Robert Altman wanted Lancaster for the role of Ned Buntline in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) because he had the "stature" of a great movie star but was "able to play that as a kind of bullshitter", which was what Altman conceived the character to be: "He understood totally the bullshit factor and what he was playing." Buntline, a real-life writer of nickel Westerns, had invented Buffalo Bill Cody as a western hero; Altman knew that Lancaster had invented himself as a star, a new kind of star that had revolutionized the movies in the 1950s.
Luchino Visconti wanted to cast Laurence Olivier in the title role of the Italian prince in "The Leopard" (1963), but his producer overruled him. The producer insisted on a box office star to justify the lavish production's high budget and essentially forced Visconti to accept Burt Lancaster. A decade later, the two Oscar-winning actors competed again for the role of another Italian prince, Mafia chieftain Don Corleone, in "The Godfather" (1972), ultimately losing out to Marlon Brando.
Jane Fonda admitted she was devastated to lose Lancaster from Old Gringo (1989), because she admired him very greatly.
Go Tell the Spartans (1978), though little seen at the time of its release, is widely considered the greatest anti-war movie about Vietnam.
5 children: James Stephen "Jimmy" (born June 30, 1946), Wlliam "Billy" (born in November, 1947), Susan Elizabeth (born July 5, 1949), Joanna Mari (born in July, 1951) and Sighle (born in 1954).
A lifelong Democrat and liberal activist, Lancaster appeared prominently on President Richard Nixon's "List of Enemies" due to his support for Senator George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.
A self-described "Kennedy man", Lancaster dined with President John F. Kennedy at the White House. He delayed the release of Seven Days in May (1964) when the President was assassinated, and later joined fellow liberal activists Robert Ryan and Will Geer in starring in Executive Action (1973), the first Kennedy assassination conspiracy movie. Its "real purpose", Lancaster stated, was "to make people skeptical.".
A self-described atheist, Lancaster agreed to play a corrupt evangelist in Elmer Gantry (1960) because he wanted to make an anti-Billy Graham statement. His performance won him the Best Actor Oscar.
A self-described atheist, Lancaster had turned down the role in the remake of Ben-Hur (1959) played by Charlton Heston, but followed in Heston's footsteps when he played the title role in "Moses the Lawgiver" (1974), the $5-million TV epic produced by Britain's ATV-ITC and Italy's RAI Television. When a reporter asked him if he was following in Heston's sandal-clad steps, Lancaster replied, "If Charlton was trapped in Biblical films, it was his own fault - he accepted the limitation." Though Lancaster claimed he was an atheist, some of his friends doubted him.
According to his wishes, he was buried without any memorial or funeral service. His grave in Westwood Memorial Park has a headstone that simply reads, ""Burt Lancaster, 1913-1994".
According to Kate Buford in her biography "Burt Lancaster: An American Life," he felt competitive with Marlon Brando, who achieved stardom playing Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, a role Lancaster turned down. A Top 10 box-office success in the early 1960s, it was this sense of competition with Brando, who was known as both an actor's actor and a major movie star, that led Lancaster to plunge into art films and riskier fare such as Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (1963), in order to prove himself as an actor and be known as an artist rather than just a movie star. After this refocusing of his career, he slipped out of the Top 10 and never again was a major box office attraction.
After placing tenth place in the Motion Picture Herald poll of most popular box-office stars in 1962, he dropped to 18th place in 1963 and never again appeared on the list.
Allegedly showed up at a Hollywood Oscar party in the late 1950s wearing a G-string and spray-painted gold, resembling an Academy Award statuette.
An unabashed political liberal, chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and an active campaigner for George McGovern in the 1972 Presidential election, Lancaster was one of the 575 people named on President Richard Nixon's 1973 "Enemies List," along with fellow actors Gene Hackman and Paul Newman, "Playboy" magazine publisher Hugh M. Hefner and TV producer Norman Lear.
Attended Elizabeth Taylor's "Commitment to Life" fundraiser on 19 September 1985, despite being warned his appearance would resurrect the longtime rumors about his sexuality. At the event Lancaster read out Rock Hudson's letter admitting that he had AIDS.
Attended Visconti's funeral in Rome in March 1976.
Came up with $150,000 of his own money to complete Go Tell the Spartans (1978) after the production ran out of money with five days left to shoot. The shooting schedule already had been pared from 40 to 31 days to save money.
Campaigned for Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#100). [1995]
Claimed that he learned a great deal from Gary Cooper's laid back acting style and behavior on the set of Vera Cruz (1954).