John Francis Burns (November 15, 1933 – January 27, 2020) was an American comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, and
producer. During the 1960s, he was part of two comedy partnerships, first with
George Carlin and later with
Avery Schreiber. By the 1970s, he had transitioned to working behind the camera as a writer and producer on such comedy series as ''
The Muppet Show'' and ''
Hee Haw''.
Biography
Burns enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1952. It wasn't long before Burns realized a military life was not for him: "the first week of boot camp changed my mind." He served in Korea, rose to the rank of sergeant, and was discharged around 1954.
Burns began his comedy career in 1959, when he partnered with
George Carlin; both were working for radio station
KXOL in
Fort Worth, Texas. After successful performances at a Fort Worth
beat coffeehouse, The Cellar, Burns and Carlin headed for California in February 1960 and continued to work together for two more years. An album containing some of their material was released in 1963, titled ''
Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight''.
Longer lasting was a later teaming with
Avery Schreiber, whom he met when they were both members of
The Second City, a live comedy and improv troupe based in Chicago. Burns and Schreiber were best known for a series of routines in which Burns played a talkative
taxicab passenger, with Schreiber as the driver. During the summer of 1973, the two appeared on the ABC TV variety series ''The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour''.
During the first half of the 1965–1966 season of ''
The Andy Griffith Show'', in an attempt to replace
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on ''The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also ...
'
Barney Fife character after Knotts left the show, Burns was cast as
Warren Ferguson, a dedicated but inept deputy
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
. His character was not popular, and was dropped after 11 appearances.
In 1967, he was cast as "Candy Butcher" in ''
The Night They Raided Minsky's''. In 1971, he was cast as Mr. Kelly in ''
The Partridge Family'' episode "Dora, Dora, Dora", (S2/Ep1). Hanna-Barbera gave the voice of Harry Boyle's reactionary neighbor, Ralph Kane, to Burns in the short-lived syndicated prime-time cartoon ''
Wait Till Your Father Gets Home''. The series was a forerunner of
adult animation comedies. Burns was the headwriter for the first season of ''
Hee Haw'' and ''
The Muppet Show''. Schreiber appeared on an episode with ''The Muppet Show'' during that first season. Burns also co-wrote ''
The Muppet Movie'' (with
Jerry Juhl, his successor as head writer of ''The Muppet Show''). He hosted a 1977 episode of
NBC's ''
Saturday Night Live''.
In the early 1980s, Burns became a writer, announcer and occasional performer on the ABC sketch comedy series ''
Fridays
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...
''. He and comedian
Michael Richards
Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom '' Seinfeld''. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first enterin ...
were involved in
a staged on-air fight with
Andy Kaufman, later re-created in the Kaufman biopic ''
Man on the Moon'' (with Kaufman's longtime friend
Bob Zmuda
Bob Zmuda (born December 12, 1949) is an American writer, comedian, producer, and director best known for his friendship with comedian Andy Kaufman.
Biography
Bob Zmuda occasionally portrayed Kaufman's Tony Clifton character on stage and for t ...
portraying Burns.)
Burns teamed with
Lorenzo Music
Gerald David "Lorenzo" Music (May 2, 1937 – August 4, 2001) was an American actor, producer and writer. Music began his career in the late 1960s as a writer and a regular performer on the controversial CBS variety show ''The Smothers Brothers ...
to provide the voices for a pair of
crash test dummies named Vince and Larry, respectively, in a series of
United States Department of Transportation public service announcements that promoted the use of
seat belt
A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...
s. Distributed by the
Ad Council, the
advertising campaign ran from 1985 to 1998.
In 1993, he starred in the animated series ''
Animaniacs'', as the voice of
Sid the Squid
This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series, ''Animaniacs'', and its Animaniacs (2020 TV series), 2020 revival.
The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs)
The Warner Siblings (also known as "the Animaniacs" by fans and the media) are small, ...
, giving the character a raspy,
Daffy Duck kind of voice. Schreiber also appeared on the show as the voice of Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison. Burns was a guest voice in a 1999 episode of ''
The Simpsons'' called "
Beyond Blunderdome".
Burns died from respiratory failure on January 27, 2020, at age 86, in Los Angeles, California.
References
External links
*
The Revenge of Warren Ferguson on the Andy Griffith Showof a two-part Jack Burns Biography
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Jack
1933 births
2020 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American male comedians
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male television writers
American male voice actors
American television writers
Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery
Deaths from respiratory failure
Male actors from Boston
Screenwriters from Massachusetts
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
United States Marines