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Burt Lancaster
Lancaster in Desert Fury (1947)
Born	Burton Stephen Lancaster (1913-11-02)November 2, 1913 Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Died	October 20, 1994(1994-10-20) (aged 80) Century City, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Producer
Years active	1935–1991
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	June Ernst (m. 1935; div. 1946) Norma Anderson (m. 1946; div. 1969) Susan Martin (m. 1990)
Children	5, including Bill Lancaster

Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing "tough guys", he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles. He was nominated four times for Academy Awards, and won once for his work in Elmer Gantry in 1960. He also won a Golden Globe Award for that performance and BAFTA Awards for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Atlantic City (1980).

During the 1950s his production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was highly successful, making films such as Trapeze (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), and Separate Tables (1958). The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.^[1]

Early life

Burton Stephen Lancaster was born on November 2, 1913, in Manhattan, New York, at his parents' home at 209 East 106th Street, the son of Elizabeth (née Roberts) and mailman James Henry Lancaster.^[2] Both of his parents were Protestants of working-class origin. All four of his grandparents were Irish immigrants to the United States, from the province of Ulster; his maternal grandparents were from Belfast and were descendants of English immigrants to Ireland.^[2]

Lancaster grew up in East Harlem and spent much of his time on the streets, where he developed a great interest and skill in gymnastics while attending DeWitt Clinton High School, where he was a basketball star. Before he graduated from DeWitt Clinton, his mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Lancaster was accepted by New York University with an athletic scholarship, but subsequently dropped out.^[3]

Circus and military careers

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Circus

At 19, Lancaster met Nick Cravat, with whom he developed a lifelong partnership. Together they learned to act in local theatre productions and circus arts at Union Settlement, one of the city's oldest settlement houses.^[4] They formed the acrobat duo Lang and Cravat in the 1930s, and soon joined the Kay Brothers circus. However, in 1939, an injury forced Lancaster to give up the profession, with great regret. He then found temporary work, first as a salesman for Marshall Fields and then as a singing waiter in various restaurants.^[5]

World War II

With the United States having then entered World War II, Lancaster joined the United States Army in 1942 and performed with the Army's 21st Special Services Division, one of the military groups organized to follow the troops on the ground and provide USO entertainment to keep up morale. He served with General Mark Clark's Fifth Army in Italy from 1943 to 1945.^[6]

Acting career

Broadway

Lancaster returned to New York after his Army service. Although initially unenthusiastic about acting, Lancaster was encouraged to audition for a Broadway play by a producer who saw him while he was visiting his then-girlfriend at work. The audition was successful and Lancaster was cast in Harry Brown's A Sound of Hunting (1945). The show only ran three weeks, but his performance attracted the interest of a Hollywood agent, Harold Hecht. Lancaster had other offers but Hecht promised him the opportunity to produce their own movies within five years of hitting Hollywood.

Through Hecht, Lancaster was brought to the attention of producer Hal B. Wallis, who signed him to a non-exclusive eight-movie contract.

Hal Wallis

Lancaster's first filmed movie was Desert Fury (1947) for Wallis, where Lancaster was billed after John Hodiak and Lizabeth Scott. It was directed by Lewis Allen.^[7]

Then producer Mark Hellinger approached him to star in The Killers (1946), which was completed and released prior to Desert Fury. Directed by Robert Siodmak it was a great critical success, and launched Lancaster and his co-star Ava Gardner to stardom. It has since come to be regarded as a classic.^[8]

Hellinger used Lancaster again on Brute Force (1947), a prison drama written by Richard Brooks and directed by Jules Dassin. It was also well received.^[7] Wallis released his films through Paramount, and so Lancaster and other Wallis contractees made cameos in Variety Girl (1947).

Lancaster's next film was for Wallis, I Walk Alone (1947), a thriller co-starring Scott and a young Kirk Douglas, who was also under contract to Wallis. It was a minor hit.^[9]

Lancaster had a change of pace with the film adaptation of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1948), made at Universal with Edward G. Robinson. His third film for Wallis was an adaptation of Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) with Barbara Stanwyck.

Norma Productions

Hecht kept to his promise to Lancaster to turn producer. The two of them formed a company, Norma Productions, and did a deal with Universal to make a thriller in England, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) with Joan Fontaine and directed by Norman Foster. It made a profit of only $50,000, but was critically acclaimed.^[9]

Back in Hollywood, Lancaster did another film noir with Siodmak, Criss Cross (1949). It was originally going to be produced by Hellinger and when Hellinger died another took over. Tony Curtis made an early appearance.

Lancaster did a fourth for Wallis, Rope of Sand (1949).

Norma Productions signed a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. The first was The Flame and the Arrow (1950), a swasbuckler movie, in which Lancaster drew on his circus skills. Nick Cravat had a support role and the film was a huge commercial success, making of $6 million. It was Warners' most popular film of the year and established an entirely new image for Lancaster.^[10]

Lancaster was borrowed by 20th Century Fox for Mister 880 (1950), a comedy with Edmund Gwenn. MGM put him in a popular Western, Vengeance Valley (1951),^[11] then he went to Warners to pay the title role in the biopic Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951).

Halburt

Norma signed a deal with Columbia to make two films through a Norma subsidiary, Halburt. The first film was Ten Tall Men (1951) where Lancaster was a member of the French Foreign Legion. Robert Aldrich worked on the movie as a production manager.

The second was a comedy The First Time (1952), a comedy which was the directorial debut of Frank Tashlin. It was meant to star Lancaster but he wound up not appearing in the film - the first of their productions in which he did not act.)^[12]

Hecht-Lancaster Productions

In 1951 the actor/producer duo changed the company's name to Hecht-Lancaster Productions. The first film under the new name was another swashbuckler: The Crimson Pirate (1952), directed by Siodmak. Co-starring Cravat, it was extremely popular.

Lancaster changed pace one more by doing a straight dramatic part in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), based on a Broadway hit, with Shirley Booth, produced by Wallis and directed by Daniel Mann.

Alternating with adventure films, he went into South Sea Woman (1952) at Warners. Part of the Norma-Warners contract was that Lancaster had to appear in some non-Norma films, of which this was one.^[13]

Lancaster played one of his best-remembered roles with Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953) for Columbia, directed by Fred Zinnemann. The American Film Institute acknowledged the iconic status of the scene from that film in which he and Deborah Kerr make love on a Hawaiian beach amid the crashing waves. The organization named it one of "AFI's top 100 Most Romantic Films" of all time. Lancaster's performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year, the film would be one of the most critically acclaimed Lancaster ever made.

For his own company, Lancaster produced and starred in His Majesty O'Keefe (1954), a South Sea island tale shot in Fiji. It was co written by James Hill who would soon become a part of the Hecht-Lancaster partnership. ^[14]

United Artists

Hecht and Lancaster left Warners for United Artists for what began as a two-picture deal, the first of which was to be Apache (1954), starring Lancaster as a Native American.^[15][16]

They followed it with another Western, Vera Cruz (1954) co starring Gary Cooper and produced by Hill. Both films were directed by Robert Aldrich and were hugely popular.

United Artists signed Hecht-Lancaster to a multi-picture contract, to make seven films over two years.^[17] These included films which Lancaster did not act in. Their first was Marty (1955), based on Paddy Chayefsky's TV play starring Ernest Borgnine and directed by Delbert Mann. It won both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. It also earned $2 million on a budget of $350,000.^[18]Vera Cruz had been a huge success but Marty secured Hecht-Lancaster as one of the most successful independent production companies in Hollywood at the time. ^[19]

Without Hill, Hecht and Lancaster producedThe Kentuckian (1955) was directed by Lancaster in his directorial debut. He also played a lead role. Lancaster disliked directing and only did it once more, in the 1970s.^[20]

Lancaster still had commitments with Wallis, and made The Rose Tattoo (1955) for him, starring with Anna Magnani and directed by Daniel Mann. It was very popular at the box office and critically acclaimed, winning Magnani an Oscar.^[21]

Hecht-Hill-Lancaster

In 1955 Hill was made an equal partner in the company and the name was upgraded to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, releasing their first film in 1956, Trapeze, in which Lancaster performed many of his own stunts. Trapeze, co starring Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida, went on to become the production company's top box office success. United Artists expanded its deal with HHL.^[22]

In 1956 Lancaster and Hecht entered the music industry with the companies Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music and Calyork Music.^[23]

The "H-H-L" team impressed Hollywood with its success; as Life wrote in 1957, "[a]fter the independent production of a baker's dozen of pictures, it has yet to have its first flop ... (They were also good pictures.)." ^[24] In late 1957 they announced they would make ten films worth $14 million in 1958.^[25]

Lancaster did two films for Wallis, to complete his eight film commitment for that produce: The Rainmaker (1956) with Katharine Hepburn, which earned Lancaster a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor; and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Kirk Douglas, directed by John Sturges, which was a huge commercial hit.

Lancaster worked with Tony Curtis again on Sweet Smell of Success (1957), a co-production between Hecht-Hill-Lancaster and Curtis' own company Curtleigh Productions (co-owned with his wife, Janet Leigh). The movie, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, was a critical success but a commercial disappointment. Over the years it has come to be regarded as one of Lancaster's greatest films.^[26]

Hecht-Hill-Lancaster produced seven additional films in the late 1950s. Four starred Lancaster: Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), a war film with Clark Gable, directed by Robert Wise, which was mildly popular; Separate Tables (1958), with Kerr and Rita Hayworth (who married James Hill), based on a play by Terence Rattigan which received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and Oscar awards for David Niven and Wendy Hiller and was both a critical and commercial success; The Devil's Disciple (1959), with Douglas and Laurence Olivier, which lost money (and saw Lancaster fire Mackendirck during shooting);^[27] and The Unforgiven (1960), with Audrey Hepburn, which was a critical and commercial disappointment.^[28]

Three were made without Lancaster, all of which lost money: The Bachelor Party (1957), from another TV play by Chayefsky, and directed by Delbert Mann; Take a Giant Step (1959), about a black student; and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1960), from an Australian play, shot in Australia and Britain.

Additionally Hecht-Hill-Lancaster served as the production company for the 1960-1961 TV series Whiplash.

The Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions company dissolved in 1960, after Hill ruptured his relation with both Hecht and Lancaster. ^[29]

Hecht and Lancaster

Lancaster played the title role in Elmer Gantry (1960), written and directed by Richard Brooks for United Artists. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Lancaster won the 1960 Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and the New York Film Critics Award for his performance.

Hecht and Lancaster worked together on The Young Savages (1961), directed by John Frankenheimer and produced by Hecht. Sydney Pollack worked as a dialogue coach.

Lancaster starred in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) for Stanley Kramer, alongside Spencer Tracey, Richard Widmark and a number of other iconic stars. The film was both a commercial and critical success, receiving 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. He then did another with Hecht and Frankenheimer (replacing Charles Crichton, Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). The second film earned Lancaster a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Hecht went on to produce five films without Lancaster's assistance, through his company Harold Hecht Films Productions between 1961 and 1967, including another Academy Award winner, Cat Ballou, starring Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda.

Collaborations with younger filmmakers

Lancaster made A Child Is Waiting (1963) with Judy Garland. It was produced by Kramer and directed by John Cassavetes.^[30]

He went to Italy to star in The Leopard (1963) for Luchino Visconti, co-starring Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. It was one of Lancaster's favourite films and was a big hit in France but failed in the US (though the version released was much truncated.)^[31]

He had a small role in The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) for producer/star Kirk Douglas, and then did two for Frankenheimer: Seven Days in May (1964), a political thriller with Douglas, and The Train (1964), a World War Two action film (Lancaster had Frankenheimer replace Arthur Penn several days into filming).

Lancaster starred in The Hallelujah Trail (1965), a comic Western produced and directed by John Sturges which failed to recoup its large cost.^[32]

He had a big hit with The Professionals (1966), a Western directed by Brooks and co-starring Lee Marvin.

In 1966 at the age of 52, Lancaster appeared nude in director Frank Perry's film The Swimmer (1968), in what the critic Roger Ebert called "his finest performance".^[33] Prior to working on The Swimmer, Lancaster was terrified of the water because he did not know how to swim. In preparation for the film, he took swimming lessons from UCLA swim coach Bob Horn.^[34] Filming was difficult and clashes between Lancaster and Perry led to Sydney Pollack coming in to do some filming.^[35] The film was not released until 1968, when it proved to be a commercial failure, though Lancaster remained proud of the movie and his performance.

Norlan Productions

In 1967, Lancaster formed a new partnership with Roland Kibbee, who had already worked as a writer on five Lancaster projects; Ten Tall Men, The Crimson Pirate, Three Sailors and a Girl (in which Lancaster made a cameo appearance), Vera Cruz and The Devil's Disciple. Through Norlan Productions, Lancaster and Kibbee produced The Scalphunters (1968), directed by Sydney Pollack.

Lancaster followed it with another film from Pollack, Castle Keep (1969), which was a big flop. So was The Gypsy Moths (1969] for Frankenheimer.^[36]

1970s

Lancaster had one of the biggest successes of his career with Airport (1970), starring alongside Dean Martin, Jean Seberg and Jacqueline Bisset. The film received 9 academy award nominations, including one for Best Picture. It became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1970 and, at that time, reportedly the highest-grossing film in the history of Universal Pictures.

He went into a series of Westerns: Lawman (1971) directed by Michael Winner; Valdez Is Coming (1971), for Norlan; and Ulzana's Raid (1972), directed by Aldrich and produced by himself and Hecht. None were particularly popular but Ulzana's Raid has become a cult film.^[37]

Lancaster did two thrillers: Scorpio (1973) with Winner and Executive Action (1973).

Lancaster returned to directing with The Midnight Man (1974), which he also wrote and produced with Kibee.

He made a second film with Visconti, Conversation Piece (1974) and played the title role in the TV series Moses the Lawgiver (1974).

Lancaster was one of many names in 1900 (1975), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, and he had a cameo in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) for Robert Altman.

He played Shimon Peres in the TV movie Victory at Entebbe (1977) and had a support role in The Cassandra Crossing (1976). He made a fourth a final film with Aldrich, Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) and had the title role in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1978).^[38]

Lancaster was top billed in Go Tell the Spartans (1978), a Vietnam War film; Lancaster admired the script so much he took a reduced fee and donated money to help the movie be completed. He was in Zulu Dawn (1979).^[39]

1980s

Lancaster began the 1980s with a highly acclaimed performance in Atlantic City (1980), directed by Louis Malle. The film received 5 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a Best Actor nomination for Lancaster.

He had key roles in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981), The Skin (1982) with Cardinale, Marco Polo (1982) and Local Hero (1983).

By now Lancaster was mostly a character actor in features, as in The Osterman Weekend (1983), but he was the lead in the TV movie Scandal Sheet (1985).

He was in Little Treasure (1985), directed by Alan Sharp who had written Ulzana's Raid; On Wings of Eagles (1986) for TV, as Bull Simons; Barnum (1986) for TV, in the title role; Tough Guys (1986) with Douglas, Fathers and Sons: A German Tragedy (1986) for German TV, Control (1987) in Italy, Rocket Gibraltar (1988), and The Jeweller's Shop (1989).

His first big hit in a while was Field of Dreams (1989) in which he played a support role as Moonlight Graham. He was in the mini series The Betrothed (1989).

Final years

Lancaster's final performances included The Phantom of the Opera (1990) for TV; Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (1990) as Leon Klinghoffer; and Separate But Equal (1991) with Sidney Poitier.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Lancaster has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

Frequent collaborators

Lancaster appeared in a total of 17 films produced by his agent Harold Hecht. Eight of these were co-produced by James Hill. He also appeared in eight films produced by Hal B. Wallis and two with producer Mark Hellinger. Although Lancaster's work alongside Kirk Douglas was mostly known as a successful pair of actors, Douglas in fact produced four films for the pair, through his production companies Bryna Productions and Joel Productions. Roland Kibbee also produced three Lancaster films. Lancaster was also cast in two Stanley Kramer productions.

John Frankenheimer directed five films with Lancaster: The Young Savages (1961), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), The Train (1964), and The Gypsy Moths (1969). He was directed four times by Robert Aldrich, three times by Robert Siodmak and Sydney Pollack, and twice by Byron Haskin, Daniel Mann, John Sturges, John Huston, Richard Brooks, Alexander Mackendrick, Luchino Visconti, and Michael Winner.

Roland Kibbee wrote for seven Lancaster films. Lancaster used make-up veteran Robert Schiffer in 20 credited films, hiring Schiffer on nearly all the films he produced.

Personal life

Marriages and relationships

Lancaster vigorously guarded his private life. He was married three times. His first two marriages, to June Ernst from 1935 to 1946 and Norma Anderson from 1946 to 1969, ended in divorce. His third marriage, to Susan Martin, lasted from September 1990 until his death in 1994. All five of his children were with Anderson: Bill (who became an actor and screenwriter), James, Susan, Joanna, and Sighle (pronounced "Sheila"). Friends say he claimed he was romantically involved with Deborah Kerr during the filming of From Here to Eternity in 1953.^[40] However, Kerr stated that while there was a spark of attraction, nothing ever happened. He reportedly had an affair with Joan Blondell.^[41]

In her 1980 autobiography, Shelley Winters claimed to have had a long affair with him.^[42] Recent biographers and others suggest that Lancaster was bisexual, and that he had intimate relationships with men as well as women.^[43] According to testimony in Kate Buford's Burt Lancaster: An American Life, Lancaster was devotedly loyal to his friends and family. Old friends from his childhood remained his friends for life.^[44]

Political views

Lancaster was a vocal supporter of liberal political causes, and frequently spoke out in support of racial minorities, including at the March on Washington in 1963.^[45][46] He was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War and right-wing political movements such as McCarthyism,^[47] and he helped pay for the successful defense of a soldier accused of "fragging" (murdering) another soldier during that war.^[48] In 1968, Lancaster actively supported the presidential candidacy of antiwar Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, and frequently spoke on his behalf during the Democratic primaries.^[49] He campaigned heavily for George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.^[50] In 1985, Lancaster joined the fight against AIDS after his close friend, Rock Hudson, contracted the disease.^[51] He campaigned for Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.

Legacy

The centennial of Lancaster's birth was honored at New York City's Film Society of Lincoln Center in May 2013 with the screening of 12 of the actor's best-known films, from The Killers to Atlantic City.^[52]

Religion

Despite his Protestant background and upbringing, Lancaster identified himself as an atheist later in life.^[53]

Health problems and death

As Lancaster grew older, he became increasingly plagued by atherosclerosis, barely surviving a routine gall bladder operation in January 1980. Following two minor heart attacks, he had to undergo an emergency quadruple coronary bypass in 1983, after which he was extremely weak. However, he still managed to continue acting. In 1988, Lancaster was well enough to attend a Congressional hearing in Washington D.C. with old colleagues such as James Stewart and Ginger Rogers to protest against media magnate Ted Turner's plan to colorize various black-and-white films from the 1930s and 1940s.

Lancaster's acting career ended after he suffered a stroke on November 30, 1990, which left him partly paralyzed and largely unable to speak. He died in his apartment in Century City, California, from a third heart attack at 4:50 am on October 20, 1994, at the age of 80;^[54] just 13 days shy of his 81st birthday. He was cremated and his ashes were buried under a large oak tree in Westwood Memorial Park located in Westwood Village, California. A small, square ground plaque inscribed only with "BURT LANCASTER 1913–1994" marks his final resting place. Upon his death, as he requested, he had no memorial or funeral service.

Filmography and awards

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1946	The Killers	Ole "Swede" Anderson	With Ava Gardner
1947	Brute Force	Joe Collins	With Hume Cronyn
	Desert Fury	Tom Hanson	With Lizabeth Scott
	Variety Girl	Burt Lancaster	With Mary Hatcher
1948	I Walk Alone	Frankie Madison	With Kirk Douglas
	All My Sons	Chris Keller	With Edward G. Robinson
	Sorry, Wrong Number	Henry Stevenson	With Barbara Stanwyck
	Kiss the Blood Off My Hands	William Earle "Bill" Saunders	With Joan Fontaine
1949	Criss Cross	Steve Thompson	With Yvonne de Carlo
	Rope of Sand	Michael "Mike" Davis	With Paul Henreid
1950	The Flame and the Arrow	Dardo Bartoli	With Virginia Mayo
	Mister 880	Steve Buchanan	With Dorothy McGuire
1951	Vengeance Valley	Owen Daybright	With Robert Walker
	Jim Thorpe – All-American	Jim Thorpe	With Charles Bickford
	Ten Tall Men	Sergeant Mike Kincaid	With Jody Lawrance
1952	The Crimson Pirate	Capitan Vallo	With Nick Cravat
	Come Back, Little Sheba	Doc Delaney	With Shirley Booth
1953	South Sea Woman	Master Gunnery Sgt. James O'Hearn	With Virginia Mayo
	From Here to Eternity	1st Sergeant Milton Warden	New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
	Three Sailors and a Girl	Marine (uncredited)	With Jane Powell
1954	His Majesty O'Keefe	Captain David O'Keefe / Narrator	With Joan Rice
	Apache	Massai	With Jean Peters
	Vera Cruz	Joe Erin	With Gary Cooper
1955	The Kentuckian	Elias Wakefield (Big Eli)	Director Nominated—Golden Lion for Best Director
	The Rose Tattoo	Alvaro Mangiacavallo	With Anna Magnani
1956	Trapeze	Mike Ribble	With Gina Lollobrigida and Tony Curtis Silver Bear for Best Actor at Berlin[55]
	The Rainmaker	Bill Starbuck	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1957	Gunfight at the O.K. Corral	Marshal Wyatt Earp	With Kirk Douglas Laurel Award for Top Male Action Star
	Sweet Smell of Success	J.J. Hunsecker	With Tony Curtis
1958	Run Silent, Run Deep	Lieutenant Commander Jim Bledsoe	With Clark Gable
	Separate Tables	John Malcolm	With Rita Hayworth, Wendy Hiller, Deborah Kerr and David Niven
1959	The Devil's Disciple	Reverend Anthony Anderson	With Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier
1960	The Unforgiven	Ben Zachary	With Audrey Hepburn
	Elmer Gantry	Elmer Gantry	Academy Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1961	The Young Savages	ADA Hank Bell	With Dina Merrill
	Judgment at Nuremberg	Dr. Ernst Janning	With Spencer Tracy
1962	Birdman of Alcatraz	Robert Stroud	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Volpi Cup for Best Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance
1963	A Child Is Waiting	Dr. Matthew Clark	With Judy Garland
	The Leopard	Prince Don Fabrizio Salina	With Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon
	The List of Adrian Messenger	Animal Rights Protester (cameo)	With George C. Scott
1964	Seven Days in May	General James Mattoon Scott	With Kirk Douglas, Frederic March and Ava Gardner Nominated—Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance
1965	The Train	Paul Labiche	With Jeanne Moreau Nominated—Laurel Award for Top Male Action Performance
	The Hallelujah Trail	Colonel Thaddeus Gearhart	With Lee Remick
1966	The Professionals	Bill Dolworth	With Lee Marvin
1968	The Scalphunters	Joe Bass	With Shelley Winters Nominated—Laurel Award for Top Male Action Performance
	The Swimmer	Ned Merrill	With Janice Rule
1969	Jenny Is a Good Thing	Narrator
	Castle Keep	Major Abraham Falconer	With Peter Falk
	The Gypsy Moths	Mike Rettig	With Deborah Kerr
1970	Airport	Mel Bakersfeld	With Dean Martin
	King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis	Himself
1971	Lawman	Bannock Marshal Jared Maddox	With Lee J. Cobb
	Valdez Is Coming	Marshal Bob Valdez	With Susan Clark
1972	Ulzana's Raid	U.S. Cavalry Scout McIntosh	With Bruce Davison
1973	Scorpio	Cross	With Alain Delon
	Executive Action	James Farrington	With Robert Ryan
1974	The Midnight Man	Jim Slade	Co-Director
	Conversation Piece	The Professor	David di Donatello for Best Actor Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign Movie Performer
1976	Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson	Ned Buntline	With Paul Newman
	1900	Alfredo Berlinghieri the Elder	With Robert De Niro
	The Cassandra Crossing	Colonel Stephen Mackenzie	With Sophia Loren
1977	Twilight's Last Gleaming	General Lawrence Dell	With Richard Widmark
	The Island of Dr. Moreau	Dr. Paul Moreau	With Michael York
1978	Go Tell the Spartans	Major Asa Barker	With Craig Wasson
1979	Zulu Dawn	Colonel Anthony Durnford	With Peter O'Toole
1980	Atlantic City	Lou Pascal	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor David di Donatello for Best Actor Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign Movie Performer Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1981	Cattle Annie and Little Britches	Bill Doolin, the Oklahoma outlaw	With Amanda Plummer and Diane Lane
	The Skin	General Mark Cork	With Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Carlo Giuffrè
1983	Local Hero	Felix Happer	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	The Osterman Weekend	CIA Director Maxwell Danforth	With Rutger Hauer
1985	Little Treasure	Delbert Teschemacher	With Margot Kidder and Ted Danson
1986	Tough Guys	Harry Doyle	With Kirk Douglas
1987	Control	Dr. Herbert Monroe	With Ben Gazzara
1988	Rocket Gibraltar	Levi Rockwell	With Patricia Clarkson
	The Jeweler's Shop	The Jeweler	With Olivia Hussey
1989	Field of Dreams	Dr. Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham	With Kevin Costner

TV

Year	Series/film	Role	Notes
1969	Sesame Street	Himself	Sequences on feelings, the alphabet, counting to 10 doing pushups[56]
1974	Moses the Lawgiver	Moses	Miniseries
1976	Victory at Entebbe	Shimon Peres	With Anthony Hopkins
1978	The Unknown War	Narrator	20 episode USA-USSR archival documentary series on World War II
1982	Marco Polo	Teobaldo Visconti / Pope Gregory X	Miniseries
	The Life of Verdi	Narrator (English version)	Miniseries
1985	Scandal Sheet	Harold Fallen	With Robert Urich
1986	On Wings of Eagles	Colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons	Miniseries
	Fathers and Sons: A German Tragedy	Geheimrat Carl Julius Deutz	Miniseries
	Barnum	Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum	With Hanna Schygulla
1989	Cops	Narrator	Provided narration on pilot episode: "Broward County, Florida 1"
	The Betrothed	Cardinal Federigo Borromeo	Miniseries
1990	The Phantom of the Opera	Gerard Carriere	Miniseries Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
	Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair	Leon Klinghoffer	With Eva Marie Saint
1991	Separate but Equal	John W. Davis	Miniseries

Box office ranking

For a number of years exhibitors voted Lancaster as among the most popular stars:

• 1950 – 16th (US)


• 1951 – 25th (US)


• 1952 – 24th (US)


• 1953 – 17th (US)


• 1954 – 13th (US), 7th (UK)


• 1955 – 16th (US)


• 1956 – 4th (US), 3rd (UK)


• 1957 – 15th (US), 3rd (UK)


• 1958 – 20th (US)


• 1960 – 19th (US)


• 1961 – 11th (US)


• 1962 – 10th (US)

In other media

Spanish music group Hombres G released an album named La cagaste, Burt Lancaster (You messed up, Burt Lancaster) in 1986. Thomas Hart Benton painted a scene from The Kentuckian as part of the film's marketing. Lancaster posed for the painting, also known as The Kentuckian.^[57]

References

Bibliography

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Burt Lancaster.

• 
  Burt Lancaster at Encyclopædia Britannica
  


• 
  Burt Lancaster on IMDb


• 
  Burt Lancaster at the TCM Movie Database


• 
  Burt Lancaster at AllMovie
  


• 
  Burt Lancaster at the Internet Broadway Database


• 
  Burt Lancaster at Find a Grave
  


• 
  Works by or about Burt Lancaster in libraries (WorldCat catalog)


• Literature on Burt Lancaster


• The Rainmaker