- Title: UNITED STATES: COMEDIAN GEORGE BURNS TURNS 100
- Date: 16th January 1996
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 16, 1996) (RTV) (NIGHT SHOTS) EXTERIOR OF FOUR SEASONS HOTEL WIDE OF PRESSER AND ZOOM TO ROBERT SILVERSTEIN, CEDARS-SINAI CHAIRMAN, SAYING THAT THE OCCASION IS TO NAME THE RESEARCH CENTER AND TO CELEBRATE THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF GEORGE BURNS (ENGLISH) CUTAWAY OF MEDIA BURNS' LONG-TIME FRIEND BARRY MIRKING READING THE STATEMENT OF GEORGE BURNS SAYING THAT HE IS TOUCHED BY THE INTEREST FOR HIS BIRTHDAY AND MAKING A JOKE ABOUT HIS AGE (ENGLISH) CUTAWAY OF ENTERTAINER CYD CHARISSE LISTENING PULLOUT FROM BIRTHDAY CAKE TO GROUP OF FRIENDS OF GEORGE BURNS WITH CARDBOARD FIGURE OF BURNS
- Embargoed: 31st January 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAE01Q1CY6RTNOCX56WTSENX72Q
- Story Text: Comedian George Burns has decided he is not well enough to attend an elegant Beverly Hills party being thrown in honour of his 100th birthday, a spokeswoman for the event said on Tuesday (January 16).
"He decided he was not feeling up to it and made the decision this morning not to attend," spokeswoman Christy Salcido said. She said Burns, who turns 100 on Saturday, was not seriously ill but "Some days are better than others for him and this is not one of his better days." The dinner party at the Four Seasons Hotel continued without its famous guest on Tuesday night. "He wanted the party to go on without him," Salcido said. The event was to be videotaped so he could watch it later, she added.
The party was to double as a fundraiser for Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre and to mark the naming of the Burns and Allen Research Institute at the centre. Burns and his late wife, Gracie Allen, were major donors to the hospital and two streets near the hospital have been named after them.
Among those who attended the party were actress Ann-Margaret, screenwriter Larry Gelbart, who wrote Burns' hit movie "Oh God", and singer Tony Martin, as well as Burns' longtime manager, Irving Fein.
The wisecracking, cigar-puffing comedian, who has entertained audiences in every form of showbusiness this century from vaudeville to television and movies, has been ailing since July, 1994, when he slipped and fell while taking a shower at his home in Las Vegas. The fall resulted in a buildup of fluid on his brain that had to be removed in a 90-minute operation two months later to relieve the pressure.
Burns' frailty earlier caused to him to cancel performances celebrating his centenary at the London Palladium and Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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