| Michael Evan Burr. Burr and his family
returned to America ahead of the worst of WW II. Burr eventually scored
a hit in the 1943 show "Duke In Darkness". On the eve of Burr's professional
triumph personal tragedy struck Annette Sutherland, with other British
actors supporting the troops and the war effort, traveled to her native
Great Britain on a public relations junket. On June 1st, 1943, the plane
carrying Ms. Sutherland, actor Leslie Howard and others from London to
Lisbon was shot down by German forces. All on board were killed.
In 1952 Burr |
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Burr with long time friend
Barbara Hale who played Della Street in Perry Mason
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| mysteriously trimmed down his appearances
in film and stage productions, taking only four roles that year.
It was later revealed that |
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| Burr's son, Michael, whom he had
carefully protected from the press, had been battling leukaemia. Michael
Burr lost his fight before hi eleventh birthday. Several yearslater, Burr
lost his third wife, Adrina Morgan, to cancer. Before dying of cancer in
1993 Burr gave away most of his fortune to his foster children, friends
& charities. |
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I bump
into Mr Burr
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| While Raymond Burr was in Melbourne
he appeared at the Teletheater, my job was a go for or do anything the
head audio person needed. At the Teletheater there was a very rickety scaffold
leading from the upstairs dressing room to the back stage area, so starts
could appear from behind the curtains and not have to walk through the
audience before their appearance |
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The position of the walkway
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| We were on-air when I was sent |
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| down to back stage to fix a microphone.
Being a keen young lad of 17 I ran up the stairs to makeup and out along
the rickety scaffold walkway. As I ran I kept my head down as there were
gaps in the planks. Suddenly, thump, I hit my head and bounced back laying
flat on my back, I looked up, I couldn't believe my eyes, I had run into
Mr Burr's not inconsiderable stomach. |
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I bump
into the Queen
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Well
almost!
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| The 1963 Royal Tour was Queen Elizabeth's
second tour of Australia after her coronation. She visited most states
arriving in Melbourne on the Royal yacht Britannia. The next day She visited
the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital. We did a live broadcast of the
the event. A camera was set up in one of the wards to show the Queen visiting
the child patients. Now 18, I was again working as an audio assistant runner.
The security was heavy, even for those times. We were all issued
with very important looking "P" passes. Just before the broadcast I was
in the OB van, the |
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The Queen and Duke 1963
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| Queen had already arrived and was
attending a reception in some other part of the hospital. Suddenly a microphone
was not working in ward and I was sent up to fix it. I ran
up the fire stairs and out into the passage to the ward. There 5 meters
in front of me was the Queen and entourage. I screeched to a halt and stood
hands behind my back with my back to the wall, terrified, as Her Majesty
walked by. |
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