Burt Lancaster
publicity still of Burt Lancaster for film “Desert Fury,” 1947, Hal Wallis Productions
Birth Name: Burton Stephen Lancaster
Date of Birth: November 2, 1913
Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: October 20, 1994
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Irish/Northern Irish
Burt Lancaster was an American actor, producer, and circus acrobat. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Elmer Gantry (1960). He also starred in the films The Killers (1946), Sorry, Wrong Number; From Here to Eternity, Trapeze, The Rainmaker (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Sweet Smell of Success, Run Silent, Run Deep; Separate Tables, Judgment at Nuremberg, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Leopard (1963), Seven Days in May, The Professionals (1966), The Swimmer, Airport, Conversation Piece, Atlantic City, Tough Guys, and Field of Dreams, and on television’s Separate but Equal.
Burt was the son of Elizabeth and James Lancaster, a mailman. His father was born in New York. His mother was born in Connecticut. All of his grandparents were Protestant emigrants, from what is now Northern Ireland. He was married to Susan Martin, until his death. He had five children, including screenwriter and actor Bill Lancaster, with his former wife Norma Anderson.
Burt’s paternal grandfather was James Henry Lancaster/Lancester (the son of Henry Lancaster and Mary Anne Burgess). Burt’s great-grandfather Henry was the son of William Burgess.
Burt’s paternal grandmother was named Susan Murray (the daughter of Alexander Murray and Elsie).
Burt’s maternal grandfather was James R. Roberts (the son of Alexander Roberts and Ann McDowell). Alexander was the son of John Roberts and Elinor.
Burt’s maternal grandmother was Jane/Jennie/Fannie Smythe (the daughter of James Smythe and Sara McNally).
Sources: Genealogies of Burt Lancaster – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
https://www.geni.com
Burt Lancaster on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Prior to 1922 Northern Ireland did not exist. It was Ireland. So he is Irish. And he even identified as Irish himself.
https://www.geni.com/people/Burt-Lancaster/6000000013385848077
Much as “Scots-Irish” myth would deny it, there was much changing of religion and inter-marriage. Catholics would become Protestants to inherit property, for instance.
Just one instance from above – for example – McNally is Irish.
Who cares I loved him!
he was mostly english and little irish
His family were from Northern Ireland. They were there for hundreds of years. You might as well call him French as the Lancaster family were Norman originally. He considered himself an Irish-American. There are a lot of Irish families that are Norman origin and came to Ireland via England and Wales. They are still Irish.
My head hurts.
Haha. That’s understandable. If you look at a place like Northern Ireland more than half the population arrived in the 1600’s. The Irish that were there were pushed off their lands and the land was given to Scottish and English. A lot of Irish went to Scotland and England over the years especially during the Famine. Places like Manchester are hugely of Irish descent. Who is Irish, English or Scottish?