George Burns: Defeating Failure
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| "It's good to be here...Hell, at my age, it's good to be anywhere!" |
When you think of long-lived actors and actresses, who do you think of? Dick Van Dyke, Joanne Woodward? My mind goes to George Burns, who has three stars on the walk of fame, an Emmy, an Oscar and a Grammy, and was the first recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement award. He went from working with a seal to playing full concert halls and receiving standing ovations just for standing (or sitting) there, smoking a cigar and singing ragtime songs and never finishing them. There's alot to learn from this man, and I can't cover it all here, but I shall try. 100 years is a long time to live. This is coming from somebody who hasn't lived 20.
George Burns was born January 20th, 1896 on the Lower East Side of New York City, New York. He'd worked small time since the age of 7, doing whatever he could and changing his name and starting again when it didn't work out. All this changed when he met a petite 17 year old by name of Gracie Allen. George and Gracie worked in vaudeville, until moving on to radio and finally television in 1950. The act featured straight man George contending with his ditzy wife Gracie, and misadventures ensued.
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| "I didn't do anything, I used to say, "Gracie how's your mother?" And she'd talk for 22 minutes," |
A common theme in the show was George's self-awareness and tendencies to break the fourth wall. He'd stare at the audience, keep them apprised of the situation, and in the later seasons, he'd watch events unfold from the comfort of a television set. As George himself stated dozens of times, Gracie was the star of the show. In the acts, he couldn't get mad at Gracie, because audiences would turn on him, he had to test the airflow of the stage beforehand so his cigar smoke wouldn't blow in Gracie's face, and a review of George and Gracie's routine hilariously went on and on about Gracie, stating her untapped potential and how good she would be if she worked alone. However, health issues caused Gracie to retire in 1958, and George tried unsuccessfully to revitalize the show without her.
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| George Burns and Jack Benny with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. |
Jack Benny and George Burns have a legendary friendship. Had Jack lived longer, he would have been in more interviews and spoken more on the subject, but George painted a pretty good picture. George describes Jack falling down laughing at almost everything he said. He'd ask for some salt, and Jack would fall over, he'd ask how his day was, he'd fall over. The day after they first met, George called him up and the phone got disconnected mid conversation. George met him for dinner later that evening, and Jack fell on the floor once he saw him, stating that what he "did" was the funniest thing.
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| According to George, Jack didn't laugh, he collapsed. |
Jack and George have many similarities in their performances, but they are also very different. For instance, Jack has a much larger cast, you can't quite narrow it down to just two. Sure, Rochester was a frequent foil, but Mary and Don were equally prevalent, and Dennis showed up too many times to ignore. George scarcely needed a large cast, as he worked best once he had at least one other person to bounce off of. Another thing is Jack had a strong character which was nothing like his real self. George, on the other hand, basically acted like himself for 93 years. No special characteristics, no gimmicks, his name might change, but he was still wise-cracking, fast-talking and sarcastic, without changing a thing.
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Teaming up with Gracie made failure a thing of the past for George, even after her retirement, he never truly faded. However, sad times came when Gracie died in 1964. He threw himself into his work, then, and it took him months to get over it. One story involved them having twin beds shortly before she died, and he recalled that sleeping in Gracie's bed helped. Jack Benny died in 1974, and a good friend of George, Alan King, called him up to check on him. George simply replied, "It's going to be very...lonely,". Those who knew him said he never truly got over Jack's death.
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| Supposedly one of the last pictures of Jack Benny. Fitting George is in it, too. |
Jack recommended George to replace him in an upcoming film he was supposed to co-star in, Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys, shortly before his death. George accepted the role, and won an Academy Award for his performance, something Jack was never able to do. This was a new call to adventure for him, and opened him up for new roles and brought him into the light again. During the 80s, when he was in his 80s, he'd do it all. Live performances, more movies, including playing God three times, he'd make a country album, all the while developing a sort of Hugh Hefner-esque persona, constantly taking out younger girls. He'd write 10 books over the course of his career, all of them transcribed because of his lack of formal education on spelling and writing. His son, Ronnie would recall George, in his early 90s tiredly climbing up stairs to go perform, and descending an hour later with a youthful vigor he only got from performing.
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| "You're in for an exciting evening... I'm gonna sing. 8 songs. If you like them, I'll sing 9, if you don't, I'll sing 20," |
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| George Burns with Jack Benny, Bobby Darin, Polly Bergen and Betty Grable. He would outlive everyone in this picture except Polly. |
In 1994, George suffered an accident which brought his performing career to a solemn close. He would appear in public a few more times, but he did not fulfill his promise of playing the Palladium Theatre on his 100th birthday. For the first time in his life, he felt old. His 10th and final book, titled "100 Years, 100 stories" Has a sobering foreword. Written a couple months shy of his centennial, George speaks in an alien tone. Usually, he jokes about his age and his health, and death and such, but there he levels with his audience. "I'm still an optimist. But I'm not stupid," It reads, "That nurse isn't watching me all day to see if my toupee is on straight," Finally, on March 9th, 1996, 49 days after his 100th birthday, George Burns said goodnight for the last time.
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| Ronald Reagan: "I toast you, George, may you still retain that youthful vigor, when you finally reach (If you ever do) old age," |
George Burns was an incomparable man. He's excelled in every media, and all the while he never seemed old. When celebrities get old and they start to write books, they get resentful, they scorn the younger generation and believe things to be invariably better back then than they are now. George was never like that. He perpetually lived in the moment, and change came easy for him. Whether he knew it or not, he was a teacher. A marker for living life. I mentioned not letting age deter you in the Jack Benny spotlight, and it's just as true here, since they were only two years apart. George Burns made his last movie appearance at 98. All the while smoking no less than 10 cigars a day, and drinking at least one martini. Perhaps genetics played a part in his longevity more than anything else, but it's still incredible, and awe-inspiring.
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| Bob Hope and George Burns: Two Centenarians. Hope: "George Burns has very fond memories of Washington- Not the city, the president!" |
He was a man of habits. He never complained, and was never one to get too emotional about things. He never took a problem to bed with him (as he put it, "I ask her to move over"). By far the most inspirational thing I've heard him say is to fall in love with what you do for a living. To him, it was paramount to wake up each morning and have something that got him out of bed. Lying in bed, writing this blog post, I wholeheartedly agree. He was also a generous man, and gave big breaks to many greats, such as Bobby Darin and Ann Margaret. He loved show business, and in his early days playing small-time, wracked with failure, he never gave up. An absolute inspiration, and a man who, though he got older, never truly got old. Thank you, George Burns,
I hope to see you Back There.
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P.S: I've been naming these spotlight posts after the lessons you could learn from each person: For Jack Benny it's the art of laughter. For George Burns, it's a dozen things. Being young at heart, loving what you do, having good friends, I just chose him defeating failure as that's what stuck out to me most. After Gracie died, he could have stopped working and retired, but he didn't. After Jack died, he really could have left show business, but he didn't. He never wanted to leave the spotlight. That's probably why his Wikipedia page lists him as active from 1903-1996. 93 years of moving past failures and hardships. 93 years of entertainment, and though he's gone, by his own account, he took his music with him. Wherever he is, they're playing in his key.
"I'll sing all my songs, and put on my makeup, right until the day that I forget to wake up," His song, Good Old Bad Old Days.
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