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).
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]
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]
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.
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.[9] 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.[10]
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 was a commercial disappointment but critically acclaimed.[11]
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.[12]
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.)[14]
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.[15]
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, and 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. [16].
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.[17][18]
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.[19] 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.[20]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. [21]
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.[22]
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.[23]
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.[24]
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.)." [26] In late 1957 they announced they would make ten films worth $14 million in 1958.[27]
Lancaster did two films for Wallis, to complete his eight film commitment for that produce: The Rainmaker (1956) with Katherine 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.[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. [31]
Hecht and Lancaster
Drawing of Lancaster after he won an Oscar for Elmer Gantry (1960). Artist: Nicholas Volpe
Lancaster played the title role in Elmer Gantry (1960), written and directed by Richard Brooks for United Artists. Lancaster won the 1960 Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and the New York Film Critics Award for his performance.
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.)[32]
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.[33]
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".[34] 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.[35] Filming was difficult and clashes between Lancaster and Perry led to Sydney Pollack coming in to do some filming.[36] 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.
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.[37]
1970s
Lancaster had one of the biggest successes of his career with Airport (1970), 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.[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).[40]
1980s
Lancaster began the 1980s with a highly acclaimed performance in Atlantic City (1980), directed by Louis Malle, which earned him a Best Actor nomination.
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).
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.
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.
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.[41] However, Kerr stated that while there was a spark of attraction, nothing ever happened. He reportedly had an affair with Joan Blondell.[42]
In her 1980 autobiography, Shelley Winters claimed to have had a long affair with him.[43] Recent biographers and others believe that Lancaster was bisexual, and that he had intimate relationships with men as well as women.[44] 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.[45]
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.[53]
Religion
Despite his Protestant background and upbringing, Lancaster identified himself as an atheist later in life.[54]
Health problems and death
Lancaster's grave
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 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[55]; 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.
One of his final roles was that of Leon Klinghoffer in Voyage of Terror the Achille Lauro hijacking.
^Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 30 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^FILM ACTORS' UNION EXTENDS CONTRACT: Screen Guild Eases Pressure on Producers by Negotiating 6-Month Addition to Pact
By THOMAS F. BRADY Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES14 Dec 1950: 51.
^Burt Breaks Mold When Typed: Burt Balks at Typed Film Roles
Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 14 Dec 1952: D1.
^LANCASTER TO STAR IN SHIPWRECK TALE: Norma Productions Buys 'His Majesty O'Keefe' for the Actor's First '52 Role By THOMAS F. BRADY New York Times 1 Jan 1951: 14.
^BURT LANCASTER MAKES U. A. DEAL: Movie Star and His Partner, Harold Hecht, Find a New Outlet for Productions By THOMAS M. PRYOR New York Times 24 June 1953: 30.
^Looking at Hollywood: Lancaster Gets Indian Role in 'Bronco Apache' Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune2 Dec 1952: a5.
^HOLLYWOOD SURPRISE by THOMAS M. PRYOR. New York Times 14 Feb 1954: X5.
^HOLLYWOOD DOSSIER: 'MARTY' HITS JACKPOT – TEAM – ON THE SET By OSCAR GODBOUT HOLLYWOOD.. New York Times 11 Sep 1955: X7.
^Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 82
^'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
^'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957
^Pryor, Thomas M. (1956). "Hecht-Lancaster Plans New Films: Producing Unit Signs Deal with United Artists—5 Features Are Listed Lancaster to Act". New York Times, 13 April 1956. p. 20.
^"Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Planning Record Year: Group Will Produce $14,000,000 Worth of Motion Pictures in 1958". Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 1957. p. B9.
^Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life, Da Capo 2000 p 183
^"1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
^pp. 151-152 Larkins, Bob & Magers, Boyd The Films of Audie Murphy McFarland, 19 Aug. 2009
^Hill went on to produce a single additional film, The Happy Thieves, in a new production company, Hillworth Productions, co-owned with his wife Rita Hayworth.
^Buford, Kate (2000). Burt Lancaster: An American Life. London: Aurum. pp. 222–227. ISBN1-85410-740-2.
^Glenn Lovell, Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges, University of Wisconsin Press, 2008 p250
