Bart Burns, an actor who appeared on Broadway, in movies and TV shows for five decades, has died. He was 89. Burns died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in the West Hills area, his son Brendan Burns said.
Burns made several Broadway appearances, including appearing with Henry Fonda in a production of "Mr. Roberts."
On television, he played Pat Chambers on the "Mike Hammer" series in the 1950s and made hundreds of guest appearances on shows ranging from "Gunsmoke" to "The Rockford Files."
His movie roles included Ernest Farmer in the 1982 Jessica Lange feature "Frances." He had small roles in many other films, including "Seven Days in May," "Legal Eagles" and "Tora, Tora, Tora."
Burns wrote the four-part "Kilroy Was Here" feature for the 1950s TV show "Disneyland."
Burns was born George Joseph Burns in New York City. To avoid confusion with comic George Burns, he took the name Bart when he began his acting career in 1947.
During World War II, Burns was a Marine captain in the Pacific, where he was wounded twice. He won a Silver Star for leading a tank through a minefield to destroy a Japanese pillbox on Iwo Jima.
In addition to his son, Burns is survived by his wife, Fern; sons Timothy and Sean; daughter Siobhan Burns Walden, and a granddaughter.
> Bart Burns, an actor who appeared on Broadway, in movies and TV shows > for five decades, has died. He was 89. > Burns died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in the West > Hills area, his son Brendan Burns said.
> Burns made several Broadway appearances, including appearing with > Henry Fonda in a production of "Mr. Roberts."
> On television, he played Pat Chambers on the "Mike Hammer" series in > the 1950s
That would be the Darren McGavin version.
> and made hundreds of guest appearances on shows ranging from > "Gunsmoke" to "The Rockford Files."
> His movie roles included Ernest Farmer in the 1982 Jessica Lange > feature "Frances." He had small roles in many other films, including > "Seven Days in May," "Legal Eagles" and "Tora, Tora, Tora."
> Burns wrote the four-part "Kilroy Was Here" feature for the 1950s TV > show "Disneyland."
It was "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," which was the successor series to "Disneyland" and which premiered on 24 September 1961. (The error here might be due to the IMDb lumping the two series together.) The "Kilroy" shows were especially good. Kilroy was a Marine who'd won the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam and had just been discharged from the Marines. The four episodes ran from 14 March to 4 April 1965. Unfortunately, even sequel-crazed Disney never revisited Kilroy.
> Burns was born George Joseph Burns in New York City. To avoid > confusion with comic George Burns, he took the name Bart when he began > his acting career in 1947.
FWIW George Burns named himself after the Burns Bros. coal company on the east side of Manhattan, in what was then called the Gas House District. The Burns Bros. storage facility lasted into the 1960s, until a day when I and several hundred neighborhood residents watched it burn down spectacularly. The coal was kept in a squat, silo-like structure about eight stories high. The silo burned fiercely from the top down, and sent smoke pouring across the river into Brooklyn. That finished the Burns Bros.
> During World War II, Burns was a Marine captain in the Pacific, where > he was wounded twice. He won a Silver Star for leading a tank through > a minefield to destroy a Japanese pillbox on Iwo Jima.
Ah. That explains *that*.
> In addition to his son, Burns is survived by his wife, Fern; sons > Timothy and Sean; daughter Siobhan Burns Walden, and a granddaughter.
Pic of Bart Burns in the stage production of "Twelve Angry Men" and, yes, I think we visited this one recently for Larkin Ford:
Thanks for that. The names listed (from left to right) didn't seem to be in order, which was confusing. b
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"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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