American Legends

"Take the feeling of hunger out of your gut, and you're no longer a champion." - Burt Lancaster

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

In the 1940s, there were few actors who personified the all-American look like Burt Lancaster, who set Hollywood ablaze quickly with performances in movies like The Killers, The Flame and the Arrow, and The Crimson Pirate. Indeed, his status as a heartthrob was cemented by 1953's From Here to Eternity, when he and Deborah Kerr shot a romantic scene on a Hawaiian beach that ensured the film's inclusion in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Romantic Films of the 20th century.

As it turned out, however, that was just the first phase in a critically acclaimed career that would span over 40 years. As Lancaster grew older, he wisely veered away from the early kinds of roles he had as a leading man and branched out into more distinguished roles that were also more challenging, earning him brand new levels of acclaim. In time, he would go on to be nominated for 4 Academy Awards for Best Actor, including a win for Elmer Gantry (1960) when he was in his late 40s. By the time he was finished, the American Film Institute named him 19th on its list of the 50 best actors of the 20th century.

The versatile Lancaster also had other jobs on plenty of sets, especially as producer for the production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. That company's productions did so well that Life magazine noted in 1957, "After the independent production of a baker's dozen of pictures it has yet to have its first flop...(They were also good pictures.)" Lancaster directed a couple of films during his career and even wrote one, The Midnight Man, which he also produced and directed for.

American Legends: The Life of Burt Lancaster examines the life and career of one of America's most critically acclaimed actors. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Burt Lancaster like never before, in no time at all.