FrameThrower · Actors · Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
8 films · 440 frames · top-billed in 7 · 1946–1982
Born 2 November 1913 · New York City, New York, USA · died 20 October 1994
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile (which he called "The Grin"). Later he took roles that went against his initial "tough guy" image. In the late 1950s Lancaster abandoned his "all-American" image and came to be regarded as one of the best actors of his generation.
Lancaster was nominated four times for Academy Awards and won once — for his work in Elmer Gantry in 1960. He also won a Golden Globe for that performance and BAFTA Awards for The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Atlantic City (1980).…
Awards
On FrameThrower we have: 8 films · 440 frames · top-billed in 7 · 1946–1982
- Academy Award for Best Actor1961
- Golden Globe Awards
- BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor
- Silver Bear for Best Actor
- David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor
- David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Golden Boot Awards1995
- Theatre World Award1946
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- World War II Victory Medal
How their films are shot
Measured across 440 frames from the 8 films we hold. This is the look of the work Burt takes, not a claim about any single frame — we index the cast of a film, never the people in a shot.
Across the 8 films we hold, 52% of their frames are night, 42% low key — the look of the work Burt takes.
Time of day
Lighting
Shot size
Camera angle
Mood
Films in the library
Every poster opens that film — stills, cinematography notes and colour palette.
The Swimmer
1968 · Ned Merrill
The Leopard
1963 · Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
Birdman of Alcatraz
1962 · Robert Stroud
Sweet Smell of Success
1957 · J.J. Hunsecker
Criss Cross
1949 · Steve Thompson
Desert Fury
1947 · Tom Hanson
The Killers
1946 · 'Swede' Andersen
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
1982 · (in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Often with
Shared films in this library, not a full filmography.
A reference database for filmmakers
FrameThrower is a fully machine-searchable film database and visual reference library — all 440 frames from Burt Lancaster's 8 films, and 5,000+ films besides, indexed frame by frame and readable by AI. Search it in plain language, from a reference image, or by colour; call it from an API, an MCP server or an SDK. It's the reference layer for making the next movie.