Bob Burns Biography

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Robin "Bob" Burns (August 2, 1890 â?? February 2, 1956), born Robin Burn and nicknamed The Arkansas Philosopher, was a popular American radio and film comedian during the 1930s and 1940s.

Born in Greenwood, Arkansas, Burns is most remembered for coining the word bazooka which had wide usage during World War II as the name of a weapon and then as Topps Chewing Gum's Bazooka bubblegum.

Burns's bazooka was not a weapon, though, but a rustic homemade novelty instrument fashioned from stove pipes and a whiskey funnel. World War II GIs nicknamed their handheld anti-tank rocket launchers after the physical similarity to Burns's instrument.

Functioning like a crude trombone, the musical bazooka had a narrow range and less-than-dulcet tone, but this was intentional, since Burns used the instrument as a prop while telling his comic hillbilly stories and jokes. His radio personality was that of a low-key, self-effacing, rustic bumpkin with a grabbag of amusing stories about the folks back home in Van Buren, Arkansas. His character was patterned after Sanford Faulkner (1806-74), composer of the popular fiddle tune, "The Arkansas Traveler."

Burns starred on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio program, then had his own radio series -- The Arkansas Traveler (1941-43) and The Bob Burns Show (1943-49). He also performed in several movies.

Burns died from kidney cancer in Encino, California at the age of 66.

Filmography

• Quick Millions (as Robert Burns) (1931)
  
• Young As You Feel (1931)
  
• Lazy River (1934)
  
• Rhythm on The Range (1936)
  
• The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)
  
• Wakiki Wedding (1937)
  
• Mountain Music (1937)
  
• The Arkansas Traveller (1938)
  
• I'm from Missouri (1939)
  

External links

• 
  
• Bob Burns hometown tribute
  
• Bob Burns tribute page
  
• Bob Burns' gravesite
  

{{Persondata
|NAME=Burns, Bob
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Burn, Robin
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Comedian
|DATE OF BIRTH=August 2, 1890
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Greenwood, Arkansas]
|DATE OF DEATH=February 2, 1956
|PLACE OF DEATH=Encino, California
}}

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