Burt Lancaster
Highest Rated: 100% The Killers (1946)
Lowest Rated: 14% The Kentuckian (1955)
Birthday: Nov 02, 1913
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Fame came to Burt Lancaster with his first film role, as the doomed Swede in Universal's "The Killers" (1946), but the former circus acrobat knew better than to leave his career in other hands. After less than two years in Hollywood, Lancaster formed his own production company and took the lead in such popular successes as the Technicolor swashbucklers "The Flame and the Arrow" (1950) and "The Crimson Pirate" (1952) and the noble failure "Sweet Smell of Success" (1959), later called one the greatest films of all time. The athletic, savvy but passionate Lancaster remained a box office draw for 20 years, winning a 1961 Academy Award for playing the corrupt evangelist "Elmer Gantry" (1960), but his power to pull in moviegoers waned with the death of the studio system and his own disinterest in acting the Hollywood hero. Lancaster took chances in such challenging films as "The Swimmer" (1968), "Castle Keep" (1969) and "Ulzana's Raid" (1972) while his best work through the next decade was often in European features like "1900" (1976) and "Atlantic City" (1980), which netted him an Oscar nomination. In his later years, the actor was better known to younger Americans from TV spots for MCI, the ACLU, and AIDS research, and for his final film role in the hit "Field of Dreams" (1989). Five years after his death in 1994, the American Film Institute pointed a new generation of film fans Burt Lancaster's way when they conferred upon him the posthumous designation of living legend.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83% | 78% | Separate But Equal | Unknown (Character) | - | 1991 |
| No Score Yet | 95% | Phantom of the Opera | Gerard Carriere (Character) | - | 1990 |
| 87% | 86% | Field of Dreams | Dr. Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham (Character) | $61.8M | 1989 |
| No Score Yet | 14% | The Jeweller's Shop | The Jeweller (Character) | - | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | 79% | Sins of the Fathers | Geheimrat Carl Julius Deutz (Character) | - | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | 58% | Rocket Gibraltar | Levi Rockwell (Character) | $92.5K | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Control | Dr. Herbert Monroe (Character) | - | 1987 |
| 57% | 55% | Tough Guys | Harry Doyle (Character) | $20.5M | 1986 |
| No Score Yet | 58% | Barnum | Phineas Taylor `'P.T.'` Barnum (Character) | - | 1986 |
| No Score Yet | 83% | On Wings of Eagles | Lieutenant Colonel Arthur E. "Bull" Simons (Character) | - | 1986 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Little Treasure | Delbert Teschemacher (Character) | - | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Scandal Sheet | Harold Fallen (Character) | - | 1985 |
| 100% | 87% | Local Hero | Happer (Character) | - | 1983 |
| 39% | 38% | The Osterman Weekend | Maxwell Danforth (Character) | - | 1983 |
| No Score Yet | 50% | The Skin | Gen. Mark Clark (Character) | - | 1981 |
| No Score Yet | 75% | Cattle Annie and Little Britches | Bill Doolin (Character) | - | 1980 |
| 100% | 77% | Atlantic City | Lou (Character) | - | 1980 |
| 50% | 62% | Zulu Dawn | Col. Durnford (Character) | - | 1979 |
| 60% | 57% | Go Tell the Spartans | Maj. Asa Barker (Character) | - | 1978 |
| 56% | 41% | The Island of Dr. Moreau | Dr. Paul Moreau (Character) | - | 1977 |
| 80% | 74% | Twilight's Last Gleaming | Gen. Lawrence Dell (Character) | - | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Exploring the Unknown | Narrator | - | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Unknown | Narrator | - | 1977 |
| 30% | 52% | The Cassandra Crossing | Col. Stephen Mackenzie (Character) | - | 1977 |
| 58% | 85% | 1900 | The old patron - Alfreds granddad (Character) | $66.1K | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | 45% | Moses | Moses (Character) | - | 1976 |
| 67% | 49% | Buffalo Bill and the Indians |
The Legend Maker / |
- | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | 56% | Victory at Entebbe | Shimon Peres (Character) | - | 1976 |
| 80% | 83% | Conversation Piece | Il Professore (Character) | - | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ali the Fighter | Himself (Character) | - | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Midnight Man |
Jim Slade (Character), Director, Producer |
- | 1974 |
| 67% | 61% | Executive Action | Farrington (Character) | - | 1973 |
| 67% | 41% | Scorpio | Cross (Character) | - | 1973 |
| 90% | 67% | Ulzana's Raid |
McIntosh (Character), Producer |
- | 1972 |
| No Score Yet | 67% | Valdez Is Coming |
Valdez (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 1971 |
| 63% | 61% | Lawman | Bannock Marshal Jared Maddox (Character) | - | 1971 |
| 73% | 54% | Airport | Mel Bakersfeld (Character) | - | 1970 |
| No Score Yet | 44% | The Gypsy Moths | Mike Rettig (Character) | - | 1969 |
| 38% | 50% | Castle Keep | Maj. Abraham Falconer (Character) | - | 1969 |
| 70% | 56% | The Scalphunters | Joe Bass (Character) | - | 1968 |
| 100% | 82% | The Swimmer | Ned Merrill (Character) | - | 1968 |
| 88% | 81% | The Professionals | Bill Dolworth (Character) | - | 1966 |
| 40% | 65% | The Hallelujah Trail | Col. Thaddeus Gearhart (Character) | - | 1965 |
| 93% | 89% | The Train | Paul Labiche (Character) | - | 1965 |
| 91% | 89% | Seven Days in May | Gen. James Mattoon Scott (Character) | - | 1964 |
| 67% | 69% | The List of Adrian Messenger | Cameo (Character) | - | 1963 |
| 98% | 89% | The Leopard | Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Character) | - | 1963 |
| 93% | 74% | A Child Is Waiting | Dr. Matthew Clark (Character) | - | 1963 |
| 91% | 84% | Birdman of Alcatraz | Robert Stroud (Character) | - | 1962 |
| 91% | 93% | Judgment at Nuremberg | Dr. Ernst Janning (Character) | - | 1961 |
| 50% | 48% | The Young Savages | Hank Bell (Character) | - | 1961 |
| 60% | 59% | The Unforgiven | Ben Zachary (Character) | - | 1960 |
| 94% | 86% | Elmer Gantry | Elmer Gantry (Character) | - | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | 57% | The Devil's Disciple | The Rev. Anthony Anderson (Character) | - | 1959 |
| 65% | 77% | Separate Tables | John Malcolm (Character) | - | 1958 |
| 100% | 79% | Run Silent, Run Deep | Lt. Jim Bledsoe (Character) | - | 1958 |
| No Score Yet | 43% | The Bachelor Party | Producer | - | 1957 |
| 98% | 92% | Sweet Smell of Success |
J.J. Hunsecker (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 1957 |
| 83% | 69% | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral | Wyatt Earp (Character) | - | 1957 |
| No Score Yet | 62% | The Rainmaker | Bill Starbuck (Character) | - | 1956 |
| 67% | 64% | Trapeze |
Mike Ribble (Character), Producer |
- | 1956 |
| 14% | 43% | The Kentuckian |
Elias Wakefield (Character), Director |
- | 1955 |
| 71% | 74% | The Rose Tattoo | Alvaro Mangiacavallo (Character) | - | 1955 |
| 70% | 45% | Apache |
Massai (Character), Producer |
- | 1954 |
| 83% | 70% | Vera Cruz | Joe Erin (Character) | - | 1954 |
| 92% | 84% | From Here to Eternity | 1st Sgt. Milton Warden (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 37% | His Majesty O'Keefe |
Captain David Dion O'Keefe/ |
- | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 33% | South Sea Woman | Master Gunnery Sgt. James O'Hearn (Character) | - | 1953 |
| 75% | 80% | Come Back, Little Sheba | Doc Delaney (Character) | - | 1952 |
| 100% | 85% | The Crimson Pirate |
Capt. Vallo (The Crimson Pirate) (Character), Producer |
- | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 30% | Ten Tall Men | Sergeant Mike Kincaid (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | 55% | Jim Thorpe, All American | Jim Thorpe (Character) | - | 1951 |
| 100% | 18% | Vengeance Valley | Owen Daybright (Character) | - | 1951 |
| 100% | 60% | The Flame and the Arrow | Dardo Bartoli (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 55% | Mister 880 | Steve Buchanan (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rope of Sand | Mike Davis (Character) | - | 1949 |
| 92% | 80% | Criss Cross |
Steve Thompson/ |
- | 1948 |
| No Score Yet | 56% | Kiss the Blood Off My Hands | William Earle "Bill" Saunders (Character) | - | 1948 |
| No Score Yet | 82% | All My Sons | Chris Keller (Character) | - | 1948 |
| 86% | 78% | Sorry, Wrong Number | Henry J. Stevenson (Character) | - | 1948 |
| No Score Yet | 66% | I Walk Alone | Frankie Madison (Character) | - | 1947 |
| No Score Yet | 25% | Variety Girl | Unknown (Character) | - | 1947 |
| 94% | 87% | Brute Force | Joe Collins (Character) | - | 1947 |
| 63% | 73% | Desert Fury | Tom Hason (Character) | - | 1947 |
| 100% | 89% | The Killers |
Ole "The Swede" Andersen/ |
- | 1946 |
TV
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Separate but Equal | John W. Davis (Character) | 1991 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair | Leon Klinghoffer (Character) | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Phantom of the Opera | Gérard Carrière (Character) | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cops | Narrator | 1989 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Moses the Lawgiver | Unknown (Character) | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sesame Street | Guest | 1969 |
QUOTES FROM Burt Lancaster CHARACTERS
Lou says: I'm the one who killed those guys. And you're next.
Ned says: Ned (toasting to Julie): Here's to the sugar on the strawberries.
Ned says: Here's to the sugar on the strawberries.
J.J. Hunsecker says: I'd hate to take a bite out of you.You're like a cookie full of arsenic
J.J. Hunsecker says: I'd hate to take a bite out of you.You're like a cookie full of arsenic.
Capt. Jesus Raza says: You want perfection, or nothing. The revolution was never perfect. We fight because we believe, we leave because we are disilliusioned, we return because we are lost, we die because we are committed.
Bill Dolworth says: To die for a woman is even more foolish, any woman, even her.
Bill Dolworth says: My word to Grant 'aint worth a plug nickle.
Rico (Henry Fardan) says: You gave your word to me.
Hans Ehrengard says: Mr Grant, I can make 'em go, but I can't make 'em do.
Bob Valdez says: 100 dollars!
J.J. Hunsecker says: Everybody knows Manny Davis ;except Mrs. Manny Davis
J.J. Hunsecker says: Everyone knows Manny Davis... except Mrs. Manny Davis.
Big Eli says: We're gonna live it bold.
Ernst Janning says: My counsel would have you believe that we were not aware of the extermination of millions. That we were only aware of the extermination of the hundreds. Does that make us any the less guilty? Maybe we didn't know the details. But if we didn't know, it was because we did not want to know.
Emil Hahn says: Traitor! Traitor!
Judge Dan Haywood says: Order, order! Put that man back in his seat and keep him there!
Ernst Janning says: am going to tell the truth if the whole world conspires against it. I am going to tell them the truth about their Ministry of Justice. Werner Lampe â?? an old man who cries into his Bible now. An old man who profited from the property expropriation of every man he sent to a concentration camp. Friedrich Hofstetter â?? the butcher who knew how to take orders, who sent men before him to be sterilized like so many digits. Emil Hahn â?? the decayed, corrupt bigot, obsessed by the evil within himself. And Ernst Janning â?? worse than any of them, because he knew what they were, and he went along with them. Ernst Janning â?? who made his life...excrement... because he walked with them.
Ernst Janning says: I am going to tell the truth if the whole world conspires against it. I am going to tell them the truth about their Ministry of Justice. Werner Lampe an old man who cries into his Bible now. An old man who profited from the property expropriation of every man he sent to a concentration camp. Friedrich Hofstetter â?? the butcher who knew how to take orders, who sent men before him to be sterilized like so many digits. Emil Hahn the decayed, corrupt bigot, obsessed by the evil within himself. And Ernst Janning worse than any of them, because he knew what they were, and he went along with them. Ernst Janning who made his life...excrement... because he walked with them.
Ernst Janning says: We have fallen on happy times, Herr Hahn. In old times it would have made your day if I'd deigned to say good morning to you. Now that we are here in this place together... you feel obliged to tell me what to do with my life... Listen to me, Herr Hahn, there have been terrible things that have happened to me in my life. But the worst thing that has ever happened... is to find myself in the company of men like you.
Ernst Janning says: Judge Haywood... the reason I asked you to come: Those people, those millions of people... I never knew it would come to that. You must believe it, you must believe it!
Judge Dan Haywood says: Herr Janning, it "came to that" the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent.
Judge Dan Haywood says: Herr Janning, it 'came to that' the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent.
McIntosh says: I'm not about to try and educate an Apache about horse apples, Lieutenant
McIntosh says: I'm not about to try and educate an Apache about horse apples, Lieutenant.
Elmer Gantry says: Well, as long as I got a foot, I'll kick booze. And as long as I got a fist, I'll punch it. And as long as I got a tooth, I'll bite it.
Elmer Gantry says: And when I'm old and gray and toothless and bootless, I'll gum it till I go to heaven and booze goes to hell.
J.J. Hunsecker says: You're dead son, go get yourself buried
J.J. Hunsecker says: You're dead, son. Get yourself buried.
Lou says: Put your makeup on put your hair up pretty and I ll meet you tonight in Atlantic City.
Lou says: Put your makeup on, put your hair up pretty, and I'll meet you tonight in Atlantic City.
Jeanne says: Yes
Jeanne says: Yes.
J.J. Hunsecker says: "My right hand hasn't seen my left hand in thirty years."
J.J. Hunsecker says: My right hand hasn't seen my left hand in thirty years.
J.J. Hunsecker says: Match me, Sidney.
Lou says: Yes, it used to be beautiful -- what with the rackets, whoring, guns.