George Burns

George Burns was the stage name of Nathan Birnbaum (January 20, 1896–March 9, 1996). He was a legendary Jewish American vaudeville comedian who went on to work in movies, radio, and early television. He became well-known for his longevity despite an affinity for alcohol and cigars, and for his miraculous career comeback at 79 years of age, arguably becoming more popular and well-known in his 80s and 90s than at any other point in his career.

Early years

Nathan was the ninth of twelve children born to Louis and Dorothy Birnbaum, in New York City, New York. Burns' father was a substitute cantor at his local synagogue, but he did not work very often. When the flu epidemic arrived in 1903, Louis had his chance to earn some real money, but contracted the flu and died.

Related Topics:
New York City - New York - Cantor - Synagogue - Flu - Epidemic - 1903

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George started working in 1903 after his father's death, shining shoes, running errands, and selling newspapers. He landed a job as a syrup maker at a local candy shop, at the age of seven. It was there that he was discovered. George recalled:

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We were all about the same age, six and seven, and when we were bored making syrup, we used to practice singing harmony in the basement. One day our letter carrier came down to the basement. His name was Lou Farley. Feingold was his real name, but he changed it to Farley. He wanted the whole world to sing harmony. He came down to the basement once to deliver a letter and heard the four of us kids singing harmony. He liked our style, so we sang a couple more songs for him. Then we looked up at the head of the stairs and saw three or four people listening to us and smiling. In fact, they threw down a couple of pennies. So I said to the kids I was working with, 'no more chocolate syrup. It's show business from now on.'

Related Topics:
Harmony - Chocolate - Show business

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We called ourselves the Peewee Quartet. We started out singing on ferryboats, in saloons and on street corners. We'd put our hats down for donations. Sometimes the customers threw something in the hats. Sometimes they took something out of the hats. Sometimes they took the hats.

Related Topics:
Ferryboat - Saloon

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Burns quit school in the fourth grade to go into show business full-time. He tried various avenues of entertainment. By the time he was 14, he'd been a trick roller skater, a dance teacher, a singer and an adagio dancer in small-time vaudeville. He also took up cigar smoking seriously and changed his name to George Burns.

Related Topics:
Roller skater - Vaudeville

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