Subject:  Archive: March 9, 1996 ~ 25 Years Ago ~ George Burns dies at 100 |
Author:
Actor & Comedian
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: Tuesday, March 09, 03:39:35pm
George Burns, Comedy’s Elder Statesman, Dies
The Los Angeles Times
March 10, 1996
George Burns—the indefatigable entertainer whose staying power became the last, most endearing gag in a graceful, laugh-filled career—died Saturday morning at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 100 years and 49 days old.
The comedian, actor, singer and author apparently died of heart failure a few hours after his nurse found him shaking and breathing shallowly in his bed. His son, Ronnie, was with him at the end.
There were no last-second one-liners or pithy sign-offs, said Burns’ longtime manager and friend, Irving Fein. But for years, Burns had insisted in a gravelly monotone: “I don’t believe in dying. . . . It’s been done.”
Condolences poured into the Burns home from around the nation, recalling the comedian’s many incarnations—as the vaudevillian, the hit radio and television act with his beloved wife, Gracie Allen, and the irascible elder statesman of comedy.
In a statement, President Clinton called Burns “one of the great entertainers of all time,” adding: “George Burns’ sense of timing and captivating smile touched the hearts and funny bones of more than three generations. He enabled us to see humor in the toughest of times and laugh together as a nation.”
Burns’ friend of nearly eight decades, comedian Milton Berle said: “He’s up there in heaven with Gracie, doing their act. And if I know George, he’ll be throwing one-liners at St. Peter.”
Burns had been in ill health since July 1994, when he slipped and fell in the shower at his home in Las Vegas. His frailty caused him to cancel performances celebrating
his centenary at the London Palladium and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He was also too ill with the flu to attend his 100th birthday bash in January.
Burns will be interred alongside Allen at a private funeral service Tuesday at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, Fein said. A public memorial may be scheduled later.
In the raw and cynical world of many of today’s performers, Burns was a cheerful and reassuring anachronism—whose silly songs and arid one-liners often targeted his own foibles and his legendary affinity for a pretty girl, a stiff drink and a good cigar.
Into his final days, Burns was still attending his regular bridge game at Hillcrest Country Club near Beverly Hills and talking vaguely with Fein about another comeback. He was tickled that his last of several books—"100 Years, 100 Stories"—was atop the bestseller list.
Read more at: https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-george-burns-199603010-story.html
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 