George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996) was an Academy Award-winning Jewish-American comedian, actor and writer.

His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio and television, with and without his equally legendary wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century. Enjoying a remarkable career resurrection that began at age 79, and ended shortly before his death at age 100, George Burns was as well known in the last two decades of his life as at any other time during his career.

Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.