orig. Nathan Birnbaum
born Jan. 20, 1896, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died March 9, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.
U.S. comedian best known for his collaboration with Gracie Allen (1902–64).
Burns and Allen formed a comedy team in 1925 and were married in 1926. They performed on radio in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1932–50), with Burns playing the straight man to Allen's malaprop-prone chatterbox, before their show moved to television (1950–58). They made 13 films together, including The Big Broadcast films of 1932, 1936, and 1937. Burns returned to the screen in films such as The Sunshine Boys (1975, Academy Award) and Oh, God! (1977) and its sequels. Famous for his wry humour and his cigars, he continued performing into his late 90s.