Lancaster, Burt
LANCASTER, Burt
Nationality: American. Born: Burton Stephen Lancaster in New York City, 2 November 1913. Education: Attended DeWitt Clinton High School; New York University, 1930–32. Family: Married 1) circus performer June Ernst, 1935 (divorced 1936); 2) Norma Anderson, 1946 (divorced 1969), children: William, James, Susan, Joanna, Sighle; 3) Susie Martin, 1990. Career: 1932–39—toured vaudeville and played in circuses in acrobatic act with Nick Cravat, Lang and Cravat; 1939–42—after injury, worked as salesman in Marshall Field's, fireman, and in meatpacking plant, all in Chicago; 1942–45—served in entertainment section of the U.S. Army; 1945—role in play A Sound of Hunting on Broadway: then contract with Hal Wallis; 1946—critical success in film debut The Killers; 1948—co-founder, with Harold Hecht, Hecht-Norma production company (later Hecht-Lancaster, then Hecht-Hill-Lancaster); 1955—directed the film The Kentuckian; 1971—on stage in Knickerbocker Holiday, and The Boys of Autumn, 1981, both in San Francisco; 1977—narrator of TV series The Unknown War, and in mini-series Marco-Polo, 1982, On Wings of Eagles, 1986; also council member and past president, American Civil Liberties Union. Awards: Best Actor, New York Film Critics, for From Here to Eternity, 1953; Best Actor, Berlin Festival, for Trapeze, 1956; Best Actor, Academy Award, for Elmer Gantry, 1960; Best Foreign Actor, British Academy, for Birdman of Alcatraz, 1962; Best Actor Award, New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, and British Academy, for Alantic City, 1981. Died: In Century City, California, 20 October 1994.
Films as Actor:
- 1946
The Killers (Siodmak) (as the Swede)
- 1947
Desert Fury (Lewis Allen) (as Tom Hanson); Brute Force (Dassin) (as Joe Collins); Variety Girl (George Marshall) (as guest)
- 1948
I Walk Alone (Haskins) (as Frankie Madison); All My Sons (Reis) (as Chris Keller); Sorry, Wrong Number (Litvak) (as Henry Stevenson); Kiss the Blood off My Hands (Blood on My Hands) (Foster) (as Bill Saunders); Criss Cross (Siodmak) (as Steve Thompson)
- 1949
Rope of Sand (Dieterle) (as Mike Davis)
- 1950
The Flame and the Arrow (Jacques Tourneur) (as Dardo); Mister 880 (Goulding) (as Steve Buchanan)
- 1951
Jim Thorpe: All American (Man of Bronze) (Curtiz) (title role); Vengeance Valley (Thorpe) (as Owen Daybright); Ten Tall Men (Goldbeck) (as Sgt. Mike Kincaid)
- 1952
The Crimson Pirate (Siodmak) (as Capt. Vallo)
- 1953
Come Back, Little Sheba (Daniel Mann) (as Doc); The Key (Parker—doc); South Sea Woman (Lubin) (as Sgt. O'Hearn); From Here to Eternity (Zinnemann) (as Sgt. Warden); Three Sailors and a Girl (Del Ruth) (as guest)
- 1954
His Majesty O'Keefe (Haskins) (title role); Apache (Aldrich) (as Massai); Vera Cruz (Aldrich) (as Joe Erin)
- 1955
The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann) (as Alvaro Mangiacavallo)
- 1956
Trapeze (Reed) (as Mike Ribble); The Rainmaker (Anthony) (as Starbuck); Playtime in Hollywood (short)
- 1957
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (John Sturges) (as Wyatt Earp); The Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick) (as J. J. Hunsecker); The Heart of Show Business (Staub—doc) (as narrator)
- 1958
Run Silent, Run Deep (Wise) (as Lt. Jim Bledsoe); Separate Tables (Delbert Mann) (as John Malcolm)
- 1959
The Devil's Disciple (Hamilton) (as Anthony Anderson)
- 1960
The Unforgiven (Huston) (as Ben Zachary); Elmer Gantry (Richard Brooks) (title role)
- 1961
The Young Savages (Frankenheimer) (as Hank Bell); Judgment at Nuremberg (Kramer) (as Ernst Janning)
- 1962
Birdman of Alcatraz (Frankenheimer) (as Robert Stroud)
- 1963
A Child Is Waiting (Cassavetes) (as Dr. Matthew Clark); The List of Adrian Messenger (Huston) (as guest); Il gattopardo (The Leopard) (Visconti) (as Prince Don Fabrizio Salinas)
- 1964
Seven Days in May (Frankenheimer) (as Gen. James M. Scott)
- 1965
The Train (Frankenheimer) (as Labiche); The Hallelujah Trail (John Sturges) (as Col. Thadeus Gearhart); Handle With Care (doc) (as narrator); Operation Head Start (doc) (as narrator)
- 1966
The Professionals (Richard Brooks) (as Bill Dolworth)
- 1967
All about People (doc)
- 1968
The Scalphunters (Pollack) (as Joe Bass); The Swimmer (Perry) (as Ned Merrill)
- 1969
Castle Keep (Pollack) (as Maj. Falconer); Jenny Is a Good Thing (Horvath—doc) (as narrator); The Gypsy Moths (Frankenheimer) (as Mike Rettig); In Name Only (Swackhamer—for TV)
- 1970
Airport (Seaton) (as Mel Bakersfield); King: A Filmed Record . . . Montgomery to Memphis (Mankiewicz and Lumet—doc) (as co-narrator)
- 1971
Lawman (Winner) (as Jerred Maddox); Valdez Is Coming (Sherin) (as Bob Valdez); H + 2 (Coombs—doc) (as narrator)
- 1972
Ulzana's Raid (Aldrich) (as McIntosh); Mose (Moses) (De Bosio—for TV) (title role)
- 1973
Scorpio (Winner) (as Cross); Graduation (Stanfield—doc) (as narrator); Executive Action (Miller) (as Farrington)
- 1974
Gruppo di famiglia in un interno (Conversation Piece) (Visconti) (as the Professor); James Wong Howe (Quo—doc) (as narrator)
- 1975
A Life in Your Hands (doc) (as narrator)
- 1976
Buffalo Bill and the Indians (Altman) (as Ned Buntline); 1900 (Novecento) (Bertolucci) (as Alfredo Berlinghieri); Victory at Entebbe (Chomsky—for TV) (as Defense Minister Peres)
- 1977
The Cassandra Crossing (Cosmatos) (as MacKenzie); The Island of Dr. Moreau (Taylor) (title role); On the Edge of Reality (doc); Twilight's Last Gleaming (Aldrich) (as Lawrence Dell)
- 1978
Go Tell the Spartans (Post) (as Major Asa Barker)
- 1979
Zulu Dawn (Hickox) (as Col. Durnford); Arthur Miller on Home Ground (Rasky—doc); Cattle Annie and Little Britches (Johnson) (as Bill Doolin)
- 1981
La Pelle (The Skin) (Cavani) (as Gen. Mark Cork); Atlantic City (Malle) (as Lou)
- 1983
The Osterman Weekend (Peckinpah) (as Maxwell Darnforth); Local Hero (Forsyth) (as Happer); The Making of a "Local Hero" (With a Little Help from His Friends) (Turner—doc)
- 1985
Scandal Sheet (Rich—for TV) (as Harold Fallen); Little Treasure (Sharp) (as Teschemacher)
- 1986
Tough Guys (Kanew) (as Harry Doyle)
- 1987
Il giorno prima (Montaldo); Jeweller's Shop (Anderson); The Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist (Chailin—for TV) (as narrator); Control (Montaldo—for TV) (as Herbert Monroe)
- 1988
Rocket Gibraltar (Petrie) (as Levi Rockwell)
- 1989
Field of Dreams (Robinson) (as Dr. "Moonlight" Graham)
- 1990
Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (Negrin—for TV) (as Leon Klinghoffer); Phantom of the Opera (Richardson—for TV) (as Gerard Carrier)
- 1991
Separate but Equal (Stevens, Jr.—for TV) (as John W. Davis)
Films as Director:
- 1955
The Kentuckian (+ ro as Big Eli)
- 1974
The Midnight Man (co-d, + co-pr, co-sc, ro as Jim Slade)
Publications
By LANCASTER: article—
"Hollywood Drove Me to a Double Life," in Films and Filming (London), January 1962.
On LANCASTER: books—
Vermilye, J., Burt Lancaster: A Pictorial Treasury of His Films, New York, 1970.
Thomas, Tony, Burt Lancaster, New York, 1975.
Richards, Jeffrey, Swordsmen of the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York, London, 1977.
Clinch, Minty, Burt Lancaster, London, 1984.
Hunter, Allan, Burt Lancaster: The Man and His Movies, London, 1984.
Windeler, Robert, Burt Lancaster, London, 1984.
Lacourbe, Roland, Burt Lancaster, Paris, 1987.
Fury, David, The Cinema History of Burt Lancaster, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1989.
Crowther, Bruce, Burt Lancaster: A Life in Films, London, 1991.
Fishgall, Gary, Against Type: The Biography of Burt Lancaster, New York, 1995.
Karney, Robyn, Burt Lancaster: A Singular Man, North Pomfret, 1996.
Munn, Michael, Burt Lancaster: The Terrible Tempered Charmer, Jersey City, 1997.
Andreychuk, Ed, Burt Lancaster: A Filmography & Biography, Jefferson, 2000.
Buford, Kate, Burt Lancaster: An American Life, New York, 2000.
On LANCASTER: articles—
Morgan, J., "Hecht-Lancaster Productions," in Sight and Sound (London), Summer 1955.
Schuster, Mel, "Burt Lancaster," in Films in Review (New York), August-September 1969.
Drew, Bernard, "Burt Lancaster," in The Movie Star, edited by Elisabeth Weis, New York, 1981.
Hunter, Allan, "A Perfectly Mysterious Man," in Films and Filming (London), October 1983.
Current Biography 1986, New York, 1986.
Lantos, J., "The Last Waltz," in American Film (New York), October 1986.
"Burt Lancaster," in Shooting Stars: Heroes and Heroines of the Western Film, edited by Archie P. McDonald, Bloomington, Indiana, 1987.
Buford, Kate, "Lancaster: Dance with the Leopard," in Film Comment (New York), January/February 1993.
Obituary, in New York Times, 22 October 1994.
Obituary, in Variety (New York), 24 October 1994.
Goodman, Mark, "The Daredevil," in People Weekly, 7 November 1994.
Lane, Anthony, in New Yorker, 14 November 1994.
Obituary, in Current Biography 1995, New York, 1995.
"Never to Be Forgotten," in Psychotronic Video (Narrowsburg), no. 20, 1995.
Lucas, Tim, "The Killers. Criss Cross. The Underneath. Brute Force. The Naked City," in Video Watchdog (Cincinnati), no. 32, 1996.
Norman, Barry, "Small-time Losers, Big-time Dreamers," in Radio Times (London), 18 October 1997.
* * *
Burt Lancaster started his life by running off to the circus, leaving New York University where he had been a basketball star, and becoming an acrobat with partner Nick Cravat, who would later appear alongside Lancaster in many films, such as Trapeze, the actor's sober tribute to the daredevil life of the aerial artist he once had been. Lancaster's circus experience supplied him with certain qualities that were advantageous to a movie actor: a powerful physique and complete physical control. Nature supplied him with other features that contributed to his star quality: rugged good looks and, especially, the keyboard smile that would become his trademark.
His first screen roles, obtained for him by agent Harold Hecht, usually cast Lancaster as a brooding ex-convict, a taciturn villain, or a tense goon—most notably in Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, Lancaster's screen debut, where he played a crooked prizefighter nicknamed the Swede who is marked for death. It was only a few years after this that Lancaster followed the groundbreaking lead of actor James Stewart and went freelance, starting his own film production company in partnership with Hecht and James Hill. Hecht, Hill, and Lancaster's first picture was the well-received Apache, directed by Robert Aldrich. Lancaster starred as Massai, a warrior who refuses to surrender to the white man's ways after the capture of Geronimo, and is marked for extinction. Over Lancaster and Aldrich's objections, the film's grim conclusion was compromised in favor of a happier one for box-office reasons. The same star-director team followed Apache later that year with the acerbic Western adventure, Vera Cruz, a smash hit. Several decades later, Aldrich and Lancaster teamed again for Ulzana's Raid, a potent saga of the Indian Wars that also mirrored the then-current Vietnam conflict; it concluded on the bleak, more realistic note denied them earlier on Apache.
Lancaster has projected earnestness as the truth-seeking son of Edward G. Robinson in All My Sons, lovability as the truck driver opposite Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo, and perseverance as the Native American athlete Jim Thorpe in Jim Thorpe: All-American. For all of his brawn, he was also quite good at communicating vulnerability, gentleness, and self-doubt. All these elements were combined in his Oscar-nominated performance as Sergeant Warden in From Here to Eternity and as convicted killer Robert Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz, a pet project.
Early in his career, Lancaster also developed another quite different character: the grinning mischief-maker. This character first appeared in The Flame and the Arrow, which was followed by the delightful adventure comedy The Crimson Pirate, a hilarious parody of—and homage to—the films of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. that Lancaster had enjoyed as a youth. Lancaster seized every opportunity to take his shirt off, swing on ropes from ship to ship, and smile from ear to ear. He brought the same qualities to his role as The Rainmaker, one of the most ingratiating conmen in the history of the movies—and then combined them with his unique brand of bravado, energy, and physicality to create his Oscar-winning role as Elmer Gantry in which he was the embodiment of Sinclair Lewis's famous charlatan evangelist, orator, businessman, hustler, and lover.
A former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, Lancaster espoused liberal causes most of his life. Perhaps to understand them himself—and illuminate them for others—he liked playing characters diametrically opposed to his own political beliefs. Examples include John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs who tries to orchestrate a military coup d'etat, and Robert Aldrich's potent political thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming, where he played the messianic General Dell, who commandeers a nuclear silo and threatens to launch a strike if the Pentagon refuses to own up to the real motives behind the Vietnam War. The latter role and film remained among his favorites.
In another favorite role, he was again the embodiment of a character taken from a famous novel, although of a totally different nature from Elmer Gantry. Guiseppe Di Lampedusa's physical description of the Sicilian prince in his novel The Leopard fits Lancaster to a tee, and director Luchino Visconti saw to it that Lancaster got the part in the Italian-made film version of the novel. Though not of the Method school, Lancaster always carefully prepared for and immersed himself in his roles. In fact, he reportedly knew more about Sicilian aristocracy, customs, traditions, and history than anyone else connected with the film except Visconti and Di Lampedusa. His authoritative demeanor, melancholic expression, and meditative mien contribute to one of the most believable historical figures in modern cinema. He starred again for Visconti as a retired, reclusive professor besieged by modernity in Conversation Piece. Also noteworthy is one of Lancaster's last screen appearances in Atlantic City where he plays an aging two-bit crook still hoping for his big chance, a performance that earned him another Oscar nomination.
Lancaster's career remains unmatched for his persistent refusal to allow Hollywood to typecast him strictly as a he-man. Because of his deep concern for the content of his films and eagerness to work with directors he considered important, he was willing to undertake virtually any kind of part.
—Elaine Mancini, updated by John McCarty
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster (1913-1994), one of the most popular film stars of all times, never wanted to be an actor. Falling into acting by chance, Lancaster proceeded to become a star, although he had no dramatic training. He made 85 movies during his long career and won an Academy Award.
Burton Stephen Lancaster, the fourth of five children, was born on November 2, 1913 in New York City to James Lancaster, a postal worker, and Elizabeth Roberts Lancaster. Although the family was descended from Irish and English stock, they resided in Italian East Harlem. When Lancaster and his brothers were old enough, they shoveled snow, sold newspapers, and shined shoes to earn money for the family. While James Lancaster was a gentle, warm father, Elizabeth was a strict disciplinarian, instilling in her children the virtues of honesty and loyalty, with whippings if necessary. She had no prejudices against the many different ethnic groups in her neighborhood and treated them all kindly, which made a strong impression on her son.
Lancaster attended Public School 121 for the lower elementary grades. There he did well, especially in reading and writing. He then transferred to Public School 83, where he enjoyed English and history, but did poorly in math. Lancaster loved reading and claimed to have read every book at the 110th Street library by the time he was 14. He also adored movies, especially those of the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks, but he did not want to become an actor. Until he was 15, Lancaster wanted to be an opera singer. Throughout his life he retained a love of opera and symphonic music.
At the age of 13, Lancaster lost his baby fat and grew into a tall, athletic young man. He ran in the streets and parks with neighborhood children, and at the Union Settlement House he appeared in a play. A famous director, Richard Boleslavsky, saw him in the show and was so impressed, he discussed the possibility of drama school with Elizabeth Lancaster. Her son, however, was not willing, calling acting "sissy stuff."
At camp, when he was nine, Lancaster met his lifelong friend Nick Cravat, a tough little fellow with whom Lancaster would later work. Lancaster attended DeWitt Clinton High, an all boys academic school for students who intended to go on to college. In his senior year, Lancaster's mother died of chronic intestinal nephritis. He graduated from high school on June 26, 1930 and entered New York University in September of 1931. He hoped to be a gym teacher and became involved with gymnastics. Lancaster left college early in his sophomore year and joined a circus with his friend Cravat. They earned three dollars a week as acrobats.
Fell into Show Business
Lancaster met June Ernst, an acrobat, and married her in 1935 when he was 21 and she 18. They separated in 1937 and divorced in 1940. That same year, when Lancaster seriously injured his right hand, he decided to give up the circus. He worked for a department store, a refrigeration company, and at several other jobs, including that of a singing waiter, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942.
Lancaster became part of Special Services, whose purpose was to entertain the soldiers and provide them with off-duty activities. He began as an athletic instructor, moving on to the job of entertainment specialist, where he wrote, directed and performed in skits.
While putting on shows for the troops in Italy in 1944, Lancaster met the woman who was to become his second wife, Norma Anderson, a United Service Organization (USO) entertainer. Later, in New York, Lancaster visited Anderson, who worked for ABC radio. In the building's elevator, a man asked him if he was an actor. Lancaster responded that he was a "dumb actor," meaning he performed without words, as an acrobat. A few minutes later, the man telephoned the office where Lancaster was visiting and asked him to audition for the play, A Sound of Hunting.
An Actoris Born
Lancaster got the part. After three weeks of rehearsals, the play opened on November 6, 1945 and closed three weeks later. Lancaster then got an agent, Harold Hecht, and signed a contract with Hal Wallis Productions, Inc. on January 8, 1946 to make two films a year for seven years. He was also able to work for other companies. Lancaster took the train to California with one set of clothes and thirty dollars.
Not only was Lancaster a capable actor, but he looked very good on camera. He stood six feet two inches tall, weighed 180 pounds, and had a large chest and a small waist. He looked younger than his thirty-two years and had a gorgeous smile and bright blue eyes. While waiting to make his first film for Hal Wallis, Lancaster signed a contract with Mark Hellinger to make one picture a year for up to five years. Lancaster was paid $2,500 a week for his work in The Killers, which became a big hit and launched Lancaster's film career. He later said of that time, as quoted in a Sidney Skolsky syndicated column of 1950, "I woke up one day a star. It was terrifying."
After finishing the film, Lancaster drove back east to be with Anderson, who had given birth to their first child, James, on June 30, 1946. Lancaster and Anderson had not yet married, but would do so on December 28, 1946 in Yuma, Arizona. Their second son, Billy, was born in November of 1947.
On Lancaster's second film, Desert Fury, the actor argued angrily with the director when he disagreed about how something should be done in the film. This was a habit he never lost and stemmed from his intense involvement with his work. In his third film, I Walk Alone, Lancaster starred with Kirk Douglas, with whom he would make other films, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The two had a love-hate relationship until Lancaster's death.
In September 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed 34 people from Hollywood to investigate the extent of Communist infiltration in the movie industry. To protest, several people in the industry, including Lancaster, formed the Committee for the First Amendment. This represented the beginning of his involvement with liberal political causes. In March 1948, Lancaster began work on Kiss the Blood off My Hands, the first project of his new company, Hecht-Norma Productions, that he had formed with Harold Hecht.
In July 1948, Lancaster bought his first home. Located in Bel-Air, the large colonial housed the Lancasters, Burt's father, and Burt's widowed sister-in-law, Julia. Over the years Lancaster added a pool, tennis court, guesthouse, projection room, gym, kennel, and a baseball diamond. Lancaster also began collecting modern French paintings. He loved playing bridge and took the game very seriously.
In 1949, Lancaster began an affair with actress Shelley Winters. His marriage to Norma had problems because of her drinking, and Lancaster was often unfaithful. Norma gave birth to their third child, Susan, in July 1949. In 1950, when Norma again became pregnant, Winters realized that her relationship with Lancaster had no future. She burned all her photos of him and ended the affair.
Greatest Films
In 1952, Lancaster made the film Come Back, Little Sheba with actress Shirley Booth. Twenty years later, Lancaster would call Booth the finest actress he had ever worked with. His portrayal of a middle-aged alcoholic surprised audiences and displayed his acting abilities and willingness not to be typecast. Of this shift in his career, he later said, in an article in Films and Filming, "Suddenly they began to think of me as a serious actor."
In 1953, Lancaster starred in From Here to Eternity as Sgt. Warden, a tough, serious soldier who falls in love with his commanding officer's wife. The film contains one of the most famous love scenes of all times, with Lancaster and his co-star Deborah Kerr kissing on a beach as waves wash over them. From Here to Eternity earned more money than any other film in the history of Columbia Pictures to that point. Lancaster won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for the best actor of 1953. He was nominated for, but did not win, the Academy Award for best actor of that year.
In 1954, Lancaster directed his first movie, The Kentuckian, in which he also starred. Directing had been a dream of his, but after the lukewarm reception the film received, Lancaster was terribly disappointed and directed only one other movie, The Midnight Man, in 1974.
Lancaster starred in Elmer Gantry, (1960), about a larger-than-life evangelist. Later Lancaster was to say that of all the roles he had played, Elmer Gantry was the most like himself. Gary Fishgall wrote in Against Type: The Biography of Burt Lancaster, "If one had to chose a single picture from the prime of Lancaster's career to define the essence of his stardom, Elmer Gantry would be that film." For his work in the film Lancaster won the New York Film Critics Award for best actor of 1960, the Golden Globe for best motion picture actor in a drama, for 1960, and the Academy Award for best actor of 1960.
In late 1960, Lancaster began filming Birdman of Alcatraz, in which he plays a prisoner who raises birds. Lancaster became very emotionally involved with his role. "One of the problems an actor faces, and it's a very dangerous thing, is to get so involved in a role he loses control of what he is doing. With Birdman of Alcatraz, I couldn't stop crying throughout the film," Lancaster explained in Take 22: Moviemakers on Moviemaking. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Robert Stroud.
Lancaster began filming Judgment at Nuremberg in early 1961. The movie detailed the 1948 war crimes trial of four Nazi judges. Lancaster played Ernst Janning, but was not popular in the role.
Personal Tragedies and Triumphs
In September 1961, Lancaster's father died. James Lancaster had lived with his son since 1947. The two had been very close. In November of that year, the Lancaster's home burned to the ground in a fire that destroyed 456 homes in Bel-Air. Luckily Lancaster's art collection survived since it had been lent to the Los Angeles County Art Museum only the week before. The family rebuilt their home on the same site.
In 1964, Lancaster began filming The Hallelujah Trail in New Mexico. On the set he met a hairdresser named Jackie Bone, who would be his girlfriend for the next 20 years. Although Lancaster was still married to Norma, he fell very much in love with Bone. He and Norma finally separated in 1967, but did not divorce until 1969. The end of his marriage was hard on Lancaster, who considered himself a family man, but he could not deal with his wife's alcoholism. Lancaster's relationship with Bone was stormy. Once they argued in a restaurant and Bone broke a pitcher over his head.
As the 1970s began, Lancaster had not had a successful movie for three years. His good looks were fading, and he drank to excess. He became depressed. Although he made 14 films in the 1970s, they were not very popular. In 1973, Lancaster and Bone moved to Rome. He learned to speak some Italian, cook spaghetti and even grew his own herbs for cooking. Their relationship remained stormy, and he cheated on her, as he had with Norma. The couple moved back to the U.S. in 1976.
Final Blaze of Glory
In late 1979, Lancaster began work on Atlantic City, a film about two elderly gangsters. It was the first film in which he played a senior citizen. For his work in the film, Lancaster earned several awards including the BAFTA Film Award for best actor, 1980; the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best actor, 1980; and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actor, 1980.
At a party in 1985, Lancaster met Susie Scherer, a legal secretary who began to work for him. They fell in love and married in September 1990. In 1988, Lancaster made the very popular film Field of Dreams, his last film for the big screen. Lancaster's last work was a television mini-series called "Separate But Equal."
In November 1990, Lancaster suffered a major stroke which left him with paralysis on his right side and difficulty speaking. Lancaster died in Century City, California on October 20, 1994, only two weeks away from his 81st birthday.
Further Reading
Fishgall, Gary, Against Type: The Biography of Burt Lancaster, Scribner, 1995.
Windeler, Robert, Burt Lancaster, St. Martin's Press, 1984.
"Burt Lancaster," The Internet Movie Database,http://us.imdb.com (October 20, 1999). □