet Huntley
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley Red Skelton David Susskind David L. Wolper

Authority control

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