Ronald Jon Burns (July 9, 1935 – November 14, 2007) was an American television actor. He is primarily remembered as the son of comedians

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

and

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...

and a regular cast member of ''

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', sometimes called ''The Burns and Allen Show'', was a half-hour television situation comedy broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts i ...

'' (1950–58) on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Biography

Born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, Ronnie Burns was five weeks old when he was adopted in Chicago on September 27, 1935, by

and

. His older sister, Sandra Jean, had been adopted the year before and was then 13 months old. According to George Burns, Ronnie had been the most sickly baby up for adoption from the agency, and Gracie chose him because she particularly felt he needed their help. Burns and his sister Sandra had roles as themselves in the March 15, 1951 episode "The Vanderlips' Dinner Party"

television series ''

''. On October 10, 1955, Burns joined as a regular cast member playing himself but cast as a novice actor and college student studying drama who tended to look askance at his parents' comedy style. He first appeared on the show on October 18, 1954, as the bridegroom on the episode "Gracie Gives a Wedding in Payment of a Favor" (Season 5, Episode 3). Upon joining the show full-time, numerous episodes revolved around the fictional Ronnie Burns' dating and social life. His good looks and popularity helped the show gain the attention of younger viewers in its final years. Later he appeared on '' The George Burns Show'' (1958–59), a short-lived series produced after his mother retired from show business. Burns starred in the 1960–61

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

comedy series ''Happy'', in which he and

Yvonne Lime Fedderson Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

played Chris and Sally Day, the parents of a talking baby. He played the manager of the Palm Desert Hotel in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

Doris Packer Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 – March 31, 1979) was an American actress, possibly best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's elementary school principal in the television series, '' Leave It to Beaver''. ...

, and

Burt Metcalfe Burton Denis Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022) was a Canadian-American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Burton Denis Metcalfe was born in Saskatoon, but grew up in Montreal and latterly in L ...

had supporting roles. He made an uncredited appearance as Wallace on the "Young at Heart" episode of ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

'', which featured Ralph Kramden (

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

) trying to roller skate with disastrous results. Burns made a cameo appearance on '' Bachelor Father'' starring John Forsythe. Never comfortable with celebrity, Burns left acting. He produced a situation comedy, '' Wendy and Me'' (1964–65), in which his father starred. He then went into real estate investment and raised horses at a ranch he owned in Santa Ynez, California. Ronnie Burns died November 14, 2007, of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at age 72, in his Pacific Palisades home. He was survived by his wife, Janice, three sons from his first marriage: Brent, Brad, and Bryan Burns, six grandchildren and his adopted sister, Sandra.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Ronnie 1935 births American male television actors People from Greater Los Angeles American adoptees Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American male actors 2007 deaths