Iris Burton was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 talent agent

Talent agent

A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...

 and dancer, who discovered and represented many famous child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

s during her career.

Personal life and early career

Burton was born as Iris Burstein in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1930, and made a career as a child dancer, later appearing in several Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musicals under the name Iris Burton. In the early 1950s, she moved to Hollywood, appearing as a dancer in several films such as Top Banana

Top Banana (film)

Top Banana is a movie musical based on the musical of the same name starring Phil Silvers, and released by United Artists. It stars most of the original cast...

(1954) and The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments (1956 film)

The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...

(1956).

Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

-winning actor Barry Miller

Barry Miller (actor)

Barry L. Miller is an American actor. He won Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Actor for his performance as 'Arnold Epstein' in Biloxi Blues....

 (Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...

, Fame) was Burton's son from her brief marriage to actor/director Sidney Miller.

Later career

Burton was well-known for discovering the Phoenix brothers (River Phoenix

River Phoenix

River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...

 and Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...

, and their sisters Rain

Rain Phoenix

Rain Phoenix is an American actress, musician, and singer. Phoenix has four siblings: two brothers, actors Joaquin and the late River Phoenix, and two sisters, Summer and Liberty.-Early life:...

, Liberty and Summer

Summer Phoenix

Summer Joy Phoenix is an American actress and model. She is the youngest sibling of the late River Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix, and is married to actor Casey Affleck.-Early life:...

) when she noticed them busking

Busking

Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...

 on a Hollywood street corner. Other discoveries included Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...

 and Henry Thomas

Henry Thomas

Henry Jackson Thomas, Jr. is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in more than 40 films and is best known for his role as Elliott in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.-Early life:...

, with her clients including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen are American actresses and entrepreneurs.Both have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have continued their celebrity through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements...

, Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore

Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...

, Tori Spelling

Tori Spelling

Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling is an American actress. Spelling became known in the early 1990s for her role as Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210. Spelling then had roles in a string of made-for-television films, such as A Friend to Die For and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?...

, Fred Savage

Fred Savage

Fredrick Aaron "Fred" Savage is an American actor, director and producer of television and film.He is best known for his role as Kevin Arnold in the American television series The Wonder Years and as the grandson in The Princess Bride...

, Jerry O'Connell

Jerry O'Connell

Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...

, Kirk Cameron

Kirk Cameron

Kirk Thomas Cameron is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy Growing Pains , as well as several other television and film appearances as a child actor...

, Candace Cameron, Adam Rich

Adam Rich

Adam Rich is an American actor.-Career:Rich is most remembered for his role as the youngest son, Nicholas Bradford, on the television series Eight is Enough, which ran for five seasons, from 1977-1981. After leaving that show, he made guest appearances on The Love Boat, CHiPS, Fantasy Island, The...

, and Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett

Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...

.

Death

Iris Burton died on April 5, 2008, aged 77, from pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 and complications of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 in Woodland Hills, California.

External links