Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410250023
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The Oscar-winning leading man died of a heart attack Thursday at his home.
``It's the passing now of a giant. But Burt will never die. We'll always be able to see him swinging from a yardarm in `The Crimson Pirate' ... and shooting with me in `Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,''' Kirk Douglas said.
A one-time circus acrobat with broad shoulders and chiseled features, Lancaster was often cast in strong, angry roles in a career that included more than 70 movies. But he excelled in sensitive parts, too, including ``The Birdman of Alcatraz,'' ``The Rose Tattoo,'' ``The Swimmer'' and ``Sweet Smell of Success.''
The 1960 movie ``Elmer Gantry,'' in which he starred as a salesman turned evangelist, brought him the Oscar for best actor.
``There are lots of good actors, but there are very few one-of-a-kinds. Like Cagney and Bogart, Burt was one of a kind,'' said his ``Elmer Gantry'' co-star Shirley Jones.
He used his athletic skills in such films as ``Trapeze,'' ``Ten Tall Men,'' ``The Flame and the Arrow'' and ``The Crimson Pirate.''
Lancaster received an Oscar nomination for the 1962 ``Birdman of Alcatraz.'' He played Robert Stroud, a killer who spent 44 years in solitary confinement and became an expert on bird diseases.
``I feel the industry has lost a wonderful person, one who was always enthusiastic about the films that he made. No matter what the material was he always gave it what I would call a real 100 percent,'' said ``Birdman'' co-star Karl Malden.
Lancaster remained active well into his 70s, starring in ``Field of Dreams'' in 1989 and the TV miniseries ``Voyage of Terror'' in 1990. He drew wide praise for his portrayal of a hard-luck petty criminal in the 1980 movie ``Atlantic City.'' He was also in the acclaimed 1983 comedy ``Local Hero.''
A lifelong liberal, the actor was the former president of the American Civil Liberties Union. He often chose to play in films with social significance and made two anti-war films.
After serving in World War II, Lancaster arrived in Hollywood with brief acting experience and three weeks on Broadway. His first film role, as a doomed man in the 1946 drama ``The Killers,'' based on an Ernest Hemingway story, brought him instant stardom.
He followed that performance with ``Brute Force,'' ``All My Sons,'' ``Sorry, Wrong Number'' and ``Jim Thorpe - All American.''
He received the first of four Academy Award nominations in 1953 as Sgt. Milt Warden in ``From Here to Eternity,'' based on James Jones' novel about pre-war Pearl Harbor. His love scene in the surf with Kerr is one of Hollywood's most enduring images.
As the studio star system waned, Lancaster formed his own production company with filmmaker Harold Hecht. The company produced the Ernest Borgnine movie ``Marty'' in 1955. It won the best picture Oscar.
Burton Stephen Lancaster was born the son of a postal clerk and grew up in New York's tough East Harlem neighborhood. He said he might have become a juvenile delinquent had it not been for the local library.
He attended New York University on a basketball scholarship but left without completing studies. With a friend, he formed an acrobatic team, and for several years they toured with circuses, vaudeville and nightclubs.
In addition to his third wife, Susie, whom he married in 1990, survivors include six children, Jim, William, John, Joanna, Susan and Sighle.
by CNB