- Born
- Birth nameMichael Thornton Burns
- Michael Burns is a former child actor who went on to a distinguished career as a historian, writer, and college professor. He is now retired and raising thoroughbred horses in Kentucky. He was familiar to television audiences of the early 1960s as the teenage character, "Barnaby West", on the popular La grande caravane (1957) series. After other TV and film credits in his late teens and early 20s, Burns left acting to pursue his interest in history, graduating from the University of California. He earned a Ph. D. from Yale University in 1977 and wrote an acclaimed history book, "Dreyfus", about the Dreyfus Affair. Between 1980-2002, Burns was a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.- IMDb mini biography by: JGHowes
- Michael Burns has abandoned acting and become a college professor. He is author of "France and the Dreyfus Affair." According to the dust jacket of his book he teaches Modern European History at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. He holds degrees from the University of California and Yale University.- IMDb mini biography by: Copyright 2001. Candace Rich
- SpouseElizabeth Topham Kennan(June 8, 1986 - present)
- ChildrenFrank Alexander Kennan
- ParentsMary Lou Deweese
- RelativesPamela Burns(Sibling)
- Retired in 2002 from his faculty position at Mount Holyoke College, completing a 22-year teaching career. He and his wife moved to Kentucky and restored a historic horse farm that is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Son of NBC pioneer turned director Frank Burns.
- He has abandoned acting to become a college professor. According to the dust jacket of his book "Dreyfus", he "teaches Modern European History at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. He holds degrees from the University of California and Yale University."
- Retired from teaching at Mount Holyoke College in 2002. He now resides in Kentucky with his wife, former Mount Holyoke president Elizabeth Topham Kennan, raising thoroughbred horses.
- Considered for the television series, The Monkees (1965) as one of the band members. He can be seen in improvisational screen tests with Micky Dolenz.
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