Iris Burton (born Iris Burstein, September 4, 1930 – April 5, 2008) was an American dancer and

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

, who discovered and represented many famous child actors during her career.

Personal life and early career

Burton was born as Iris Burstein in 1930 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City, and made a career as a child

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

, later dancing as Iris Burton in the Broadway shows ''Music in My Heart'' (1947) and ''Pardon Our French'' (1950). She also danced on television, earning $125 per week in 1951 for performing on Milton Berle's program. In the early 1950s, she moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, appearing as a dancer in several films such as '' Top Banana'' (1954) and ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1956).Obituary: Iris Burton, Hollywood agent
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', April 17, 2008.

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

-winning actor

Barry Miller Barry Miller may refer to: *Barry Miller (actor) (born 1958), American actor *Barry Miller (politician) Barry Miller (December 25, 1864 – June 20, 1933) was a Texas state legislator and Lieutenant Governor from 1925 to 1931 serving under Gover ...

(''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends h ...

'', '' Fame'') is Burton's son from her brief marriage to actor/director Sidney Miller.

Later career

Burton began her agency in 1977, becoming one of the few women at high levels in talent agencies. She was well known for discovering the Phoenix brothers (

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ...

and

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

), and their sisters (

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

, Liberty and

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

) whom she spotted singing for spare change in Westwood, Los Angeles. She worked with River throughout his short career. Burton and her relationship with

Greg Sestero Gregory Sestero (born July 15, 1978) is an American actor, filmmaker, model and author, best known for his role as Mark in the 2003 cult film ''The Room'', as well as for his well-received memoir ''The Disaster Artist'', detailing his experiences ...

is described in a chapter of Sestero's 2013 memoir '' The Disaster Artist''. Sestero portrays Burton as a warm, quick-witted agent who took on representing him despite his lack of experience and ultimately led him to his first big roles. This chapter was dramatized briefly in the 2017

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of the book, with Burton portrayed by

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

Death

Iris Burton died on April 5, 2008, aged 77, from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

and complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

at the Motion Picture and Television Country House.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Iris 1930 births 2008 deaths Actresses from New York City American child actresses American female dancers Dancers from New York (state) American film actresses Jewish American actresses Deaths from pneumonia in California People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles People from Manhattan Hollywood talent agents American talent agents 20th-century American dancers 20th-century American actresses Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in California 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women