Trivia

Was originally supposed to deliver the eulogy at the funeral of his best friend Jack Benny, but he was so overcome with emotion after trying that he let someone else do it.

He was in very fragile health and could not attend his 100th birthday celebration in person.

Interviewed around the time of the death of wife Gracie Allen in the summer of 1964, he described her as being his "next breath".

Discovered Ann-Margret and made her his opening act in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the early 1940s, during the height of their popularity, he had a brief extramarital affair. He apologized to Gracie Allen by giving her a new coffee table, and nothing more was said about it. However, years later, when Gracie was serving coffee to a friend in their living room, George overheard her say, "You know, I wish George would have another affair. I really need a new coffee table".

Along with Bob Hope and Señor Wences, he is one of three The Muppet Show (1976) guest stars to live to be 100 years old.

He and Gracie Allen continued to play single, even years after they were married; declining ratings prompted George to "update" the act on-air. He said later, "We were the only couple on radio who got married because we had to".

At age 13 he charged immigrants coming by boat from Ellis Island $5 for dance lessons, telling his clients that this was a necessary prerequisite for becoming a U.S. citizen.

He was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6672 Hollywood Blvd., for Motion Pictures at 1639 Vine St. and for Television at 6510 Hollywood Blvd.

Until his death, he smoked as many as ten cigars a day.

As a child, he attended P.S. 22 and left after the fourth grade due to economic reasons.

His first marriage was in name only. In the early 1920s he was doing a ballroom dancing act with Hannah Siegel, and they were offered a 36-week contract to go out on the road. When her father objected to her traveling with a young man outside the bonds of matrimony, George and Hannah got married so as not to turn down the offer. When they returned from their three-month engagement, they divorced.

The whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) were named George and Gracie after Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen.

In the beginning of their partnership Gracie Allen played the straight character and Burns had the funny lines. When he realized Gracie got more laughs, he switched their roles.

Pictured with wife Gracie Allen on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp, issued 11 August 2009, in the Early TV Memories issue honoring The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950).

Best friends with fellow comedian Jack Benny, who also served as best man at his and Gracie Allen's wedding. Burns loved playing jokes on Benny, almost as much as watching him laugh (and pound the floor) afterward.

George and Gracie adopted two children as infants: daughter Sandra Burns, born on July 28, 1934 and son Ronnie Burns, born on July 9, 1935.

Took the name "Burns" from the Burns Brothers Coal Company, whose trucks he'd stolen lumps from growing up, to help heat the family home. "George" was a sobriquet his brother occasionally used.

Although Gracie Allen was in love with another man when they first met, he carried a ring in his pocket until she finally agreed to marry him.

Was a regular on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts". He was even a guest of honor in 1978.

His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant and his mother was a Polish Jewish immigrant.

In 18 Again! (1988) his character celebrates his 81st birthday, although Burns himself was already 92 years old.

Actually wore a hairpiece for most of his performing career; appears briefly without it in The Sunshine Boys (1975) and in Two of a Kind (1982).

"The Burns & Allen Show" (on CBS and NBC from 1934 to 1950) was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.

According to Phyllis Diller's autobiography "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse", in the late 1960s Broadway producer David Merrick approached Burns with the idea of him playing Horace Vandergelder in "Hello, Dolly!" with his good friend Jack Benny in drag as Dolly Levi. The intention was to turn Broadway on its ear and revive flagging interest in the show, which had been running since 1964, originally with Carol Channing as Dolly Levi. This idea never came to fruition (Diller did appear in the show for three months in 1970).

Interred along with wife Gracie Allen at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage.

Uncle of Lou Weiss, chairman emeritus of William Morris Agency, who got his mailroom start in the agency business with help of "Uncle Nate".

At the time of his Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor for The Sunshine Boys (1975) at 80 years old, he was the oldest recipient of an Academy Award. This record was surpassed by Jessica Tandy in 1990 and later by Christopher Plummer in 2012, who received his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 82.

During Oldsmobile's 90th anniversary (1987) he appeared in two commercials for the automobile manufacturer.

Was a struggling vaudevillian in his early youth, often appearing as a trick roller skater and in ballroom dance acts. Some of his acts were pretty bad and work was hard to come by, so he was forced to frequently change his stage name, appearing variously as Willy Delight, Captain Betts and Buddy Links.

Brother of William Burns.

One of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television.

Replaced his best friend Jack Benny in The Sunshine Boys (1975) after his death, going on to win the Academy Award for his efforts.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 78-80. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 82-84. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Interviewed in "The Great Comedians Talk About Comedy" by Larry Wilde. (1968)

From 1948 to 1953, he and his wife were the celebrity spokespersons for Paper Mate Ballpoint Pens.

In 1975, at the age of 80, he became the oldest Oscar winner.

Mentioned in Daydreams (1981).