George Burns

George Burns, the golfer, is easily distinguishable from George Burns, the comedian. Burns, the golfer, is the one who often wears a long face and who has a tendency to get down on himself. His idea of a good time is riding an exercise bike and lifting weights. Even on Sunday, his biggest day in golf, George Burns III seemed to fight the urge to smile broadly or say anything that might be described as amusing.

Irving Fein was a veteran Hollywood studio publicist when he began his 28-year association with Jack Benny in 1947, first as the popular radio comedian's publicity and advertising director. One of Fein's successful ideas was to promote Benny's new television program on CBS in 1950 via a full-page Macy's ad in New York newspapers: a photo of the famously "cheap" comedian shopping at the department store, with the headline: "MORE PROOF THAT MACY'S IS VERY KIND TO THE POCKETBOOK ... JACK BENNY SHOPS HERE!"

Correction, please! In Chris Willman's Aug. 27 article on Max Von Sydow and his latest film, "Needful Things" ("Von Sydow: Maxing at the Extremes"), Von Sydow is touted as being the first actor on record to play both God and Satan as a star for a major studio release. Not so, according to my trivial pursuers. George Burns has played God (not Son of God) in three films: "Oh, God!," "Oh, God! Book II" and "Oh, God! You Devil." In the latter film, Burns played both God and the devil, as he likes to say, "without makeup."

Two legendary actors - Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow - are competing for the supporting actor trophy this Oscar season. Despite their pedigree - Plummer has been acting in films for more than 50 years and is best known as Captain von Trapp in 1965's "The Sound of Music," and Von Sydow is closely associated with the seminal Swedish director Ingmar Bergman - neither has won an Academy Award. But that's likely to change. Plummer has already won numerous awards for his turn as a widower who comes out of the closet in"Beginners,"while Von Sydow has earned kudos as an elderly man who doesn't speak in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

I thoroughly enjoyed your salute to George Burns on the occasion of his 100th birthday ("He'll Be 100, by George!," Calendar, Jan. 16). Allow me to add to the lore about this remarkable man. In 1964, when he was a mere 70 or so, I interviewed him for a magazine article. I met him in the sun room of his Beverly Hills home at 8 in the morning. He was bald, which came as a mild shock, and wore a voluminous maroon robe while having his breakfast. Two impressions stand out from the occasion: (1)

Doesn't anybody get it yet? The story is not that George Burns will be 100 years old in exactly one year. That's great, but it's small potatoes compared to what's coming up just five years after that. Burns was born in 1896. That means that on Jan. 20, 2000, he will be one of the very, very few people in human history to have lived in three different centuries and two different millennia. Hang in there, George. Nobody will ever top that finale! ALEX FERGUSON Whittier

Comedian George Burns was conscious and in stable condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Tuesday following a two-hour operation to remove fluid from his brain, a hospital spokesman said. Burns, 98, entered the hospital Monday afternoon and had surgery about 6 p.m. that evening, spokesman Ron Wise said. "I have no sense of impending disaster," Wise said, adding that Burns "tolerated the surgery well. . . . With any kind of luck he'll be out of here in a week."

Comedian George Burns was moved out of intensive care Friday as he continued to recuperate from brain surgery, a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center spokesman said. Burns, 98, underwent surgery Monday to relieve pressure from fluid that had built up in his brain after a July 13 fall in the bathtub of his Beverly Hills home. He is listed in fair condition. Wise said Burns was expected to stay in the hospital another five to seven days.

My George Burns story: A few years ago, when I was researching my one-man play on Al Jolson, I had the opportunity to interview George Burns late one afternoon in his home. The maid let me in and indicated that I should wait for him in the living room. The room was totally dark, thus I did not see that there was a step down. I took it and fell flat onto my face. I was OK, and a few minutes later, Mr. Burns appeared. Not a word was said about my little accident. He was very gracious, funny and gave me some great Jolson stories, in which he was often the butt of the joke.

Irving Fein was a veteran Hollywood studio publicist when he began his 28-year association with Jack Benny in 1947, first as the popular radio comedian's publicity and advertising director. One of Fein's successful ideas was to promote Benny's new television program on CBS in 1950 via a full-page Macy's ad in New York newspapers: a photo of the famously "cheap" comedian shopping at the department store, with the headline: "MORE PROOF THAT MACY'S IS VERY KIND TO THE POCKETBOOK ... JACK BENNY SHOPS HERE!"

Poly Styrene Singer in the punk band X-Ray Spex Poly Styrene, 53, the braces-wearing singer who belted out "Oh bondage, up yours!" with the punk band X-Ray Spex, died Monday, according to a statement on her website . Styrene, whose real name was Marion Elliott-Said, was in hospice care in St. Leonards-on-Sea, England, after having been diagnosed with cancer. X-Ray Spex released just one album, 1978's "Germ Free Adolescents. " But its aggressively catchy single "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!"

Decades before we began to keep up with the Kardashians or wondered about "The Girls Next Door," there was "This Is Your Life." For years, host and creator Ralph Edwards would surprise the famous, infamous and even non- celebrities with a look back at their lives. The show originally aired on the radio from 1948-52 and then moved to NBC TV in 1952 and continued until 1961. A new version appeared briefly in 1972 on the network. Last year, Ralph Edwards Productions -- Edwards died in 2005 -- donated some 400 episodes plus other material to the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Seaman Jacobs, 96, a veteran comedy writer who worked for legendary Hollywood entertainers, died April 8 of cardiac arrest at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than half a century, Jacobs wrote for, among others, Bob Hope, George Burns, Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas and Johnny Carson. He shared a Writers Guild of America award for his work on television's "The George Burns One-Man Show" with frequent writing partners Fred S. Fox and Elon Packard. A native of Kingston, N.Y., Jacobs graduated from Syracuse University, starting his writing career at the school's humor magazine.

Ronnie Burns, 72, the son of George Burns and Gracie Allen who appeared occasionally with the comedy team on television in the 1950s, died of cancer Wednesday at his Pacific Palisades home, said his wife, Janice. Burns played himself on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show," which ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958, and "The George Burns Show," which ran for one season after Allen retired from show business in 1958.

Bart Burns, 89, an actor who appeared on Broadway, in movies and on TV shows for five decades, died of natural causes July 11 at his home in West Hills, his son Brendan Burns told the Associated Press Burns made several Broadway appearances, including in a production of "Mr. Roberts" with Henry Fonda. On television, he played Pat Chambers on the "Mike Hammer" series in the 1950s and made hundreds of guest appearances on such shows as "Gunsmoke" and "The Rockford Files."

Tom Cruise and director J.J. Abrams are probably suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome because of all the mutual back-slapping they do on the audio commentary and documentaries on the two-disc collector's edition of "Mission: Impossible III" (Paramount, $35). Their mutual admiration society act becomes tiresome but doesn't diminish the well-produced extras. Several featurettes explore the film's complicated production, including one on the high-voltage stunts and action sequences.

George Burns puffing on an El Producto and doing his shtick at the Center Club? It happened on Tuesday night before the comedian's appearance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. "I faint twice a day, other than that I'm fine," Burns, 95, told new pals Gerald and Joan Garner during a private dinner staged in a screened alcove. "I don't believe in dying. It's been done. I don't do anything that's been done before. Anyway, I died in Schenectady. I don't plan to die here."

Fred S. Fox Sr., a veteran comedy writer who worked for some of Hollywood's most legendary entertainers, including Bob Hope and George Burns, has died. He was 90. Fox died Oct. 23 in Encino of pneumonia, said his daughter, Jan Fox. His work inspired younger generations of comedy writers, including director-producer Garry Marshall, creator of "Happy Days," and his own son, Fred Fox Jr., who wrote for that popular series, among others.

Frank Gorshin, the master impressionist and character actor who received an Emmy nomination for his role as the villainous Riddler in the campy 1960s "Batman" television series and more recently brought comedian George Burns to life in a one-man Broadway show, has died. He was 71. Gorshin died Tuesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he had been hospitalized for three weeks.