Burt Lancaster was born Burton Stephen Lancaster on 2 November 1913 in East Harlem, New York City, the youngest of five children of James Henry Lancaster, a postal worker, and Elizabeth Roberts. Raised in a poor but close-knit working-class neighbourhood, he was a gifted athlete and gymnast, and spent several years touring as a circus acrobat with his childhood friend Nick Cravat before an injury pushed him towards acting.
Lancaster's claimed Welsh connection rests on his mother's maiden name, Roberts, a surname common in Wales. However, the documented genealogy does not support a Welsh line: Elizabeth Roberts's own parents were Irish immigrants from Belfast of English descent, and the family believed themselves related to the Anglo-Irish soldier Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, not to any Welsh Roberts family. No confirmed Welsh ancestor has been identified, so this connection should be read as speculative rather than established.
Lancaster made his film debut in 'The Killers' (1946) and quickly became one of Hollywood's leading men, known equally for physical, athletic roles and for more serious dramatic work. He earned Academy Award nominations for 'From Here to Eternity' (1953), 'Birdman of Alcatraz' (1962) and 'Atlantic City' (1980), and won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as a charismatic con-man preacher in 'Elmer Gantry' (1960). He also co-founded his own production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, giving him unusually direct creative control over his films for a leading man of his era.
Lancaster continued acting into the 1980s, with later credits including 'Local Hero' (1983) and 'Field of Dreams' (1989). He suffered a serious stroke in 1990 and died in Century City, Los Angeles, on 20 October 1994, aged 80. He remains one of the most respected leading men of classic Hollywood, even though his family's Welsh connection is, on the evidence available, unproven.