Home Alone
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| Two famous lawyers. Courtesy
of TV Guide |
During most of his time on the series,
Burr never owned a television set. As of February 1959,
he had made close to one hundred episodes, yet he had
watched only three of them. (Out of the ninety movies he
had made by that time, he had watched only four.)
Watching himself perform disagreed with him. "I'm a
fine guy to be an actor," he said once. "Can't
stand to have my picture taken."
He probably couldn't have found the
time to watch his own acting even if he'd wanted to.
Although he owned a beautiful Malibu home when the series
was in production, he rarely got to enjoy it. He spent so
much time on the studio lot, he often wound up sleeping
there. When he did get to Malibu, he spent his off-hours
raising flowers (orchids mostly) and a menagerie of
animals, including forty ducks, geese, and chickens, a
St. Bernard, and a burro named Zsa Zsa. Burr's home was
also filled with a huge collection of art, and he was
part-owner for a time of a prestigious Beverly Hills art
gallery.
So, Burr was rich, generous, obviously
brave, and a lover of animals and the arts. Yet he was
living alone. The question was, now that he was
successful, where were all the women? He once dated
Natalie Wood in the late fifties. ("I was very
attracted to her," he said. "I think she was to
me.") But nothing came of it. He said he was just
too busy. He told TV Guide in the middle of the
Mason show's run: "Certainly I'd like to be married
again. [But] I can't think of starting a marriage now,
not with my schedule. It wouldn't be fair to any woman.
Certainly his three previous sad attempts at marriage had
had a great effect on him. But he would continue to blame
his obligation to the Mason show for his lack of family
life. Even as late as 1986, he told an interviewer that
he regretted his long hours on the Mason series because
he felt the time should have been spent getting married
and raising a family. At last report, Burr was living on
a farm in northern California with his long-time friend,
companion, and business partner Robert Benevides.
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