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“Without Gracie, I was nothing,” he told The Washington Post in 1988.
At the time, he was 92 and promoting his bestselling book"Gracie: A Love Story."
He dated other women but never remarried.
He died in 1996 at 100 years old.
So what was Burns' secret to living such a long and happy life?
“And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.”
In a1979 interviewwith legendary film critic Roger Ebert, Burns wisecracked, “What’s my secret?
I’d go out with women my own age, but there are no women my age.”
“The happiest people I know are the ones that are still working.
The saddest are the ones who are retired,” he toldCigar Aficionado.
“To me the biggest danger of retirement is what it can do to your attitude.
When you have all that time on your hands, you think old, you act old.
It’s a mistake.
In contrast, Burns always pushed himself.
He played God at 81 in"Oh, God!
“and its two sequels.
Then, at 84, he recorded a country song:“I Wish I Was 18 Again.
““When people get a little older they are frightened to make a change in their lives.
It’s easier to stay in that same safe rut.
To me that challenge is exciting,” hewrotein his book.
