George Burns-A Century Of Laughs!

Where do you go after playing the role of God?

Well, in George Burns’ case, perhaps you do a command performance for The Big Guy inside those Pearly Gates. If there is a heaven, we know that George Burns is there—along with Gracie and Jack Benny—making God crack up.

George Burns passed away on this date 14 years ago at the age of 100. He’d been in show business for over 90 of those years!

Born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City, he was the 9th of 12 children. He began singing on street corners for pennies, started a “dance academy” at the age of 13 and generally failed at most of these ventures. That is, until he met fellow performer Gracie Allen.

At first, she played the “straight man”, if you will—with George handling the punch lines—and it didn’t quite work out. However, when they swapped roles, the laughter—and their success—both increased exponentially!

Marriage followed and the pair became well known on the vaudeville circuit. When the dawn of radio exposed them to a national audience, they became a hit with a show of their own. That radio show garnered a weekly audience of 40 MILLION! And NBC paid the pair $10,000 a WEEK, a sum unheard of at the time and especially impressive considering the nation was in the throes of the Great Depression.

From radio, the duo moved to the big screen, playing themselves in a number of films, including “International House”( 1933) and “Many Happy Returns” (1934). In 1950, the new medium of television beckoned—and their show on CBS had huge ratings for the rest of the decade.

Gracie died suddenly in 1964 at the age of 58, sending George into a tailspin. Throughout their career together, George himself was the first to point out that Gracie was the star—and he was merely lucky to be along for the ride.

A highly successful professional partnership with Jack Benny, his best friend, followed-until Benny himself passed away.

Burns’ career could have ended right there—without diminishing his stature in the industry or his contribution. But not content to retire, his career enjoyed a huge resurgence following major heart surgery at the age of 79. From his role as a retired vaudevillian in the film “The Sunshine Boys” alongside Walter Matthau to his multiple appearances as both God and the Devil in the “Oh God!” series of movies, Burns became hugely popular to a whole new generation.

Instead of digging for great video clips, I have chosen instead to post the Larry King Live! episode where Burns was remembered by the likes of his son, Carol Channing, Phyllis Diller and others. King did all the work as this show is full of terrific moments from the career of George Burns….enjoy:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smRTgBkgK94



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fb3Itn6n1M



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQR8Uw7Dpg



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBxN8vUoWI


Burns was the author of nine books and the recipient of several “lifetime achievement” awards in the entertainment industry. Live stage, radio, TV and movies—George Burns did it all—and for more years than most people live.

Not bad for a cigar-chomping grade school dropout from a big family born during the Depression. He may not have been “God”, but no one argues that he wasn’t an entertainment god for decades.

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