Burton Stephen Lancaster
21 min read
Reading time
4,076
Words
Published
131
Film credits
14
Awards
Burt Lancaster, born in New York City in 1913, worked as a circus acrobat before hitting Hollywood with his debut film The Killers 1946. He won the Best Actor Oscar for Elmer Gantry 1960 and co-founded Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which produced Marty 1955. A liberal activist, he spoke at the March on Washington and made Nixon’s enemies list. He died of a heart attack in 1994.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Burt Lancaster — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Burt Lancaster by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Burt Lancaster — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
On November 2, 1913, Elizabeth Roberts and James Henry Lancaster, a postal worker, welcomed their son Burton Stephen in Manhattan. He was one of five children, all four grandparents immigrants from northern Ireland. Growing up a tough street kid, he developed an early interest in gymnastics and joined the Kay Brothers’ Circus as an acrobat until an injury ended that career. During the Great Depression, he worked as a nude artist’s model by day and a singing waiter by night.
Lancaster’s first film, The Killers 1946, made him an instant star. In 1948 he co-founded Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, producing and starring in films like Marty 1955, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. He played diverse roles: the swashbuckling pirate in The Crimson Pirate 1952, Sergeant Warden in From Here to Eternity 1953, corrupt evangelist in Elmer Gantry 1960 for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, and aging gangster in Atlantic City 1980. Later career highlights include Local Hero 1983 and Field of Dreams 1989.
Lancaster was married three times: to June Ernst from 1935 to 1946, to Norma Anderson from 1946 to 1969, and to Susan Martin from 1991 until his death. He had five children: Bill, Joanna, Susan, Sighle, and Jimmy. His son Bill wrote the screenplay for The Bad News Bears 1976. A self-described atheist and political liberal, he campaigned for George McGovern, supported Martin Luther King, and was named on President Nixon’s enemies list in 1973. He testified against colorization of old movies alongside Gregory Peck and James Stewart.
Lancaster pioneered the actor-producer model with Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which produced Oscar winner Marty. His performance as J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success 1957 ranks #76 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances. He supported AIDS research and read Rock Hudson’s letter announcing his illness in 1985. He earned the first star ever placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is remembered for his powerful screen presence, distinctive voice, and versatility from circus acrobat to Oscar-winning actor.
The complete filmography of Burt Lancaster — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Burt Lancaster — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Burt Lancaster — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Most People Seem to Think I’m the Kind of Guy Who Shaves with a Blowtorch. Actually I’m Bookish and Worrisome.
Life Is to Be Lived Within the Limits of Your Knowledge and Within the Concept of What You Would Like to See Yourself to Be.
We’re All Forgotten Sooner or Later. but Not Films. That’s All the Memorial We Should Need or Hope For.
I Woke up One Day a Star. It Was Terrifying. Then I Worked Hard Toward Becoming a Good Actor.
If I’m Working with Frightened People, I Do Tend to Dominate Them. I’m No Doll, That’s for Sure.
In My Opinion, Shirley Booth Is the Finest Actress I Have Ever Worked With.
Genius Is a Pretty Dangerous Thing to Have. Genius Is Too Erratic. It’s Better Just to Be Talented.
You Have to Fight Against Being an Antique.
I Judge a Restaurant by the Bread and by the Coffee.
My Former Wife Is a Truly Wonderful Person.
I Always Try to Improve, to Find New Ways of Expressing Myself, to Keep Looking for Truth and Originality.
I Found Marriage Somewhat Stifling. I Don’t Know That I Am the Kind of Man Who Ought to Be Married.
The Most Real Thing on My Face Is My Eyes.
Little-known facts about Burt Lancaster — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
A severe stroke in November 1990 left Lancaster hospitalized until February 1991 while visiting Dana Andrews, who had Alzheimer’s Disease. He remained incapacitated and unable to speak until his death.
His was the first star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which now numbers in the thousands.
He helped pay for the defense of Pvt. Billy Dean Smith, an African-American soldier accused of fragging two officers in Vietnam in 1971, giving $3,000 for ballistics experts. Smith was acquitted.
He testified against the colorization of old movies by Ted Turner in the mid-1980s alongside Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Liza Minnelli, and Orson Welles.
Despite public perception, he and Kirk Douglas were not close friends; their friendship was largely fabricated by Douglas and they were competitive with mutual personal disdain.
He allegedly attended a Hollywood Oscar party in the late 1950s wearing a G-string and spray-painted gold, resembling an Oscar statuette, after a similar stunt by Rock Hudson and Vera-Ellen.
He was a fan of the silent film The Unknown 1927 because it took place in a circus. He said no scene affected him as emotionally as when Lon Chaney learns Joan Crawford does not love him.
Until quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1983, he maintained fantastic physical health from his acrobat youth and impressed many with his enormous strength.
He attended Elizabeth Taylor’s Commitment to Life fundraiser on September 19, 1985, reading out Rock Hudson’s letter admitting he had AIDS, despite warnings about rumors of his own sexuality.
He felt intimidated by co-star Montgomery Clift on the set of From Here to Eternity 1953 due to Clift’s great talent.
His son Bill Lancaster’s screenplay for The Bad News Bears 1976 was based on his experience being coached by his father; Bill had been disabled by polio, and the coach played by Walter Matthau was based on Burt.
He made a great deal of money from Airport 1970 due to a 10% profit participation after $50 million, though he called it the worst piece of junk ever made.
During World War II, he served in the Special Services branch entertaining troops, stationed in Italy for much of the war.
During the Great Depression, he worked as a nude artist’s model by day and a singing waiter by night.
He frequently turned down lifetime achievement awards in the 1980s, saying half-jokingly, Give them to my good friend Kirk, knowing Kirk Douglas would enjoy the limelight.
In January 1980 he nearly died during a routine gallbladder operation that turned into an 11-hour ordeal; a doctor reportedly prayed for his life, and he was in intensive care for 48 hours.
A self-described Kennedy man, he dined with President John F. Kennedy at the White House, delayed the release of Seven Days in May 1964 after the assassination, and later starred in Executive Action 1973, the first Kennedy assassination conspiracy movie.
He was one of the few actors given the honor of speaking at Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963.
His first TV role was a guest appearance on Sesame Street 1969, reciting the alphabet.
An unabashed political liberal, he was chairman of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and an active campaigner for George McGovern in 1972, earning a spot on President Nixon’s 1973 Enemies List.
To impress customers at Marshall Fields, he used to perform handstands on the countertop and cartwheel down the aisles.
He demanded that a high bar be set up on sets and locations so he could perform acrobatics and stay in shape.
He rejected a scholarship to play basketball at NYU to become an acrobat for the Kay Brothers’ Circus.
His son Jimmy was diagnosed as schizophrenic.
He publicly associated with AIDS research; in 1985 he read out Rock Hudson’s letter announcing his AIDS diagnosis at a Hollywood dinner, and in 1988 a poster of Lancaster holding a rose urged people to be careful.
He could not attend the funeral of close friend Telly Savalas as he was seriously ill at the time.
In January 1954, he was forced to send a letter to the State Department to renew his passport, stating he was not a Communist and never had been.
His house burned down in the famous Bel Air-Brentwood fire of November 6, 1961.
He admitted that on movie sets he would complain loudly, but by the end of the shoot crews loved him and hated to see him go.
His son Jimmy was born with a foot deformity and wore a cast; daughter Joanna had the same deformity but they let her outgrow it.
In 1961 he planned to produce a biopic of Michelangelo and play the title role as possibly homosexual, but shelved it due to filming The Leopard 1963; Charlton Heston later starred in The Agony and the Ecstasy 1965.
Despite his athleticism as an acrobat, he was not a good swimmer and trained with a coach for The Swimmer 1968.
He was voted Man of the Year by Aid for AIDS in 1987 for his extensive work on their behalf.
According to his wishes, he was buried without any memorial or funeral service; his headstone reads simply Burt Lancaster, 1913-1994.
His son Bill Lancaster wrote the screenplay for The Bad News Bears 1976.
He was originally cast in Victor Mature’s role in The Robe 1953 but backed out due to the Christian theme.
Known for liberal sympathies, he participated in Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in August 1963 along with Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., and others. He flew home from Europe to participate.
According to biographer Kate Buford, he felt competitive with Marlon Brando, who achieved stardom playing Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, a role Lancaster turned down. This led him to art films like The Leopard 1963 to prove himself as an actor.
He turned down the lead in Patton 1970 due to his anti-Vietnam War sympathies but campaigned for the role of Don Corleone in The Godfather 1972; Coppola chose Brando.
Sydney Pollack said that up until 1975, when in his 60s, Lancaster still did giant swings on a bar, smoked, drank martinis, and jogged three times a week.
He did not start acting until he was 31 years old.
He refused to make a western with John Wayne due to Wayne’s anti-Communist activism, but joined a minute’s silence for Wayne after his death in 1979 while filming Cattle Annie and Little Britches.
He tried for four years to finance Kiss of the Spider Woman 1985 and was to play Molina, but after a heart attack in 1983 he was uninsurable; William Hurt won an Oscar in the role.
When co-hosting a celebrity golf tournament, John Huston hired a plane to drop ping-pong balls reading Burt Lancaster sucks due to a dispute.
His performance as J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success 1957 is ranked #76 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time in 2006.
While serving in the US Army, he met USO entertainer Norma Anderson, who helped him get a theatre audition; he married her after The Killers 1946 was released.
On the set of Ulzana’s Raid 1972 he told Bruce Davison he had undergone so much plastic surgery that the most real thing about him were his eyes; he also advised Davison to avoid anti-Vietnam activism until established.
Despite his reputation for physical strength, he was a chain smoker.
He was forced by United Artists to make four films for $150,000 each in the 1960s due to cost overruns at Hecht-Hill-Lancaster: The Young Savages 1961, Birdman of Alcatraz 1962, The Train 1964, and The Hallelujah Trail 1965.
A self-described atheist, he played a corrupt evangelist in Elmer Gantry 1960 as an anti-Billy Graham statement; his performance won him the Best Actor Oscar.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Burt Lancaster.
Celebrities similar to Burt Lancaster — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
