John 'Red' Burger

born: 22 May 1902 Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America

died: 08 April 1973 Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America (age 70)

Craggy-faced American actor and extra, previously a baseball player and boxer during the 1920s. Some sources and reports also spell his surname as "Berger," though Burger is the correct spelling. During the 1930s and early 1940s, he served on the board of the Junior Screen Actors' Guild (SAG), serving as a studio "checker" and head of the SAG work relations department. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, reaching the rank of 1st Lieutenant. In the mid-1950s, he moved back to his native Arizona, where he worked as a boxing referee. He was married twice: first to actress Betty Blair (b. Viola Maude McCubbin, 1894-1981) on 19 December 1932; Betty filed for divorce in early 1944. A year later, on 8 March 1945, he married Lela Amanda Brown (1904-1993); John filed for divorce in 1966.

Real name: John Beldon Burger Height: 6'0"

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

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1943 Fall In Spy 1943 Yanks Ahoy Soldier Acknowledgements: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3MV-RYHC (delayed birth certificate) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Z76G-1DPZ (delayed birth certificate) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZWWM-F83Z (birth index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVVW-S73 (1910 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH79-572 (1920 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8JH-147 (1932 marriage) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9HL-SYS (1940 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGXB-ZKD6 (WWII draft reg. card) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8GN-3TK (WWII enlistment) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K861-8C9 (1945 marriage) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGD-TGYN (1950 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J566-P2C (Social Security Death Index) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/234612235 (Find a Grave) https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald16exhi_0/page/n540/mode/1up?q=%22john+burger%22 (Exhibitors Herald, 05 May 1923) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1230596285/ (The Call Bulletin [San Francisco, CA], 19 Dec 1932) https://archive.org/details/variety117-1935-02/page/n88/mode/1up?q=%22red+berger%22 (Variety, 12 Feb 1935) https://archive.org/details/newmoviemagazin11weir/page/n297/mode/1up?q=%22red+berger%22 (New Movie Magazine, Apr 1935) https://archive.org/details/variety129-1938-03/page/n16/mode/1up?q=%22john+berger%22 (Variety, 02 Mar 1938) https://archive.org/details/boxofficejulsep133unse/page/n44/mode/1up?q=%22john+berger%22 (Boxoffice, 02 Jul 1938) https://archive.org/details/variety131-1938-08/page/n294/mode/1up?q=%22john+berger%22 (Variety, 31 Aug 1938) https://archive.org/details/variety134-1939-06/page/n121/mode/1up?q=%22red+berger%22 (Variety, 21 Jun 1939) https://archive.org/details/variety140-1940-10/page/n125/mode/1up?q=%22john+burger%22 (Variety, 16 Oct 1940) https://archive.org/details/variety141-1941-01/page/n370/mode/1up?q=%22john+berger%22 (Variety, 29 Jan 1941) https://archive.org/details/dv-1941-apr-jun/page/n248/mode/1up?q=%22red+berger%22 (Daily Variety, 02 May 1941) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380701517/ (Los Angeles Times, 07 Jan 1944) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380662923/ (Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb 1944) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/116691668/ (Arizona Republic, 17 Aug 1966) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/117434799/ (Arizona Republic, 10 Apr 1973) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1954&date-start=1920&keyword=%22red+burger%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1948&date-start=1920&keyword=%22red+berger%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1973&date-start=1902&keyword=%22red+burger%22&region=us-az&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1973&date-start=1902&keyword=%22red+berger%22&region=us-az&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1973&date-start=1902&keyword=%22john+b+burger%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1973&date-start=1902&keyword=%22john+b+burger%22&region=us-az&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1973&date-start=1902&keyword=%22johnny+red+burger%22&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://archive.org/search?tab=fulltext&query=%22red+burger%22&sort=date&and%5B%5D=year%3A%5B1920+TO+2028%5D (Internet Archive, search) https://archive.org/search?tab=fulltext&query=%22red+berger%22&sort=date&and%5B%5D=year%3A%5B1920+TO+2030%5D (Internet Archive, search) https://catalog.afi.com/Person/128415-Red-Burger (AFI Catalog) https://catalog.afi.com/Person/85286-John-Burger (AFI Catalog) https://catalog.afi.com/Person/85007-John-Red-Burger (AFI Catalog) Jesse Brisson (bio notes and research; identification in Fall In, Yanks Ahoy) This page was last updated on: 27 March 2026