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George Burns - Comedian who always
held a cigar during his many humorous performances. In his later
years, George reported "I only smoke 15 cigars a day. Besides, at my age I need
something to hold onto or I'll fall down."
In Vaudeville, George started to use the cigar at the age of
fourteen. He used a large seven cent cigar as a prop/security
blanket and because he thought it made him look more
sophisticated.
Burns admitted on the PHIL DONAHUE SHOW that at the age of
eighty-eight he still smoked 10-20 cigars a day despite the fact
that he had open heart surgery in 1974. The cigar is now an
important part of his celebrity status. Now while the audience
laughs, he just puffs away.
The cigars he smokes, however, are inexpensive El Producto cigars
that sell for a few dollars. He found that expensive cigars are
packed too tight and tend to go out to often. So he chooses to use
cheap lightly rolled cigars so that he can get more smoke per
puff.
If George ever received expensive cigars as gifts, he gave them
away to a cigar smoking friends like Danny Thomas.
On his 95th birthday celebration (televised 1991) George Burns was
asked if he wanted to blow out his candles on his cake. He
answered "I'm lucky if I can get my cigar into my holder!"
TRIVIA NOTE: In 1998, 85 year-old comedian Milton Berle who has
chomped on a cigar since he was thirteen, lent his name to a
magazine called Milton whose motto was "We drink, we smoke, we
gamble."
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