Burns started smoking cigars when he was 14.

On March 9, 1996, the legendary cigar-chomping performer
George Burns dies at his home in Beverly Hills, California,
just weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday.

George Burns is one of the few entertainers whose career
successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television.

 
                                                             Zenith Console Floor Radio
                                                             Model 11S474, 1940s.

Burns and Allen’s radio show was inducted into the National Radio
Hall of Fame in 1994.

Burns is also a member of the Television Hall of Fame, where he
and Gracie Allen were inducted in 1988.

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show premiered on
CBS on October 12, 1950 and ran through 1958. 

1977

Steve Lawrence, the charismatic Grammy- and Emmy-
winning crooner who delighted audiences for decades
in nightclubs, on concert stages, in film and television appearances, died Thursday.

Publicist Susan DuBow announced Lawrence died in
Los Angeles of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. 

He partnered with the late Eydie Gormé, his wife of 55
years, in a very popular act (below). 

In 1959, Steve Lawrence released Pretty Blue Eyes as a single
and it spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking
at No. 9, while reaching No. 7 on the Cash Box Top 100.

On March 6, 1981, CBS Evening News anchor Walter
Cronkite signs off with his trademark valediction,
"And that’s the way it is," for the final time.

Over the previous 19 years, Cronkite had established
himself not only as the nation’s leading newsman but
as "the most trusted man in America," he was a steady
presence during two decades of social and political
upheaval.

        
        
        
        
       

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009)

On February 28, 1983, the celebrated sitcom M*A*S*H bows out
after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half hour episode
watched by 77 percent of the television viewing audience. It
was the largest percentage ever to watch a single TV show up
to that time.

After earning consistently high ratings throughout its 11-year
run, M*A*S*H enjoyed enduring popularity in the following
decades, as it became one of the world’s most syndicated
shows. It also spawned an unsuccessful spin-off, After MASH,
which CBS aired from 1983 to 1985.

A look at the production set.