Name Bob III Role Actor | Spouse Kathy Burns (m. 1956) | |
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Books Excavations at Jerbourg, Guernsey Movies King Kong, Terror in the Jungle, The Naked Monster, The Lovely Bones, Fire City: End of Days Similar People Larry Storch, Barry Cunliffe, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens | ||
Bob Burns (born May 12, 1935) is an American actor, consultant, producer, archivist and historian of props, costumes, and other paraphernalia from science fiction, fantasy, and horror motion pictures. He is best known for his work with and collection of movie props, particularly from horror and science-fiction movies. He has also had numerous smaller acting roles in movies, including Tracy the Gorilla in the 1975 television show The Ghost Busters.
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Bob's Basement
Bob's Basement is the informal name given to Burns's collection of props, costumes, and other memorabilia. The New York Times stated that it could be described as the "premier film museum in the Los Angeles area, though it is not open to the public and has no regular hours." Notable contents include the last surviving 18-inch armature model used to animate the original 1933 King Kong movie, costumes from several of the Republic Pictures serials of the 1940s, masks from several different movies made by special make-up effects creator Rick Baker, a 7 times Academy Award winner for makeup, and the original Time Machine from the George Pal film of the same name.
The Smithsonian Institution has made several offers to acquire the King Kong 18-inch armature model, but all of the offers have been refused. One famous director offered Burns half a million dollars for the model and again, Burns turned it down. Burns says that he has no plans of ever selling or donating the prop, as he wishes it to stay in Hollywood.
Beast Wishes
Beast Wishes, by film makers Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger, is described as "a documentary film about a man, a gorilla... and a woman who loves them both!" It honors the love and passion of Bob Burns, and his energy spent saving the props which made past films come alive, and which would otherwise have been relegated to the dumpster. Clips of the film were shown at the Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank, California, on April 15, 2012. The showing was one part of a panel of guests, including Bob and Kathy Burns, in which stories and anecdotes were shared.