Burt Lancaster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Burt Lancaster
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Lancaster in Desert Fury (1947)
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| Born |
Burton Stephen Lancaster
November 2, 1913 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | October 20, 1994 (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Westwood Memorial Park |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1935–1991 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
June Ernst
(m. 1935; div. 1946) Norma Anderson
(m. 1946; div. 1969) Susan Martin
(m. 1990) |
| Children | 5; including Bill |
Burt Lancaster (born November 2, 1913 – died October 20, 1994) was a famous American actor and film producer. He was known for playing strong characters, but he also took on many different and challenging roles during his 45-year career in movies and TV. He won an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actor once and was nominated three other times. He also won two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as one of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Lancaster started as a circus acrobat in the 1930s. After serving in World War II, he became an actor at age 33. His first big movie role was in The Killers (1946) with Ava Gardner. This movie helped launch both their careers. In 1953, he starred in the popular military drama From Here to Eternity, which won eight Academy Awards.
Later, in the 1950s, he starred in The Rainmaker (1956) with Katharine Hepburn. He also appeared in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with his frequent co-star Kirk Douglas. Lancaster also had a successful film production company called Hecht-Hill-Lancaster.
In the early 1960s, Lancaster starred in many successful films. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in Elmer Gantry (1960). He played a Nazi war criminal in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and a bird expert in prison in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). He continued acting into his late 70s, with his final film role in Field of Dreams (1989).
Contents
Early Life and Circus Days
Burt Lancaster was born on November 2, 1913, in Manhattan, New York. His parents, Elizabeth and James Lancaster, were from working-class families. All of his grandparents had moved to the United States from Ireland.
Lancaster grew up in East Harlem and spent a lot of time outdoors. He became very good at gymnastics while attending DeWitt Clinton High School. He was also a basketball star there. He was accepted to New York University with a sports scholarship, but he left before finishing his studies.
Acrobat Duo: Lang and Cravat
When he was nine years old, Lancaster met Nick Cravat. They became lifelong friends and partners. Together, they learned theater and circus skills at a local community center. In the 1930s, they formed an acrobat duo called Lang and Cravat. They soon joined the Kay Brothers circus.
However, in 1939, Lancaster got an injury that forced him to stop being an acrobat. He then worked different temporary jobs, like being a salesman and a singing waiter.
World War II Service
After the United States joined World War II, Lancaster joined the United States Army in January 1943. He performed with the Army's 21st Special Services Division. This group provided entertainment to soldiers to help keep their spirits up. He served in Italy from 1943 to 1945. He was discharged in October 1945.
Becoming a Hollywood Star
After the Army, Lancaster returned to New York. He wasn't very interested in acting at first. However, a producer saw him and encouraged him to try out for a Broadway play. He got the part in A Sound of Hunting (1945). The play only ran for three weeks, but his performance caught the eye of a Hollywood agent named Harold Hecht.
Hecht promised Lancaster that he would have the chance to produce his own movies within five years. This promise convinced Lancaster to go to Hollywood.
First Films and Big Break
Lancaster's first movie filmed was Desert Fury in 1947. But his breakthrough role came in The Killers (1946), which was released earlier. This film was a huge success and made Lancaster and his co-star Ava Gardner famous. It is now considered a classic movie.
He then starred in other successful films like Brute Force (1947) and I Walk Alone (1947), which also featured a young Kirk Douglas. In 1948, he starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number.
Producing His Own Movies
Harold Hecht kept his promise to Lancaster. They formed a company called Norma Productions. Their first film was Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948).
In 1950, Norma Productions made The Flame and the Arrow, an adventure film. Lancaster used his circus skills in this movie. His old friend Nick Cravat also had a role. The film was a huge success and showed a new side of Lancaster as an action star.
In 1951, the company changed its name to Hecht-Lancaster Productions. Their next big hit was another adventure film, The Crimson Pirate (1952), also starring Nick Cravat.
Major Film Roles and Success
Lancaster continued to choose diverse roles. He starred in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba (1952).
Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions
In 1955, James Hill joined the company, and it became Hecht-Hill-Lancaster (HHL). Their first film was Trapeze (1956), where Lancaster performed many of his own stunts. This movie was a huge box office success.
Lancaster also made two more films for another producer: The Rainmaker (1956) with Katharine Hepburn and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Kirk Douglas. The latter was a big hit.
He reunited with Tony Curtis in Sweet Smell of Success (1957). This film was praised by critics and is now seen as one of Lancaster's best movies. HHL produced several other films, including Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Clark Gable and Separate Tables (1958), which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.
Award-Winning Performances
In 1960, Lancaster played the main role in Elmer Gantry. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and the New York Film Critics Award for this role.
He then starred in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), a film about war crimes, alongside many other stars. It was a big success.
In Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), he played a prisoner who becomes an expert on birds. This role earned him another Oscar nomination and a BAFTA Award. In 1963, he starred in the epic drama The Leopard, filmed in Italy.
He worked with director John Frankenheimer on several films, including Seven Days in May (1964) and The Train (1964). In 1966, he had a big hit with the Western The Professionals.
At age 53, Lancaster appeared in The Swimmer (1968). He learned to swim for this movie. Although it wasn't a big hit at first, it later became a cult classic.
Later Career Highlights
In 1970, Lancaster starred in the very popular air-disaster film Airport. It was one of the biggest box-office hits of the year.
He had a career comeback in 1980 with the crime-romance Atlantic City. He won a BAFTA for Best Actor and received his fourth Oscar nomination for this film.
Starting in the late 1970s, he also appeared in TV mini-series. This included the award-winning Separate but Equal with Sidney Poitier. He continued acting until a stroke in 1990 forced him to retire. His final film role was in the Oscar-nominated Field of Dreams (1989).
Political Activism
Burt Lancaster was a strong supporter of progressive and liberal political causes. He often spoke out for the rights of racial minorities. Because of his views, he was sometimes investigated by the FBI. He was even named on President Richard Nixon's "Enemies List" in 1973.
He was against the Vietnam War. In 1968, he actively supported anti-war Senator Eugene McCarthy for president.
Lancaster also worked against the death penalty. He campaigned for George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.
In 1985, he joined the fight against AIDS after his friend Rock Hudson became ill. Lancaster spoke at a fundraiser for AIDS awareness when there was still a lot of misunderstanding about the disease. He was one of the only major male stars to attend.
Civil Rights Movement
Lancaster and his second wife, Norma, hosted a fundraiser for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference before the historic March on Washington in 1963. He attended the march and was one of the speakers. He flew from France, where he was filming, just for the event, and flew back the next day.
Supporting the ACLU
In 1968, Lancaster was chosen to be the chairman of the Roger Baldwin Foundation. This group raised money for the ACLU of Southern California. He remained a strong supporter and fundraiser for the organization for many years.
Personal Life
Lancaster kept his personal life private despite his fame. He was married three times and had five children.
His first marriage was to June Ernst, a trapeze acrobat. He performed with her family's circus act.
He met his second wife, Norma Anderson (1917–1988), during World War II. They married in 1946. Norma was very involved in political causes, including the NAACP. They had five children together: Bill, James, Susan, Joanna, and Sighle. They separated in 1966 and divorced in 1969.
His third marriage was to Susan Martin, from 1990 until his death in 1994.
Health and Death
As Lancaster got older, he started to have heart problems. In 1983, after two minor heart attacks, he had emergency heart surgery. He continued to act and be involved in public causes.
On November 30, 1990, at age 77, a stroke left him partially paralyzed and mostly unable to speak. This ended his acting career.
Lancaster died at his apartment in Century City, Los Angeles, on October 20, 1994, just before his 81st birthday. He had a third heart attack. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered under an oak tree in Westwood Memorial Park in California. There was no memorial or funeral service, as he had requested.
Legacy and Recognition
In May 2013, the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City celebrated 100 years since Lancaster's birth. They showed 12 of his most famous films.
Lancaster has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Images for kids
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Lancaster and Nick Cravat, performing with the Federal Theatre Project Circus (1935–38)
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Cravat and Lancaster performing on the horizontal bars
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With Audrey Hepburn in The Unforgiven (1960)
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Lancaster's plaque under an oak tree in Westwood Memorial Park where his ashes were scattered
See also
In Spanish: Burt Lancaster para niños
