Bob Burns

I met Bob at this event pictured below. He was with the original King Kong armature, at the premiere of King Kong: 360 3-D

Bob Burns III

May 12, 1935 - December 16, 2025

Bob Burns III (May 12, 1935 - December 16, 2025) was an American actor, consultant, producer, archivist and historian of props, costumes, and other paraphernalia from science fiction, fantasy, and horror motion pictures. He is notable for his work with and collection of movie props, particularly from horror and science-fiction movies.^[1] He has also had numerous acting roles, including Tracy the Gorilla in the 1975 television show The Ghost Busters.

"Bob's Basement" is the informal name given to Burns's collection of props, costumes, and other memorabilia. The New York Times stated that it could be described as the "premier film museum in the Los Angeles area, though it is not open to the public and has no regular hours." Notable contents include the last surviving 18-inch armature model used in the animation sequences of the original 1933 King Kong movie, costumes from several of the Republic Pictures serials of the 1940s (including Roy Barcroft's costume from The Purple Monster Strikes), masks from several different movies made by special make-up effects creator Rick Baker, a 7-time Academy Award winner for makeup, and the original Time Machine prop from the George Pal film of the same name.

Burns had one of the largest private collections of memorabilia from the Alien franchise. A short documentary about his collection was included in the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD collection.

Good Night Bob

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa