This picture from 1935 shows George Burns with a young fan. The young man in the photo is actually Ray Bradbury, the famous writer of The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and The Illustrated Man.
Ray later wrote about how his family moved to Hollywood in 1934. He loved everything about his new home—movies, movie stars, and the excitement of it all. He got a Brownie Camera and started taking photos of stars, asking for what we would now call selfies. Even as he got older, he kept a box of these photos and autographs from movie legends.
One day, Ray asked George if he could sit in the audience for his show with Gracie Allen. George said yes, and Ray started showing up regularly. He really loved the show and also loved writing, so he wrote many skits for it. Only one of them was ever used.
Their lives went in different directions for many years, but they eventually crossed paths again. Ray was giving an award to Steven Spielberg when he spotted George in the audience. Ray stopped everything and said, “I want to give a personal award to George Burns because when I was 14, he told me I was a genius and that I would make it as a writer.” After the ceremony, George ran over to Ray. “Was that you? I remember you,” he said, and embraced him. “He was a wonderful man,” Ray remembered.
By the way, the string on Ray in the photo is the camera strap his father gave him for his Brownie Camera. And when the picture was taken, Ray asked George for his cigar butt as a souvenir, and George kindly agreed.
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