Born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City. After several unsuccessful attempts at a vaudeville career, Burns's luck changed in 1922, when he formed the Burns and Allen duo with young comic Gracie Allen (they wed in 1926). Gracie at first played the "straight man," but her wacky descriptions of her large family managed to garner all the laughs and the team wisely reversed roles. Having become vaudeville stars, the team appeared in several short films, made their feature debut with THE BIG BROADCAST (1932) and played in several, mostly forgettable, movies during the 1930s and 40s. Burns wrote a series of comedy shorts for Paramount featuring Gracie and himself, including FIT TO BE TIED (1930), THE ANTIQUE SHOP, ONCE OVER, LIGHT and 100% SERVICE (all 1931), OH, MY OPERATION, THE BABBLING BOOK and YOUR HAT (all 1932), and LET'S DANCE and WALKING THE BABY (both 1933). With their low-keyed comic banter, Burns and Allen became a successful radio team and then starred in their own TV series from 1950 until Gracie's retirement in 1958 (she died six years later). Burns continued his career as a solo comedian and frequently appeared on television in both series and variety shows. He hosted 6 episodes of "The Hollywood Palace" (1965-67) and was a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". He made an outstanding film comeback in 1975 with his award-winning performance as a cantankerous old vaudevillian in THE SUNSHINE BOYS. He later appeared in several features, notably as the omniscient title character of Carl Reiner's OH, GOD! (1977) and its follow-ups OH, GOD! BOOK II (1980) and OH, GOD! YOU DEVIL (1984). His last appearance in a feature film was 1994's RADIOLAND MURDERS. Burns continued to smoke his trademark cigars and joke about his ageless virility until his death at the age of 100.  Supporting Actor 1975: THE SUNSHINE BOYS 1 nomination, 1 Award