David Burns (June 22, 1902 – March 12, 1971) was an American Broadway theatre and motion picture actor and singer. He appeared in many comedies and musicals over a career of almost 50 years."David Burns Broadway"
''Playbill''. Retrieved October 12, 2017.

Life and career

Burns was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. He made his Broadway debut in 1923 in '' Polly Preferred '' and went to London with the show in 1924. His first Broadway musical was '' Face the Music'' (1932), followed by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's '' Nymph Errant'' (1933), staged in London. David Burns remained in London and was featured in many motion pictures there. His New York speech pattern was distinctive and exotic to British audiences, and he lent American color to a string of comedies, musicals, and mysteries. He came back to America in 1935 for two

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

features at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, but returned to England where there was far less competition for "New York" character roles. His most famous British screen credit is probably '' The Saint in London'' (1939), released as part of RKO's American ''Saint'' series of mysteries, with

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

as adventurer

Simon Templar The Saint is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a List of works by Leslie Charteris, series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date other authors collaborat ...

and David Burns as his New York sidekick. As

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

approached, making working conditions in England uncertain, Burns returned to New York in 1940. He made no further films until 1951, when he was hired for '' Fourteen Hours'', produced on location in New York.

Stage honors

Burns won two

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

for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Musical, for his performances as "Mayor Shinn" in ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' (1958) and as "Senex" in ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specif ...

'' (1963). Burns introduced the hit song "It Takes a Woman" from '' Hello, Dolly'' (1964) as the original "Horace Vandergelder". Burns won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his role of Mr. Solomon in the 1971

TV special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

(''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

'') of '' The Price'' by

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Death

Burns died on stage on March 12, 1971, of a heart attack in Philadelphia during the out-of-town tryout of

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musical theatre, musicals, whi ...

's musical '' 70, Girls, 70''. He had just finished what the ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' described as a "rather strenuous dance step" during the musical number "Go Visit Your Grandmother," at the end of Act Two, when he collapsed during the audience applause. He was carried offstage. His lines were read by actress

Lillian Roth Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress. Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

for the remainder of the performance. "David Burns, 69, Star In Musicals"
''The New York Times'', March 13, 1971. He was survived by his widow, Mildred.

Selected credits

Stage

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, David 1902 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American male actors American expatriate male actors American expatriates in the United Kingdom American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male stage actors Deaths onstage Male actors from Manhattan Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners People from Chinatown, Manhattan Tony Award winners 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers