Editing George Burns (section)

== ''The Sunshine Boys'' ==
After Gracie died in 1964, Burns immersed himself in work. McCadden Productions co-produced the television series ''[[No Time for Sergeants]]'', based on the hit Broadway play; Burns also produced [[Juliet Prowse]]'s 1965–66 [[NBC]] situation comedy, ''Mona McCluskey''. At the same time, he toured the U.S. playing nightclub and theater engagements with such diverse partners as [[Carol Channing]], [[Dorothy Provine]], [[Jane Russell]], [[Connie Haines]], and Berle Davis. He also performed a series of solo concerts, playing university campuses, New York's [[Avery Fisher Hall|Philharmonic Hall]] and winding up a successful season at [[Carnegie Hall]], where he wowed a capacity audience with his show-stopping songs, dances, and jokes.

In 1974, Burns's close friend [[Jack Benny]] signed to play one of the lead roles in the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] film version of [[Neil Simon]]'s ''[[The Sunshine Boys (1975 film)|The Sunshine Boys]]'' ([[Red Skelton]] was originally the other, but he objected to some of the script's language). But Benny's health had begun to fail, and he advised his manager, Irving Fein, to let Burns fill in for him on a series of nightclub dates to which Benny had committed around the U.S.

Burns, who enjoyed working, accepted the job for what would be his first feature film appearance for 36 years. As he recalled years later:<ref name=cigar />
: "The happiest people I know are the ones that are still working. The saddest are the ones who are retired. Very few performers retire on their own. It's usually because no one wants them. Six years ago [[Frank Sinatra|Sinatra]] announced his retirement. He's still {{nowrap|working."—George Burns}}

Ill health prevented Benny from working on ''The Sunshine Boys''; he died of [[pancreatic cancer]] on December 26, 1974. Heartbroken, Burns said that the only time he ever wept in his life other than Allen's death was when Benny died. He was chosen to give one of the eulogies at the funeral and said, "Jack was someone special to all of you, but he was so special to me&nbsp;... I cannot imagine my life without Jack Benny, and I will miss him so very much."<ref name="people">{{cite news| title='Well!' Jack Would Have Said at the Turnout of the Stars| url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064849,00.html| date=March 13, 1975| magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]| access-date=February 27, 2012| archive-date=March 10, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310155011/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064849,00.html| url-status=live}}</ref> Burns then broke down and had to be helped to his seat. People who knew Burns said he never really came to terms with Benny's death.

Six weeks before filming started, Burns had [[triple bypass]] surgery.<ref>{{cite magazine| magazine=[[Daily Variety]]| page=26| date=March 11, 1996| title=George Burns: A Legend Laid To Rest| last=Natale| first=Richard}}</ref>

Burns replaced Benny in the film as well as the club tour, a move that turned out to be one of the biggest breaks of his career; his wise performance as faded vaudevillian Al Lewis won him the 1975 [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] and permanently secured his career resurgence. At 80, Burns was the oldest Oscar winner in the history of the [[Academy Awards]], a record that stood until [[Jessica Tandy]] won an Oscar for ''[[Driving Miss Daisy]]'' in 1989.