Editing Raymond Burr (section)

===Theatre===
Burr grew up during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] and hoped to study acting at the [[Pasadena Playhouse]], but he was unable to afford the tuition.<ref name="Chicago Tribune 1986">{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Luaine |date=May 8, 1986 |title=Pasadena Playhouse, A Star Crucible, Reopens|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/05/08/pasadena-playhouse-a-star-crucible-reopens/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=January 13, 2018 }}</ref> By his own account, in 1934 he joined a [[repertory theatre]] company in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended [[Long Beach Junior College]] and taught for a semester at [[San Jose City College|San Jose Junior College]], working nights as a radio actor and singer. Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse<ref name="Ona Hill"/>{{Rp|9}} in 1937.<ref name="Playhouse Blog">{{cite web|url=http://pasadenaplayhouse.org/blog/2012/02/29/the-pasadena-playhouse-featured-on-tour-americas-treasures/ |title=The Pasadena Playhouse&nbsp;– Featured On 'Tour America's Treasures'|date=February 29, 2012|website=The Playhouse Blog|publisher=[[Pasadena Playhouse]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806131012/http://pasadenaplayhouse.org/blog/2012/02/29/the-pasadena-playhouse-featured-on-tour-americas-treasures/ |archive-date=August 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://static.library.ucla.edu/oralhistory/pdf/masters/21198-zz0008z8nw-1-master.pdf Curtain Up! The Revival of the Pasadena Playhouse]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-08-8602020175-story.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916093156/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-08-8602020175-story.html | archive-date=September 16, 2018 | title=Pasadena Playhouse, A Star Crucible, Reopens | website=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=May 8, 1986 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dailybreeze.com/2010/01/29/pasadena-playhouse-to-close-its-doors/ | title=Pasadena Playhouse to close its doors | date=January 29, 2010 }}</ref>

Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in ''Crazy With the Heat'', a two-act musical revue produced by [[Kurt Kasznar]]. Despite the veteran cast of stars [[Howard Brothers|Willie Howard]], [[Luella Gear]], and Gracie Barrie, the show folded after three months.<ref name="IBDb Crazy"/> Burr's first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of ''[[Quiet Wedding (play)|Quiet Wedding]]''. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years.<ref name="Chicago Tribune 1986"/><ref name="Quiet Wedding Arcadia"/> He returned to Broadway for [[Patrick Hamilton (writer)|Patrick Hamilton]]'s ''[[The Duke in Darkness]]'' (1944), a psychological drama set during the [[French Wars of Religion]]. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with [[RKO Radio Pictures]].<ref name="Ona Hill"/>{{Rp|21–22}} In 1944, he performed in multiple plays during his summer residency at Elitch Gardens Theater in Denver Colorado.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Elitch Garden's Theater, 1944 Season |url=https://historicelitchtheatre.org/year1944/ |access-date=March 13, 2024 |website=Elitch Gardens Theater History}}</ref>