He was 33 when he appeared in his first movie, The Killers (1946), having worked as a circus acrobat since his late teens and following war service and acting on Broadway.
He was an infamous ladies man in Hollywood, which eventually irritated his wife, Norma, enough for her to leave him.
He was nearly blacklisted in the late 1940s due to his liberal political beliefs, and the FBI kept a file detailing his activities.
He was not close friends with Kirk Douglas as was often perceived. The closeness of their friendship was largely fabricated by the publicity-wise Douglas, while, in reality, they were very competitive with each other and sometimes privately expressed a mutual personal disdain despite a mutual respect for their acting talents.
He was originally cast in Victor Mature's role in The Robe (1953), but backed out due to the Christian theme.
He was prevented from playing William Hurt's Oscar-winning role as a flamboyant gay hairdresser in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) when forced to undergo quadruple bypass surgery on 26 August 1983 following a heart attack. He believed his vocal chords were damaged after tubes were inserted down his throat during the operation.
He was voted the 39th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
He would frequently turn down lifetime achievement awards during the 1980s, saying half-jokingly, "Give them to my good friend Kirk", since he knew Douglas would be happier in the limelight.
Helped pay for the defense of Private Billy Dean Smith, an African American soldier accused of 'fragging' two officers in Vietnam in 1971. Lancaster gave $3,000 to his defense attorneys to hire ballistics experts to testify at his court-martial. Smith was acquitted.
His daughter Sighle's name is pronounced Sheila.
His first TV role was a guest appearance on "Sesame Street" (1969) in 1969, reciting the alphabet.
His house burned down (as did many others) in the famous Bel Air - Brentwood fire of November 6, 1961.
His performance as J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) is ranked #61 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
His performance as J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) is ranked #76 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
His son Bill Lancaster's screenplay for The Bad News Bears (1976) was based on his experience being coached by his father. Bill had been disabled by polio as a child, and according to friend Joel Douglas - the son of Kirk Douglas - the 'Tatum O'Neal (I)' character in the film, the odd kid out, was Bill. The coach played by Walter Matthau was based on Burt, who was known for his grumpiness.
His son Jimmy was born with a foot deformity and as a baby had to wear a cast that had to be constantly changed. When daughter Joanna was born with the same deformity, they decided not to use a cast but to see if she would outgrow the deformity.
His son, Bill Lancaster, wrote the screenplay for The Bad News Bears (1976).
In 1947 he was offered the role of Stanley Kowalski in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" after first choice John Garfield was rejected due to his demands for a ownership percentage of the play. He turned down the role that went to Marlon Brando and made him a legend.
In 1957 he requested a meeting with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who responded, "I will not greet Lancaster in view of his subversive associations.".
In 1961 he announced his intention to produce a biopic of Michelangelo, in which he would play the title role and possibly portray the painter as a homosexual although Michelanglo's sexuality unknown. However, he was forced to shelve this project due to the five-month filming schedule on The Leopard (1963). Later, Charlton Heston starred as Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and denied that the painter had been gay, despite all evidence to the contrary.