George Burns Biography

Fast Facts

• Has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for TV, one for Live Performance and one for Film
• Won a Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy at the 1987 American Comedy Awards
• Quit his childhood job at a chocolate syrup factor to sing in a quartet with three young co-workers, and until he made it big, he tried every form of entertainment from working with a trained seal to trick roller skating
• Quote: "I said I was going to sing a few songs, and all the guests formed a circle around the piano․ By the time I broke through I was too tired to sing․"
• Quote: "The most important thing about acting is honesty․ If you can fake that, you've got it made․"
• Best known for playing the straight man to wife and fellow comedian Gracie Allen
• Nearly always appeared smoking a cigar, and used cigar smoke as punctuation
• A bestselling author, he wrote 10 books between 1976 and 1996
• Lived to be 100, and when he was interred next to Gracie Allen, their crypt's marker was changed to read "Gracie Allen & George Burns—Together Again," giving Allen top billing just as Burns had requested
• Created and developed his act with Gracie Allen, writing the first scripts himself and remaining involved in the writing process until the end