Elizabeth Teresa "Terry" Burnham (August 8, 1949 – October 7, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her performance in the '' Twilight Zone'' episode, "

Nightmare as a Child "Nightmare as a Child" is episode 29 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. It originally aired on April 29, 1960 on CBS. Opening narration Plot A school teacher named Helen Foley finds a strange and very serious youn ...

Life and career

Elizabeth Teresa Burnham was born on August 8, 1949, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the youngest of two children born to Guy Calvin Burnham, an aeronautics engineer at

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

, and Elizabeth Teresa Buelna Symons. She attended St. Maria Goretti Catholic School,"The Terry Burnham Memorial Project 2016"
TwilightZoneMuseum.com. St. Cornelius School, Mark Twain Middle School,"Child Actress Played Lana's Daughter; Lakewood Girl Keeps Busy in TV, Film Roles"
''Long Beach Press-Telegram''. October 18, 1960. p. B-1. and Bancroft Junior High School. On December 22, 1955, Burnham made her television debut at age six alongside

Brandon De Wilde Andre Brandon deWilde (April 9, 1942 – July 6, 1972) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn, he debuted on Broadway at the age of seven and became a national phenomenon by the time he comp ...

in the series ''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS progra ...

'', in an episode entitled "The Day They Gave the Babies Away" (based on the like-named 1946 novel which also formed the basis for the 1957 film ''

All Mine to Give ''All Mine to Give'' (British title: ''The Day They Gave Babies Away'') is a 1957 Technicolor melodrama film directed by Allen Reisner and starring Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell (actor), Cameron Mitchell, and Rex Thompson. When first one parent, ...

''). More prominent roles soon followed, most notably in 1957 with "Let There Be Light," an episode of the series ''

M Squad ''M Squad'' is an American crime drama television series that ran from 1957 to 1960 on NBC. It was produced by Lee Marvin's Latimer Productions and Revue Studios. Its main sponsor was the Pall Mall cigarette brand; Lee Marvin, the program's ...

'' co-starring Burnham and series regular

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...

, whom Terry later singled out as her favorite actor. Also that year, Burnham was set to star in a new child-centered series, ''Turquoise, Inc.'', whose writer/producers

Dick Chevillat Dick Chevillat (December 31, 1905 – May 10, 1984) was an American writer and producer who worked in radio, film, and television. Early in his career, Chevillat wrote for ''The Jack Benny Program'' and for the Marx Brothers, and then for Sealtest- ...

and Ray Singer touted her as "TV's first Shirley Temple". Although that projected series never materialized, Burnham did appear, almost exactly one year later, on an episode of

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

's own series entitled "The Magic Fishbone," adapted by Margaret Fitts from the same-named

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

short story. Burnham first attracted national attention as the daughter of

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized per ...

's character in '' Imitation of Life'' (1959)."Lana in Fulton's No. 1 Film"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. May 3, 1959. p. 3, sec. 6. See also:
"Lana Turner is estranged from her child..."
''The Boston Globe''. March 29, 1959. p. 66. * Gardner, R.H. (April 1, 1959
"Of Stage and Screen: Lana Turner in Film 'Soap Opera'"
''The Baltimore Sun''. p. 12.
"Coming Attractions: Two scenes from 'Imitation of Life'"
''

Quad-City Times The ''Quad-City Times'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area ( Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Isla ...

''. April 19, 1959. p. 63.
"Fannie Hurst Classic"
''Honolulu Advertiser''. April 12, 1959. p. 39.

Death

On October 7, 2013, Terry Burnham died of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. With no surviving next of kin, her unclaimed cremated remains were stored at Los Angeles County Crematorium. On August 8, 2018, which would have been her 69th birthday, Burnham's ashes were buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Elizabeth Teresa Burnham
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnham, Terry 1949 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women American child actresses American film actresses Actresses from Long Beach, California Actresses from Los Angeles People from Lakewood, California

Life and career

Death

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links