Ronald Jon Burns (July 9, 1935 – November 14, 2007) was an American television actor. He is primarily remembered as the son of comedians
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
and
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...
and a regular cast member of ''
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', sometimes called ''The Burns and Allen Show'', was a half-hour television situation comedy broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts in ...
'' (1950–58) on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
.
Biography
Born in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
,
Ronnie Burns was five weeks old when he was adopted in Chicago on September 27, 1935, by
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
and
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...
. His older sister, Sandra Jean, had been adopted the year before and was then 13 months old.
According to George Burns, Ronnie had been the most sickly baby up for adoption from the agency, and Gracie chose him because she particularly felt he needed their help.
Burns and his sister Sandra had roles as themselves in the March 15, 1951 episode "The Vanderlips' Dinner Party"
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television series ''
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', sometimes called ''The Burns and Allen Show'', was a half-hour television situation comedy broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts in ...
''. On October 10, 1955, Burns joined as a regular cast member playing himself but cast as a novice actor and college student studying drama who tended to look askance at his parents' comedy style. He first appeared on the show on October 18, 1954, as the bridegroom on the episode "Gracie Gives a Wedding in Payment of a Favor" (Season 5, Episode 3). Upon joining the show full-time, numerous episodes revolved around the fictional Ronnie Burns' dating and social life. His good looks and popularity helped the show gain the attention of younger viewers in its final years. Later he appeared on ''
The George Burns Show
''The George Burns Show'' is a comedy television program that aired on NBC for one season ( 1958–59). The program was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive.
''The George Burns Show'' immediately followed the eight-season run of ''The George Burns and ...
'' (1958–59), a short-lived series produced after his mother retired from show business.
Burns starred in the 1960–61
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
comedy series ''Happy'', in which he and
Yvonne Lime Fedderson
Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...
played Chris and Sally Day, the parents of a talking baby. He played the manager of the Palm Desert Hotel in
Palm Springs
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...
.
Lloyd Corrigan
Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...
,
Doris Packer
Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 – March 31, 1979) was an American actress, possibly best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's elementary school principal in the television series, '' Leave It to Beaver''.
...
, and
Burt Metcalfe
Burton Denis Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022) was a Canadian-American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor.
Biography
Burton Denis Metcalfe was born in Saskatoon, but grew up in Montreal and latterly in Lo ...
had supporting roles.
He made an uncredited appearance as Wallace on the "Young at Heart" episode of ''
The Honeymooners
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...
'', which featured Ralph Kramden (
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
) trying to roller skate with disastrous results. Burns made a cameo appearance on ''
Bachelor Father'' starring
John Forsythe
John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...
.
Never comfortable with celebrity, Burns left acting.
He produced a situation comedy, ''
Wendy and Me
''Wendy and Me'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC during the 1964– 1965 television season, primarily sponsored by Consolidated Cigar's "El Producto". Principally starring George Burns and Connie Stevens, the series was Burns' first m ...
'' (1964–65), in which his father starred.
He then went into real estate investment and raised horses at a ranch he owned in Santa Ynez, California.
Ronnie Burns died November 14, 2007, of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
at age 72, in his
Pacific Palisades home. He was survived by his wife, Janice, three sons from his first marriage: Brent, Brad, and Bryan Burns, six grandchildren and his adopted sister, Sandra.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Ronnie
1935 births
American male television actors
People from Greater Los Angeles
American adoptees
Deaths from cancer in California
20th-century American male actors
2007 deaths